AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 16, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Kalra

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Lee and Ortega)

February 20, 2026

An act to amend Section 1019 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: no   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law prohibits an employer or any other person from engaging in, or directing another person to engage in, an unfair immigration-related practice against a person for the purpose of, or with the intent of, retaliating against any person for exercising a right protected under state labor and employment laws or under a local ordinance applicable to employees, as specified.

Existing law authorizes a civil action for equitable relief and damages or penalties, as specified, by an employee or other person who is the subject of an unfair immigration-related practice.

This bill would expand the above-described prohibition to include retaliating against any person for exercising any right under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees employees, as defined, and would prohibit preventing a person from exercising such a right. The bill would also prohibit an employer or any other person from engaging in any other conduct, related to any person’s perceived immigration status, that would reasonably tend to dissuade an employee a person from engaging in conduct that the employee person has a legal right to engage in under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, or to induce an employee a person to engage in conduct that the employee person has a legal right to abstain from under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees. The bill would make an employer or other person who violates these provisions liable for a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 per employee or person for each violation, as specified. The bill would also make related and conforming changes to these provisions.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) It has been the longstanding public policy of the State of California that workers must be able to report violations, seek information about their rights, and participate in enforcement efforts without threat or fear of adverse consequences.

(2) This strong public policy is embodied in the Labor Code’s prohibitions against retaliation undertaken by employers against workers who have sought to exercise the rights guaranteed to them under the Labor Code.

(3) The Legislature recognizes that unscrupulous employers’ statements or actions designed to dissuade workers from exercising their rights in the first place likewise prevent workers from reporting workplace violations and, similarly, undermine effective enforcement of labor standards.

(4) Immigrant workers are uniquely vulnerable to exploitation and intimidation in the workplace. Employers exploit distinct vulnerabilities, including fear of immigration enforcement, to deter immigrant workers from reporting workplace violations.

(5) Unscrupulous employers utilize unfair immigration-related practices to preemptively silence immigrant workers and compel them to accept substandard working conditions, thereby undercutting law-abiding employers and eroding workplace standards for all California workers.

(6) Intimidating conduct, including veiled or overt immigration-related threats, to prevent workers from asserting their rights in the future is contrary to the public policy of this state.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to do both of the following:

(1) Ensure immigrant workers can safely report violations and participate in the enforcement of their workplace protections by providing that employer behavior that has the effect of deterring the assertion of protected workplace rights is unlawful under the existing legal framework when done to deter workers from exercising protected rights.

(2) Reinforce California’s longstanding public policy that workers must be able to assert workplace rights free from employer intimidation, threats, or retaliation, including the fear of reporting to immigration authorities or other unfair immigration-related employment practices as defined herein.

SEC. 2.

Section 1019 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

1019.

(a) It is unlawful for an employer or any other person or entity to engage in, or to direct another person or entity to engage in, unfair immigration-related practices against any person for the purpose of, or with the intent of, retaliating against any person for exercising, or attempting to exercise, any right protected under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees. Exercising such a right includes the following:

(1) Filing a complaint or informing any person of an employer’s or other party’s alleged violation of any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, so long as the complaint or disclosure is made in good faith.

(2) Seeking information regarding whether an employer or other party is in compliance with any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees.

(3) Informing a person of their potential rights and remedies under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, and assisting them in asserting those rights.

(b) It is unlawful for an employer or any other person to engage in any other conduct, related to any person’s perceived immigration status, that would reasonably tend to dissuade an employee a person from engaging in conduct that the employee person has a legal right to engage in under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, or to induce an employee a person to engage in conduct that the employee person has a legal right to abstain from under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees.

(c) (1) As used in this chapter, “unfair immigration-related practice” means any of the following practices, when undertaken for the retaliatory purposes prohibited by subdivision (a):

(A) Requesting more or different documents than are required under Section 1324a(b) of Title 8 of the United States Code, or a refusal to honor documents tendered pursuant to that section that on their face reasonably appear to be genuine.

(B) Using the federal E-Verify system to check the employment authorization status of a person at a time or in a manner not required under Section 1324a(b) of Title 8 of the United States Code, or not authorized under any memorandum of understanding governing the use of the federal E-Verify system.

(C) Threatening to file or the filing of a false police report, or a false report or complaint with any state or federal agency.

(D) Threatening to contact or contacting immigration authorities.

(2) “Unfair immigration-related practice” does not include conduct undertaken at the express and specific direction or request of the federal government.

(d) Engaging in a violation of this section against a person within 90 days of the person’s exercise of rights protected under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees shall raise a rebuttable presumption of having done so in retaliation for the exercise of those rights.

(e) Actual immigration status is irrelevant to the determination of liability under this section, consistent with Section 1171.5.

(f) (1) An employee or other person who is subjected to conduct prohibited by this section, or a representative of that employee or person, may bring a civil action for equitable relief, any applicable damages, or penalties.

(2) Upon a finding by a court of applicable jurisdiction of a violation of this section, upon application by a party or on its own motion, a court may do the following:

(A) For a first violation, order the appropriate government agencies to suspend all licenses that are held by the violating party for a period of up to 14 days. On receipt of the court’s order and notwithstanding any other law, the appropriate agencies shall suspend the licenses according to the court’s order.

(B) For a second violation, order the appropriate government agencies to suspend all licenses that are held by the violating party for a period of up to 30 days. On receipt of the court’s order and notwithstanding any other law, the appropriate agencies shall immediately suspend the licenses.

(C) For a third or subsequent violation, order the appropriate government agencies to suspend for a period of up to 90 days all licenses that are held by the violating party. On receipt of the court’s order and notwithstanding any other law, the appropriate agencies shall immediately suspend the licenses.

(3) In determining whether a suspension of all licenses is appropriate under this subdivision, the court shall consider whether the employer or other person knowingly committed a violation, the good faith efforts of the employer or other person to resolve any alleged violations of this section after receiving notice of the violations, as well as the harm other employees, including, but not limited to, employees of other employers on a multiemployer job site, will suffer as a result of the suspension of all licenses.

(4) An employee or other person who is the subject of conduct prohibited by this section, and who prevails in an action authorized by this section, shall recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including any expert witness costs.

(5) In addition to other remedies available, an employer or other person who violates this section is liable for a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per employee or person for each violation of this section, to be awarded to the employee or person who suffered the violation.

(g) The protections, prohibitions, and remedies provided by this section are in addition to, and do not diminish, any other protections, prohibitions, or remedies provided under any other local, state, or federal law.

(h) As used in this chapter:

(1) “License” means any agency permit, certificate, approval, registration, or charter that is required by law and that is issued by any agency for the purposes of operating a business in this state and that is specific to the business location or locations where the unfair immigration-related practice occurred. “License” does not include a professional license.

(2) “Violation” means each incident when an unfair immigration-related practice was committed, without reference to the number of employees involved in the incident.