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Measure SB 238
Authors Smallwood-Cuevas  
Subject Workplace surveillance tools.
Relating To relating to employment.
Title An act to add Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 1550) to Division 2 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
Last Action Dt 2025-05-01
State Amended Senate
Status In Committee Process
Active? Y
Vote Required Majority
Appropriation No
Fiscal Committee Yes
Local Program No
Substantive Changes None
Urgency No
Tax Levy No
Leginfo Link Bill
Actions
2025-07-16     July 16 hearing postponed by committee.
2025-07-14     Joint Rule 62(a) suspended.
2025-07-09     July 8 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author.
2025-06-26     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
2025-06-09     Referred to Coms. on L. & E. and P. & C.P.
2025-06-04     In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
2025-06-03     Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 27. Noes 10. Page 1473.) Ordered to the Assembly.
2025-05-23     Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-05-23     From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1192.) (May 23).
2025-05-20     Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-19     May 19 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-09     Set for hearing May 19.
2025-05-01     Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-30     From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 2. Page 938.) (April 29).
2025-04-23     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 870.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
2025-04-09     Set for hearing April 29 in JUD. pending receipt.
2025-04-04     Set for hearing April 23.
2025-04-02     Re-referred to Coms. on L., P.E. & R. and JUD.
2025-03-26     From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
2025-02-05     Referred to Com. on RLS.
2025-01-30     From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 1.
2025-01-29     Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
Keywords
Tags
Versions
Amended Senate     2025-05-01
Amended Senate     2025-03-26
Introduced     2025-01-29
Last Version Text
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		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas</ns0:AuthorText>
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		<ns0:Title> An act to add Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 1550) to Division 2 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.</ns0:Title>
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			<html:p>Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to administer and enforce various laws relating to employment and working conditions.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would require an employer to annually provide a notice to the department of all the workplace surveillance tools the employer is using in the workplace. The bill would require the notice to include, among other information, the personal information that will be collected from workers and consumers and whether they will have the option of opting out of the collection of personal
			 information. The bill would require the department to make the notice publicly available on the department’s internet website within 30 days of receiving the notice. The bill would define “employer” to include, among other entities, public employers, as specified.</html:p>
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		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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				Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 1550) is added to Division 2 of the 
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				, to read:
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					<ns0:Num>5.7.</ns0:Num>
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						<ns0:LawHeadingText>Workplace Surveillance Tools</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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									(a)
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									“Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations.
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									(b)
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									(1)
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									“Employer” means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, employs or exercises control over the wages, benefits, other compensation, hours, working conditions, access to work or job opportunities, or other terms or conditions of employment, of any worker. This shall include all branches of state government, or the several counties, cities and counties, and municipalities thereof, or any other political subdivision of the state, or a school district, or any special district, or any authority, commission, or board or any other agency or instrumentality thereof.
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									(2)
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									“Employer” includes an employer’s labor contractor.
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									(c)
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									“Personal information” means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a worker or a consumer, regardless of how the information is collected, inferred, or obtained.
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									(d)
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									“Significant updates or changes” means changes that materially alter the function or scope of the surveillance tool, including new forms of data collection or analysis capabilities or new third-party access. Routine maintenance or changes that do not affect the tool’s functionality or data use are not considered significant.
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									(e)
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									“Worker” means a natural person or that person’s authorized representative acting as a job applicant to, an employee of, or an independent contractor providing service to, or through, a business or a state or local governmental entity in a workplace.
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									(f)
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									“Workplace surveillance tool” means any system, application, instrument, or device that collects or facilitates the collection of worker personal information,
						  activities, communications, actions, biometrics, or behaviors, or those of the public, by means other than direct observation by a person, including, but not limited to, video or audio surveillance, continuous incremental time-tracking tools, geolocation, electromagnetic tracking, photoelectronic tracking, or use of a photo-optical system or other means.
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									(a)
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									(1)
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									An employer shall annually provide a notice to the department of all workplace surveillance tools the employer is using in the workplace.
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									(2)
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									An employer who began using a workplace surveillance tool before January 1, 2026, shall provide the notice described in paragraph (1) before February 1, 2026.
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									(3)
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									An employer is not required to report tools that are used exclusively for basic information technology operations, such as spam filters, antivirus software, or server uptime monitors.
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									(b)
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									The notice shall contain all of the following information:
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									(1)
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									The individuals, vendors, and entities that created the workplace surveillance tool and the individuals, vendors, and entities that will run, manage, or interpret the worker personal information gathered by the workplace surveillance tool.
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									(2)
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									The name of the model and a description of the technological capabilities of the workplace surveillance tool.
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									(3)
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									Any significant updates or changes made to the workplace surveillance tool that
						  are already in use or any changes on how the employer is using the existing workplace surveillance tool.
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									(4)
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									Whether the workplace surveillance tool will affect consumers or other individuals in addition to workers.
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									(5)
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									The personal information that will be collected from workers or consumers by the workplace surveillance tool and whether they will have the option to opt out of personal information collection.
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									(6)
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									A list of all entities and individuals other than the employer that will have access to the personal information collected from workers and consumers.
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									(7)
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									Whether the employer has disclosed the use of the workplace surveillance tool with the affected workers and consumers.
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									(c)
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									The department shall make the notice publicly available on the department’s internet website within 30 days of receiving the notice from the employer.
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Last Version Text Digest Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to administer and enforce various laws relating to employment and working conditions. This bill would require an employer to annually provide a notice to the department of all the workplace surveillance tools the employer is using in the workplace. The bill would require the notice to include, among other information, the personal information that will be collected from workers and consumers and whether they will have the option of opting out of the collection of personal information. The bill would require the department to make the notice publicly available on the department’s internet website within 30 days of receiving the notice. The bill would define “employer” to include, among other entities, public employers, as specified.