One of our California thought leaders pulled together his top predictions for the new year so that employers can get a running start to 2026.
AI and Workplace Surveillance Will Remain in the Spotlight
Despite some AI-related legislative fails in 2025 (SB 7 and AB 1018), California regulators advanced some significant regulations of AI use by employers. This issue won’t go away anytime soon – California doesn’t like to be left behind other states, so the legislative and regulatory push will continue. Similarly, we have not seen the end of AB 1331 – a sweeping employee surveillance bill that failed to make it to the governor’s desk last year. Expect to see more legislative attempts in 2026 at changing the landscape when it comes to permissible workplace surveillance in California.
California Will Continue to Respond to the Trump Administration
While a federal judge recently blocked key portions of California’s new labor law (which aimed to regulate areas reserved for federal oversight), labor will continue to look for creative ways to counter perceived rollbacks at the federal level by enacting new state laws.
California Supreme Court Will End “Headless” PAGA Claims
Even with the statutory clarifications that came along with 2024’s PAGA reforms, California courts continue to wrestle with one of the thorniest aspects of the law: whether plaintiffs can maintain particularly troubling and costly “headless” PAGA claims against employers. The California Supreme Court is set to address the issue in Leeper v. Shipt, Inc., and we anticipate a decision in early 2026 that will end pre-form headless PAGA claims once and for all.
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Want More?
- You can read our entire FP Forecast 2026, which is full of predictions spanning many practice areas and industries.
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