Governor Newsom has signed three bills that change California's bereavement leave rules, the state's definition of sex discrimination, and the content of the harassment prevention training the state already requires. Newsweek reported the changes on October 13, 2026 in "California workplace laws to change for millions in 2027". The law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (MSK) set out the mechanics in a client alert published October 16, 2026 by Jeremy Mittman and Cassandra L. Horton, which describes the three bills as widening California's workplace protections under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the statutes tied to it.

According to Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, SB 1149 and AB 2563 take effect January 1, 2027, while AB 1803 adds required anti-hate-speech content to covered employers' harassment prevention training beginning January 1, 2028.

For an employer with five or more employees, the near-term work is small and specific: one edit to the handbook's bereavement policy, one briefing for whoever approves time off, and a calendar note to check what the next required training session covers. This page is reporting and general information. Novo does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice, and nothing here replaces a California employment attorney reading your handbook.

What do California's three new workplace laws change?

MSK's October 16, 2026 client alert, Newsweek's reporting, and the governor's September 27 and September 30, 2026 legislative updates describe the three bills this way:

• Senate Bill 1149, signed September 27, 2026 and effective January 1, 2027, adds a person the employee designates to the family members covered by California's bereavement leave law.
• Assembly Bill 2563, signed September 30, 2026 and effective January 1, 2027, puts one definition of "sex discrimination" into several California codes at once, FEHA, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Labor Code among them.
• Assembly Bill 1803, signed September 27, 2026 according to the governor's legislative update that day, requires anti-hate-speech content inside the harassment prevention training California already mandates, starting January 1, 2028.

Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp reports that AB 2563 would also have covered perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause, and related medical conditions if its companion bill, AB 1940, had become law. Governor Newsom vetoed AB 1940 on September 30, 2026, so those conditions are not part of the expanded definition of sex discrimination.

What is a "designated person" under California's bereavement leave law?

MSK describes California's bereavement leave law, Government Code § 12945.7, as covering employers with five or more employees and giving an eligible worker as much as five days off after a family member dies. Eligibility starts once a person has been employed 30 days or longer. Through December 31, 2026, the law covers eight relationships: a child, a parent, a parent-in-law, a sibling, a grandparent, a grandchild, a spouse, or a domestic partner.

Senate Bill 1149, signed September 27, 2026, expands the family-member definition in California's bereavement leave law to include a person the employee designates, effective January 1, 2027, according to Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. In the firm's summary, a designated person can be a blood relative of the employee, or someone whose bond with the employee amounts to a family relationship. The employee may name that person when requesting the leave. MSK, and the law firm CDF in its own October 1, 2026 summary, both say employers may limit each employee to one designated person per 12-month period. Coverage varies on this point: Newsweek reports that employees can only name one every 12 months. Novo's reading, based on the employment law firms' summaries, is that the cap is a limit the employer chooses to put in its policy. Confirm with counsel how your policy should handle it.

The rest of the bereavement framework is untouched, the firm says. Under the statute itself, Government Code § 12945.7, the leave must be completed within three months of the date of death, and if the employer asks for documentation of the death, the employee provides it within 30 days of the first day of leave.

Employers who already handle California paid sick leave requests have met the term before. MSK points out that the paid sick leave statute and the California Family Rights Act use the designated-person concept today, so the vocabulary is familiar even when the handbook has not caught up.

Newsweek reports that Equality California, which co-sponsored the bill, supported the change because it recognizes chosen and extended families, particularly for LGBTQ+ people, older adults and immigrants. Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang, quoted by Newsweek, said:

The handbook edit and the manager conversation

MSK recommends two moves before SB 1149 takes effect. The first is the policy itself: get designated-person language into the handbook's bereavement section ahead of January 1, 2027. If your policy names the eight relationships one by one, it needs a ninth line.

The second is the conversation. MSK advises training HR and managers to take a reasonable designation at face value instead of questioning how the employee and that person were connected, and warns that prying can invite discrimination or retaliation claims. In a seven-person shop where the owner signs off on every schedule change, the owner is the one who has to skip the follow-up question.

A bereavement leave intake form you can copy

This form follows the family member list in Government Code § 12945.7 as MSK describes it, plus the designated person SB 1149 adds, and the timing and documentation rules in the statute itself. Treat it as a drafting aid, and have a California employment attorney or qualified HR professional review your final version before an employee ever sees it.

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE REQUEST - INTAKE RECORD

Employee name: ______________________   Date of request: ____________

Hire date: ____________
(Eligibility begins after 30 days of employment or more.)

