On Friday, August 28, the California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 1281 (“AB 1281”), potentially extending until January 1, 2022 the partial exemptions for employment and business-to-business data under the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”). AB 1281 only takes effect if the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (the “CPRA”), an initiative to amend the CCPA, is not approved in the statewide general election on November 3. If the CPRA is not approved, the exemptions will expire on January 1, 2022. If the CPRA is approved, the exemptions will expire on January 1, 2023.

Before the passage of AB 1281, there was more uncertainty regarding when businesses would have to fully incorporate employment and business-to-business data into their CCPA compliance programs. The exemptions were previously set to expire on January 1 of the coming year unless the CPRA were to pass in November. Businesses now have until at least January 1, 2022 to fully incorporate employment and business-to-business information into their CCPA compliance programs.

For more information on AB 1281 and its impact on a business’s decision to fully extend its compliance program to employment and business-to-business data, please visit our previous blog post here. A summary of the CPRA’s key business impacts may be found here.

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