The annual California employment law check: what every employer should review

You do not need to track legislation. You need a habit. Once a year, sit down with the following list and confirm each item is current, documented and actually being followed. Every item below is something an agency, a plaintiff's attorney or a funder can ask you to produce.

1. Handbook and written policies

Confirm the handbook reflects current leave entitlements, paid sick leave accrual and usage, reproductive loss leave, bereavement leave, and any local ordinances that apply where your people work. Check that you can prove each employee received and acknowledged the current version.

2. Required written plans

California employers need a written Injury and Illness Prevention Plan, and nearly all now need a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan with associated training and an incident log. A plan that exists as a PDF nobody has read is a finding, not a defense.

3. Pay practices

• Exempt salary thresholds — confirm every exempt employee still meets both the salary and duties tests
• Meal and rest break practice, including whether premiums are paid when breaks are missed
• Pay scale disclosure in job postings and on request
• Wage statement accuracy, including sick leave balances
• Final pay timing procedures for voluntary and involuntary separations

4. Training and postings

Harassment prevention training is required on a two-year cycle, with different requirements for supervisors and non-supervisors. New hires and newly promoted supervisors have their own deadlines. Confirm your tracking shows who completed what and when — not just that training was offered. Replace labor law postings with the current year's set.

5. Records

Personnel files, medical and leave files, and I-9s should be separated, complete and retained for the required periods. Employees have a statutory right to inspect their file on request, with a deadline attached. If you would struggle to respond within that window, fix the filing before you need to.

Where to start if this list is daunting

Pick the two items with the largest exposure — usually exempt classification and missing written plans — and close those first. A compliance assessment gets you a ranked list so you are working on the right things in the right order rather than the easiest things first.