Relationship of the person who died (check one):
[ ] Spouse              [ ] Domestic partner    [ ] Child
[ ] Parent              [ ] Parent-in-law       [ ] Sibling
[ ] Grandparent         [ ] Grandchild
[ ] Designated person   (for leave taken on or after January 1, 2027)
    Name of designated person: ______________________________

Date of death: ____________

Days requested (up to five; they do not have to run back to back, and the
leave must be completed within three months of the date of death,
Gov. Code § 12945.7):
Date 1: ______  Date 2: ______  Date 3: ______
Date 4: ______  Date 5: ______

Documentation requested?  [ ] Yes  [ ] No
(If requested, the employee provides it within 30 days of the first day
of leave. Documentation includes, but is not limited to, a death
certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death,
burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial
society, crematorium, religious institution, or governmental agency.
Gov. Code § 12945.7.)
Date requested: ____________   Date received: ____________

FOR THE APPROVER
Received by: ____________________   Date received: ____________
Dates confirmed: ___________________________________________________

Reminder: MSK advises taking a reasonable designation at face value
rather than asking how the employee and that person were connected.

What does California's new sex discrimination definition cover?

Assembly Bill 2563, signed September 30, 2026, puts a single definition of sex discrimination into several California codes at once, effective January 1, 2027, according to the MSK alert. The firm names FEHA, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Labor Code among the codes involved. The practical effect is one definition where separate statutes previously carried their own language.

According to MSK, the definition reaches discrimination based on any of these characteristics, actual or perceived: a person's assigned sex or gender category, including female, male, or nonbinary; how closely they conform to sex or gender stereotypes; gender, which takes in gender identity, gender expression, and access to and use of gender-affirming and related health care; pregnancy and related medical conditions; decisions about, access to, or potential or actual use of care, drugs, devices, products, or services related to pregnancy or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and variations in sex characteristics, such as intersex traits. Newsweek's summary also names sex or gender stereotypes and sexual orientation among the areas covered.

Owners of public-facing businesses ask whether this reaches dress, grooming, or appearance rules. The reporting cited on this page does not say AB 2563 bans any particular dress code or hairstyle rule, so do not read a new rule into it. But the definition's inclusion of conformity to sex or gender stereotypes and of gender expression is the part most likely to touch rules that differ by gender. If your handbook sets grooming or dress standards by gender, put that section in front of an employment attorney instead of guessing.

MSK is direct about what the bill does not do: AB 2563 carries no express requirement that employers rewrite their policies. The firm still recommends briefing HR and supervisors on the wider definition and weighing whether EEO, anti-discrimination, and training materials should be updated to match.

The bill drew organized opposition. Newsweek reports that in a letter to the bill's author, Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, the California Family Council said it "strongly opposes AB 2563." Newsweek reports that the group said the broader definition could make it harder to maintain key, sex-based rules in places like women's shelters, locker rooms and girls' sports, and criticized the bill for not explicitly exempting churches, religious schools and faith-based nonprofits.

Do California employers have to do hate speech training?

Starting in 2028, yes, as content inside a course most covered employers already run.

MSK writes that FEHA requires employers with five or more employees to run sexual harassment and abusive-conduct prevention training every other year, at a minimum of two hours for supervisors and one hour for everyone else in California. A new hire has to be trained within six months of starting, and an employee promoted into a supervisory role within six months of that promotion. Seasonal and temporary staff hired for a stretch shorter than six months have to be trained inside 30 calendar days or 100 hours worked, whichever comes sooner. MSK summarizes "abusive conduct" as malicious workplace behavior that a reasonable person would regard as hostile, offensive, and unrelated to the employer's legitimate business interests.

According to MSK's October 16, 2026 client alert, employers covered by California's harassment prevention training requirement must include anti-hate-speech training in that training beginning January 1, 2028. Newsweek described the new measure:

The new material sits inside the course employers already deliver, MSK says, and the minimum lengths stay at one hour and two hours. The firm's read is that training satisfies the requirement if it covers the ban on unlawful harassment, which it should already, and if it makes the point that abusive conduct can be based on a protected characteristic. MSK's recommended step is to check your training materials and confirm the anti-hate-speech component is in them by January 1, 2028.

