Officers walk into your lobby and ask for your employee by name. Your receptionist goes quiet.
Your managers freeze. Within minutes, someone from your team is being walked out in front of everyone.
Later that day, a family member calls, frantic: “Why didn’t anyone call us? Where is he? What happened?” You feel it in your stomach: there was no plan. Your handbook does not cover this. Your “in case of emergency” line was never built for this kind of emergency.
Now California has written that exact moment into law.
SB 294 — the Workplace “Know Your Rights” Act — tells you two things you must do:
- Give every employee a stand‑alone “Know Your Rights” notice every year, starting February 1, 2026.
- Give every employee a real choice about who you call — and whether you call at all — if they are arrested or detained during work.
You can treat this as just another compliance fire drill. Or you can use it to prove, in writing, that you mean it when you say “we don’t leave our people alone on their worst day.” Get your California Workplace – Know Your Rights notice and free six page California SB294 Compliance Checklists & Scripts download below.
What SB 294 Actually Requires (Plain English)
Let’s strip out the legalese and talk about what you actually have to do. Included in this blog is your 10-Step SB 294 Compliance Checklist, and The Emergency Contact Form (Employer-Facing sample template)
- The “Know Your Rights” notice
Starting February 1, 2026, and every year after that, you must give every California employee a stand‑alone written notice that explains key workplace and constitutional rights.
The official title on the state’s model is:
California Workplace – Know Your Rights. Department of Industrial Relations | Know-Your-Rights-Notice-English.pdf
The notice covers, in plain language:
- Wage, hour, health and safety protections that apply regardless of immigration status
- Protections against retaliation when workers file complaints or ask about legal compliance
- Rights related to immigration inspections, unfair immigration-related practices, and retaliation threats.
- Rights when interacting with law enforcement and immigration agents at work (searches, seizures, remaining silent, recording, access to an attorney)
- The right to designate an emergency contact and to choose whether that person is notified if the worker is arrested or detained at work.
- A list of state and federal agencies workers can call if they think their rights have been violated.
You can and should use the Labor Commissioner’s model notice. It’s already published in English, with other languages rolling out.
You must:
- Give it to all current employees by February 1, 2026, then annually.
- Give it to every new hire at time of hire, starting that same date.
- Provide it in the language you normally use to communicate employment-related information to that employee.
- Keep records that you did this for at least several years in case of audit.dir.ca+1
This is not a poster in the break room. It has to stand alone. It has to actually reach people.
- The emergency contact rule
SB 294 also added Labor Code section 1555. That is the piece nobody wants to look at, but everyone has to.
By March 30, 2026, you must:
- Give every current employee the chance to name an emergency contact.
- Let them say yes or no: “If I am arrested or detained at work or during work hours, and you know about it, I want you to notify this person”.
After March 30, 2026, you must build this into onboarding and allow employees to update their emergency contact and preference at any time.
If an employee has told you “yes, notify my contact,” and you have actual knowledge they were arrested or detained:
- At the worksite, or
- Offsite during work hours or while performing job duties
then you must notify their emergency contact.
“Actual knowledge” is simple: you or your managers witness it, are directly told by law enforcement, or are directly told by the employee or a credible source. You do not have to investigate or monitor their personal life.
- The penalties (why this is not optional)
The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors can enforce SB 294.gibsondunn+2
Penalties can include:
- Up to $500 per employee per violation of the notice requirement.
- For emergency contact obligations, up to $500 per employee per day of noncompliance, capped at $10,000 per employee for ongoing violations.
If you have 40 employees and miss both the notice and the emergency-contact implementation, you are suddenly looking at numbers that feel a lot like “call the board chair” territory.
That’s the compliance frame. But it’s not the only frame.
Why This Is Actually a Culture Moment
When law enforcement walks into your workplace, your employees don’t think “Labor Code section 1555.”
They think:
- “Will my kids know where I am?”
- “Will anyone call my partner?”
