The California Policy Lab has now launched an online California AI Unemployment Tracker to monitor how artificial intelligence is affecting unemployment in the state.

At the halfway point of the year, it’s time for California employers to review what is new and what lies ahead in state employment law. California’s AI Unemployment Tracker has gone live. Minimum wage increases take effect July 1, 2026, and a significant wave of new employment laws are under consideration by the California Legislature.

California AI Unemployment Tracker Goes Live

On May 21, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-6-26, directing a sweeping set of state-level actions aimed at studying, managing and mitigating the workforce impacts of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. (See our May Alert.) Among many other directives, the executive order required the California Employment Development Department (EDD) to launch a public dashboard showing AI's impact on employment across various sectors using unemployment insurance data by August 19, 2026. The executive order also directed the EDD to make recommendations for possible additional information and actions by employers as part of the WARN notice procedure. The California Policy Lab has now launched an online California AI Unemployment Tracker to monitor how artificial intelligence is affecting unemployment in the state. The dashboard provides the public with sector-level information about AI-related labor market trends, including where job displacement, hiring shifts or workforce changes may be emerging.

Minimum Wage Increases Take Effect July 1, 2026

The minimum wage in California is $16.90 per hour for all employers, effective January 1, 2026. Fast food restaurant employers and healthcare facility employers have a higher minimum wage. Numerous California cities and counties have set their own local minimum wage rates. Effective July 1, 2026, minimum wage is set to increase in the following cities and counties:

Jurisdiction	Hourly Rate Effective July 1, 2026	Employer Size
Alameda	$17.76	All
Berkeley	$19.61	All
Emeryville	$20.34	All
Fremont	$18.05	All
Los Angeles (city)	$18.42	All
Los Angeles County (unincorporated)	$18.47	All
Malibu	$17.91	All
Milpitas	$18.50	All
Oakland	$17.34	All
Pasadena	$18.57	All
San Francisco	$19.61	All
Santa Monica	$18.47	All

Employers must pay the highest applicable minimum wage—state, local or industry-specific—based on where employees actually perform work. Higher local minimum wage does not impact exempt status.

Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Phase-In (SB 525)

On July 1, 2026, California’s phased healthcare worker minimum wage increases, by facility type and size, as follows:

Facility	Hourly Rate
Hospitals with 90 percent or more of their patients paid for by Medicare or Medi-Cal; Independent hospitals with 75 percent or more of their patients paid for by Medicare or Medi-Cal; Rural independent covered healthcare facilities; and Covered healthcare facilities run by small counties with fewer than 250,000 people.	$19.28
Intermittent clinics; Community clinics; Rural health clinics; and Urgent care clinics associated with community or rural health clinics.	$22.00
Hospitals or integrated health systems with 10,000 or more full-time employees, including skilled nursing facilities operated by these employers; Dialysis clinics; and Covered healthcare facilities run by large counties with more than five million people as of January 1, 2023.	$25.00
All covered healthcare facilities run by medium-sized counties (250,000 to 5 million people) and all other covered facilities not identified above.	$23.00

The increase in minimum wage for healthcare workers affects compensation requirements for exempt covered healthcare employees. To maintain exempt status, healthcare employees must be paid the higher of either (1) two times the standard statewide minimum wage or (2) 1.5 times the applicable healthcare worker minimum wage. Under that standard, effective July 1, 2026, employers subject to the $23 per hour minimum wage must pay exempt employees an annual salary of at least $71,760, while employers subject to the $25 per hour minimum wage must pay exempt employees an annual salary of at least $78,000, to retain the exemption.

Industry-Specific Hotel and Hospitality Minimum Wages

Several California cities impose elevated minimum wages on employers in the hotel and hospitality industry. These rates significantly exceed both statewide and local general minimum wages. Coverage and applicability depend on property size, room count, property type and the scope of local ordinances.

On July 1, 2026, minimum wage increases for employees in this industry as follows:

Jurisdiction	Hourly Rate Effective July 1, 2026	Key Details
Los Angeles (city)	$25.00	Hotels with 60-plus rooms; plus $4.25/hour health benefit rate
Long Beach	$26.50	Hotel workers; $28.00 on July 1, 2027
Long Beach (concessionaires)	$26.50	Airport and convention center workers
Santa Monica	$25.00	Hotel workers
Glendale	$25.00	Hotel workers; health benefit mandated by the city of Los Angeles is not mandated by the city of Glendale.
West Hollywood	$20.87	Hotel workers
San Diego (hotels/amusement parks)	$19.00	Phase-in to $25.00/hour by July 1, 2030
San Diego (event centers)	$21.06	Phase-in to $25.00/hour by July 1, 2030

Looking Ahead – Active Legislation Affecting AI, Immigration, Workplace Violence, Leaves of Absence and More

The year is not over, and there is still more to come. Several active employment bills are moving through the Legislature that regulate workplace technology, immigration-related practices, workplace safety and leaves of absence.

SB 947, otherwise known as the “No Robo Bosses” bill, is back for a third year in a row. If passed and signed into law, that bill would prohibit employers from using automated decision systems to perform certain functions and would limit the purposes for and ways in which such systems can be used. In addition, AB 1883, under consideration, would restrict the use of workplace surveillance tools and worker data, including by limiting certain uses of facial recognition and prohibiting tools that infer protected or sensitive information about workers, if passed and signed into law.

AB 2495, also under consideration, would expand California’s existing restrictions on unfair immigration-related practices by prohibiting conduct tied to perceived immigration status that would reasonably tend to deter employees from exercising workplace rights. If passed and signed into law, this bill would authorize penalties of up to $10,000 per employee or person for each violation.

AB 1961, if passed, would give employers a broader tool to respond to workplace threats by allowing a workplace violence restraining order to be sought on behalf of all employees at a workplace or job-duty location without naming each protected employee individually.

Leave, wage and enforcement proposals also warrant close attention. SB 1149 would expand California’s bereavement leave law by allowing eligible employees to take leave for the death of a “designated person,” while permitting employers to limit employees to one designated person per 12-month period.

Currently under consideration, AB 2646, if passed and signed into law, would create a $19.75 hourly minimum wage for covered agricultural employees, with annual cost-of-living adjustments beginning January 1, 2027.

SB 1316, if passed, would affect wage, retaliation and prevailing-wage proceedings by limiting employers’ and contractors’ ability to rely on books, documents or records not timely produced in response to Labor commissioner requests.

Recommended Action Steps for Employers

To ensure timely compliance with the July 1, 2026, minimum wage changes described above, California employers are encouraged to take the following steps:

Evaluate Employee Work Locations and Covered Facilities

Identify all jurisdictions where employees perform work and determine which facilities or operations are subject to healthcare or hospitality requirements.

Update Payroll and Compensation Systems

Adjust minimum wage rates, exempt salary thresholds, timekeeping systems and overtime calculations to reflect the new rates. Verify that the highest applicable rate is being paid for each work location.

Update Workplace Postings and Wage Notices

Replace or supplement minimum wage posters, healthcare worker supplement notices, hotel worker ordinance notices and any other required workplace postings with current versions reflecting July 1, 2026, rates.

Analyze Coverage Under Hospitality and Hotel Ordinances

Review room counts, property types, contractor/subcontractor arrangements, leased spaces and collective bargaining agreement carveouts to determine applicability.

Retain Evidence of Compliance

Maintain records of payroll changes and posted notices.

Our Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group attorneys will continue to monitor developments in California employment law and share updates in future Duane Morris Alerts.

For More Information

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Lorraine Ocheltree, Michael S. Bernick, Rocio Hernandez, any of the attorneys in our Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.