Critics say the term at the center of the requirement has no legal definition. Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, told Newsweek the group opposes the measure because California law does not define "hate speech," which he said could leave employers unsure which workplace expression training should address. He told Newsweek that religious hospitals, schools, and faith-based businesses face even greater exposure, and that his group wants lawmakers to repeal the measure before the training requirement takes effect in 2028, arguing that workplaces should allow employees to "disagree respectfully." He argued that the vague wording could push employers toward an overly cautious approach when employees complain about controversial views, and he was careful to say the bill itself doesn't require firings:

Newsweek reports he followed that line with: "The danger is subtler."

Which California employers have to comply?

• Bereavement leave, including the designated-person addition: employers with five or more employees, per MSK's description of Government Code § 12945.7, with employees eligible after 30 days of employment or more.
• Harassment prevention training, including the 2028 anti-hate-speech content: employers with five or more employees, per MSK's description of Government Code § 12950.1.
• The uniform sex discrimination definition under AB 2563: the reports cited here do not state an employee-count threshold for the definition itself.

Two questions come up constantly and sit outside what this reporting covers. Neither Newsweek's article nor the MSK alert addresses how these bills apply to a company headquartered outside California that employs a remote worker in the state, and neither addresses businesses that engage 1099 contractors rather than employees. Ask a California employment attorney about your own setup instead of assuming an answer in either direction.

What should California small business owners do before January 1, 2027?

1. Open the handbook to the bereavement section. Add the designated person to the family member list. Decide whether you want the one-designation-per-12-month-period cap MSK says employers may adopt, and write your decision down.
2. Send your managers a one-page note. Cover how to take a designated-person request without asking about the relationship, and who records it.
3. Have a California employment attorney or qualified HR provider review the changes you plan to make. Cost and turnaround depend on your policies and your workforce.
4. Read your EEO language next to the new sex discrimination definition. MSK says no revision is expressly required, and recommends the review anyway.

One item sits on a later clock. Ask your training provider when your next required session falls, and confirm that any session delivered on or after January 1, 2028 carries the anti-hate-speech content.

Pay attorney fees, training invoices, and HR-service subscriptions from a dedicated business account so they stay out of your personal spending and your bookkeeper can find them in one place at tax time. Novo business checking has no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement, and it integrates with QuickBooks Online (which has its own pricing plans), and transactions sync automatically. Novo does not accept cash deposits, which matters if your business takes in a lot of cash; the alternatives are depositing a money order or cashier's check with mobile check deposit in the Novo app (MoneyGram money orders aren't accepted for mobile deposit), transferring from another bank, or receiving payouts from a payment processor.

Frequently asked questions

I have four employees in California. Am I covered? MSK's alert describes both the bereavement leave law and the harassment prevention training requirement as applying to employers with five or more employees. If you are approaching five employees, prepare for both, and ask California employment counsel separately how AB 2563 applies to your business, because the reporting here does not state a headcount threshold for that definition.

What if I use 1099 contractors instead of employees? The reporting cited on this page addresses employees and employers. It does not say how contractor relationships are treated under these three bills. Ask a California employment attorney about your specific setup rather than assuming contractors sit outside the rules.

Does the anti-hate-speech requirement make my training longer or more expensive? MSK says the new material is part of the harassment prevention training employers already run, and that the minimum lengths stay at one hour and two hours. Whether your vendor charges more for an updated course is a question for the vendor.

Do I have to rewrite my EEO policy because of AB 2563? Not as an express requirement. MSK says the bill carries no express requirement to revise policies, while advising employers to brief HR and supervisors on the wider definition and to consider whether EEO, anti-discrimination, and training materials should match the new language.

Where is the actual law written down? The three bills are SB 1149, AB 2563, and AB 1803. This page relies on Newsweek's October 13, 2026 report, the Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp client alert published October 16, 2026, CDF Labor Law's October 1, 2026 summary, the governor's September 27 and September 30, 2026 legislative updates, and Government Code § 12945.7. The bill text is public on the California Legislature's website: SB 1149, AB 2563, and AB 1803. The bereavement leave statute SB 1149 amends is Government Code § 12945.7. To apply that text to your own business, work with a California employment attorney.

Sources: California workplace laws to change for millions in 2027, Newsweek, Oct. 13, 2026; FEHA Expands Again: Three New Developments California Employers Need to Know, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, Oct. 16, 2026; Governor Newsom issues legislative update 9.27.2026, gov.ca.gov; Governor Newsom issues legislative update 9.30.2026, gov.ca.gov; California Law Broadens Definition of Family Member for Bereavement Leave to Include a "Designated Person", CDF Labor Law, Oct. 1, 2026; California Government Code § 12945.7, California Legislative Information.

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