- “If I speak up, will I be fired or reported to immigration?”
The state’s own notice tells them:
- They have rights regardless of immigration status.
- They have the right to be free from certain searches and seizures without a judicial warrant.
- They have the right to remain silent and to an attorney.
- They can name someone to be notified if they are arrested or detained.
Your job as an employer is to decide what your side of that looks like:
- Do managers know what to do, or will they panic and say nothing?
- Is there a clear, written process to notify emergency contacts, or will someone “try to remember” after the fact?
- Is the person who calls the contact equipped to say something humane, not cryptic and terrifying?
SB 294 is not just about a PDF and a deadline. It is about the worst five minutes of someone’s work life and whether your organization shows up as human in that moment.
SB 294 in One Page for Your Leadership Team
Use this table in your next exec or board HR update.
| What you must do | Who it covers | By when | Key details you cannot fudge |
| Provide a stand‑alone “California Workplace – Know Your Rights” written notice | All current CA employees; every new hire at time of hire | First by Feb 1, 2026; then annually | Use the Labor Commissioner’s model notice or an equivalent; provide in the language you normally use for employment communications; keep distribution records |
| Offer emergency contact designation + yes/no notification choice | All current CA employees | By March 30, 2026 | Let employees name an emergency contact and indicate whether that person should be notified if they are arrested or detained at work or during work hours when you have actual knowledge |
| Notify emergency contact when required | Employees who opted in to notification | Whenever arrest/detention occurs at work or during work hours and you know about it | Designate who calls, how quickly, what they say, and how you document notification; this is where steep penalties stack up if you do nothing |
Multi-state employer? Treat this as a California-only baseline and then check each other state separately. Do not assume you can copy-paste this process nationwide.
Your 10-Step SB 294 Compliance Checklist Click to Download PDF
Use this exactly as-is for your internal checklist.
SB 294: “Know Your Rights” & Emergency Contact Compliance Checklist
Section A – “Know Your Rights” Notice (February 1, 2026)
- ☐ Download the official model notice.
- Go to the California Labor Commissioner / DLSE site and download the “California Workplace – Know Your Rights” notice in English and any other available languages.
- ☐ Identify which languages you need.
- Review how you normally communicate employment-related information (payroll, schedules, policy updates). Match those languages for the notice.
- ☐ If a needed language is not yet available, document it.
- Email yourself (and HR/leadership) noting which language you need, that it’s not yet available on DIR, and your plan to distribute as soon as it is.
- ☐ Choose your distribution method(s).
- Decide whether you will use email, text, hand-delivery, worksite distribution, or a combination, based on how your employees actually receive information.
- ☐ Deliver the notice to all current employees by February 1, 2026.
- Use your chosen methods and ensure field, remote, and on-site staff are all covered.jdsupra+1
- ☐ If you have a union, notify the rep.
- Send the notice to the exclusive collective bargaining representative for union employees via email or mail, by the same deadline.
- ☐ Update your onboarding for new hires.
- Add “Provide SB 294 Know Your Rights notice” to your Day 1 paperwork checklist for all new hires starting February 1, 2026.
- ☐ Document distribution.
- Keep proof: email reports, signed acknowledgments, distribution logs, or photos of notices posted in required areas.
Section B – Emergency Contact Requirement (March 30, 2026)
- ☐ Create and distribute an SB 294-compliant emergency contact form.
- Form must allow employees to (1) name an emergency contact and (2) indicate whether they want that contact notified if they are arrested or detained at work or during work hours, when you have actual knowledge.
- ☐ Build a tracking and response process.
- Store emergency contact + notification preferences in a secure, easy-to-search place (HRIS or central file).
- Create a simple internal protocol so that when law enforcement is involved and you know an employee has opted in, someone is clearly responsible for notifying the emergency contact and documenting when/how it was done.
You can package these ten steps into a one-page PDF and brand it as your SB 294 Monday-Ready Checklist.
