As we move further into 2025, it is more critical than ever for California employers to review and update their employee handbooks regularly. Workplace requirements continue to evolve rapidly. Whether it’s new legislation, hybrid work dynamics, employees returning to a physical office from remote work, or shifts in employee expectations, your workplace policies need to reflect these changes in real time.
An up-to-date employee handbook is not just a best practice dream; it is both a powerful legal safeguard and a roadmap of expectations and standards for your management team and your employees. It communicates company expectations, ensures compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, and provides essential documentation of your standards in the event of a legal claim. In California especially, where employee rights are extremely robust and ever-expanding, an up-to-date handbook with legally compliant policies is always your first line of defense.
Failing to keep your handbook current can result in outdated policies that expose you to risk, especially during audits, investigations, or litigation. In fact, in class actions and PAGA claims alleging wage-and-hour violations, an outdated handbook with non-compliant policies does more harm than good.
Because California’s legislative climate is more pro-employee by the year, and changes swiftly, reviewing your handbook once a year is now the bare minimum. Each January brings a swath of new laws that require policy revisions. Waiting too long to address these changes means your company may be out of compliance.
As a best practice goal, after you update your employee handbook, have each of your employees review and sign off on the updated handbook. This should also be done annually. It not only helps reinforce accountability, but it provides clear documentation that employees were informed of changes. Employers should preserve copies of all signed handbook acknowledgments in each employee’s personnel file.
While templates and HR software can provide a starting point, they rarely offer legal precision based on your business specifics, local rules, and ever-evolving legal requirements. Many times, the templates do not contain the necessary strategic language (found in recent case law outcomes or updated administrative guidance) needed to protect your business. Sometimes templates only reflect federal and not California law. California law is nuanced, especially around wage-and-hour issues, leave of absence laws, paid sick leave, arbitration, and employee discipline.
If you use a template, be sure to work with competent employment counsel to:
Here are some key areas to review or revise in your current handbook for 2025 (note that there are many others):
Intersectional Discrimination (SB 1137)
Effective January 1, 2025, California employers must update their policies, particularly those addressing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. These policies must clarify that the company prohibits unlawful behavior based not only on individual protected characteristics, but also on any combination of multiple protected characteristics.
Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Plan
You must have a Recovery Period Policy and a Heat Illness Prevention Plan if your business has any indoor places where the temperature will equal or exceed 82 degrees Fahrenheit during high-heat periods, and when employees are present.
Victims Leave (AB 2499)
Ensure your leave policies are updated to reflect the extensive changes to the California victims’ leave laws. This bill also requires changes to your Paid Sick Leave (or PTO) policy.
Paid Sick Leave (SB 1105) – New Uses for Agricultural Employees
Agricultural workers may use existing sick leave for “preventative care” when working outside during a declared state of emergency – high heat, smoke, or flood. Have you updated your policy?
Technology Use and AI Guidelines
If your workplace uses artificial intelligence for hiring, performance tracking, employee management, or recording meetings, new privacy and transparency laws will likely require disclosures or an opportunity to opt out.
Updating your handbook is not just an annual check-the-box item. It is truly a smart business move. With so many legal and regulatory changes in 2025, and more percolating on the horizon for 2026, now is the time to audit and update your current policies or build a new, legally sound handbook from the ground up.
Need help? Contact the attorneys at LightGabler LLP to get started. We offer comprehensive handbook services, including a complimentary confidentiality agreement and arbitration agreement with every custom handbook. Reach out to us at info@lightgablerlaw.com or connect with your dedicated LightGabler LLP attorney for guidance on your next steps.
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