On October 3, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 858 into law, which amends Labor Code section 2810.8 by extending the sunset date of the recall and reinstatement rights for certain employees laid off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic from December 31, 2025 to January 1, 2027, to ensure that certain hospitality and service workers, who were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have rehiring protections. AB 858 also strengthens these protections by specifying that violations occurring on or before December 31, 2026, shall remain enforceable by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) after the sunset date.

Labor Code section 2810.8 currently requires that until December 31, 2025, certain hospitality and building-services “employers” must offer laid-off employees information about positions that become available and to make offers based on qualification and length of service, using specified timelines and notice methods.

• “Employer” includes any person (including corporate officers/executives and successor employers) who directly or indirectly owns or operates an enterprise and controls wages, hours, or working conditions, including through a temporary-service or staffing agency.
• An “enterprise” means a hotel or private club, an event center, an airport hospitality operation, an airport service provider, or a business providing building services (janitorial, building maintenance, or security) to office, retail, or other commercial buildings. 
• A “laid-off employee” is one employed for six months or more whose most recent separation from active employment on or after March 4, 2020 was due to a COVID-19–related reason (including a public-health directive, government shutdown order, lack of business, a reduction in force, or another economic, nondisciplinary reason).

Labor Code section 2810.8 creates a presumption that separations for lack of business, reduction in force, or other economic, nondisciplinary reasons are COVID-related unless the employer rebuts it by a preponderance of the evidence. When a position becomes available, covered employers must, within five business days, make written offers to all qualified laid-off employees (mail or personal delivery and, if available, email/text); if multiple employees are eligible, offers are made in order of seniority. Employees have at least five business days from receipt to accept. Employers must retain records for three years from the date of layoff and, if the employer declines to rehire because a former employee is not qualified and hires someone else, must provide the former employee a written explanation within 30 days identifying the reasons and the seniority of those hired. The law prohibits retaliation for exercising rights under section 2810.8 and authorizes enforcement by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), including reinstatement/hiring, back and front pay, and the value of benefits.

Effective Jan. 1, 2026, AB 858 extends the sunset date of the recall and reinstatement rights under Labor Code section 2810.8 from December 31, 2025 to January 1, 2027. The amended law ensures that hospitality and service workers, who were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have rehiring protections, which are currently set to expire this year. The amendment also clarifies enforcement continuity: violations occurring on or before December 31, 2026 remain enforceable by the DLSE after the sunset date, preserving agency authority to pursue remedies for late-2026 noncompliance. All existing definitions (including employer, enterprise, and laid-off employee), the five-business-day offer and response timelines, seniority-based selection, required recordkeeping, 30-day explanation for non-recall decisions, and anti-retaliation protections remain in place for the extended period.

To prepare for AB 858, employers covered by the law should extend their right-to-recall program through January 1, 2027. Employers should make sure to confirm the employees that are covered by the law and rebuild recall rosters. Employers should train managers and recruiters on eligibility, seniority order, anti-retaliation, and documentation. 

For assistance with ensuring compliance with the amendment, employers should consult with their Payne & Fears LLP attorney.

SB 1326 Is Unmasked

What Employers Should Know

While it passed the Legislature, Governor Newsom vetoed this bill on October 11, 2025. This bill would have codified the right to wear a health mask in a public place in state law, such that an individual would have had the right to wear a health mask, as defined, on their face in a public place for the purpose of protecting their health and the health of others, with regard to communicable disease, air quality, or other health factors. The bill defined “health mask” as a medical grade mask that is surgical or an N95 or KN95 respirator to prevent the transmission of infections and a “public place” as open to the general public for the sale of goods or services. An individual’s right to wear a health mask would not have been construed as limiting or otherwise modifying the application or implementation of certain requirements for the temporary removal of a health mask so as not to conflict with security protocols to identify an individual, essential functions in the workplace, or emergency health care protocols, as specified, without limiting certain nondiscrimination protections on the basis of disability or medical condition.

Existing Law

Existing law sets forth various provisions on the wearing of a mask for health purposes, including but not limited to, a pandemic, wildfire, or other health emergency.