The Emergency Contact Form (Employer-Facing Template)
This is the form you’ll include both in your onboarding packet and in a one-time rollout to current employees. Edit fields to match your org, but keep the core language intact for Labor Code section 1555 alignment.
[Sample] SB 294 Emergency Contact & Notification Preference Form
For employees working in California
Employee Name: _______________________________
Job Title: ____________________________________
Department/Location: ___________________________
- Emergency Contact Information
This is the person we may contact in case of an emergency involving you.
- Name: ________________________________________
- Relationship (family, friend, partner, other): __________
- Primary Phone: _________________________________
- Alternate Phone (optional): _______________________
- Email (optional): ________________________________
You may update this information at any time by contacting HR.
- Notification Preference – Arrest or Detention at Work
California law allows you to decide whether you want us to notify your emergency contact if you are arrested or detained at work or during work hours and we have actual knowledge of it.
Please choose one:
☐ YES – If I am arrested or detained at work or during work hours and my employer has knowledge of it, I want my emergency contact notified.
☐ NO – If I am arrested or detained at work or during work hours, I do not want my emergency contact notified by my employer.
Your choice will not affect your job. You can change this preference at any time by submitting a new form to HR.
Employee Signature: _____________________________
Date: ___________________
What to Say When You Roll This Out
Give your managers words they can actually use.
When introducing the form to employees:
“California passed a new law that gives you more control over what happens if something serious happens at work. We’re updating our records so you can tell us who your emergency contact is, and whether you want us to notify them if you are arrested or detained at work or during work hours.
You can say yes or no. Either way, it doesn’t affect your job. It just tells us what you want us to do if a serious situation comes up.”
If you have to call the emergency contact (and the employee opted in):
“I’m calling from [Company] because [Employee Name] listed you as their emergency contact and asked that we notify you if something serious happened during work. Law enforcement detained or arrested them at [location] today during work hours. I don’t have more details to share right now, but I wanted to honor [Employee Name]’s request that you be notified.”
Notice what you are not doing:
- You are not speculating about charges.
- You are not giving legal advice.
- You are not hiding the fact that something serious has happened.
You are simply honoring the choice your employee made on their form.
If You’re Late or Overwhelmed
You might be reading this after January 20 with no notice sent, no form drafted, and competing fires on your desk.
Here is the triage version:
- Today: download the model notice and decide how you will deliver it to all current staff.
- This week: send it (email + print where needed) and start a simple distribution log.
- Next: finalize the emergency contact form, roll it out to employees, and load responses into one central place.
Yes, the deadlines are tight. But taking clear steps now is better than having no record that you tried.
When to Ask for Help
If your org looks anything like most California employers Visionova talks to, SB 294 is landing on top of:
- A handbook last fully updated in 2022
- Multi-state staff with inconsistent practices
- Leaders who admit, quietly, “we don’t really have a process if the law show up”
That’s where outside help makes sense.
A Free 20-Minute Discovery Call is enough time to:
- Map how SB 294 applies to your specific org (size, sectors, union/non‑union, languages)
- Spot the gaps in your current notice and emergency-contact process
- Leave with a short, prioritized “fix this next” list you can carry into your Monday leadership meeting
No jargon. No scare tactics. Just: here’s what changed, here’s what you need, and here’s how to talk about it with your team without making anyone panic.
Your people will remember how you show up when everything goes sideways.
Visionova HR Consulting
Culture + Compliance
customersucces@visionovahr.com | (510) 243-5254
www.visionovahr.com
Written by Bernadette Jones, SHRM-SCP | HR Expert | Visionova HR Sarah has over 20 years of experience helping California employers navigate wage and hour regulations, specializing in FLSA compliance and employee classification. Connect: [LinkedIn]]
Disclaimer
This article is general information and not legal advice. Classification rules depend on role duties, pay practices, and jurisdiction. For advice specific to your organization, consult qualified counsel.
