On Notice: California Civil Rights Department Publishes Notice Regarding Victims of Crime

Effective January 1, 2025, California employers face new requirements when employees are victims of crime and revised and expanded leave protections for those victims. The expanded law allows employees to use sick leave as well as vacation, personal time or compensatory time if they or a family member has experienced a “qualifying act of violence.”  The new law also requires all employers to provide employees with written notice of their rights under the statute. However, the notice requirements of the bill remained incomplete, until now.

On July 1, 2025, the CRD issued the official model notice that employers are required to distribute, and which defines the scope of information which must be provided to employees. It can be found here.

The notice informs employees that are crime victims of their rights to:

Take job-protected leave to:

• Obtain medical attention or psychological counseling related to an injury or experience of abuse or crime;
• Participate in safety planning, including relocating or implementing protective measures;
• Seek services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or victim advocacy organization;
• Attend court proceedings, including those related to protective orders, restraining orders, or other legal actions connected to the crime; and
• Handle other needs arising as a direct result of being a victim (or a family member of a victim), such as attending funerals, grieving, or resolving legal and financial matters.

Request reasonable safety accommodations in the workplace, which may include:

• Modified work schedules or location changes.
• Installation of locks, implementation of safety protocols, or other adjustments to increase physical security.
• Changes to phone numbers, email addresses, or other personal contact information.
• Transfer or reassignment, if appropriate and feasible.

Be protected from retaliation or discrimination for:

• Taking or requesting leave under these provisions;
• Requesting workplace accommodations for safety; and
• Disclosing victim status to the employer for the purpose of obtaining these protections.

Employers may use the model notice published by the CRD or create their own version, so long as the notice is “substantially similar in content and clarity.”  Given that that phrase is up for interpretation, we recommend that employers who want to draft their own notice stick as close to the original language as possible.

This notice must be provided to all new employees at the time of hire and current employees upon request.

Next Steps:

To ensure compliance, employers should:

• Download and review the model notice issued by the CRD. Employers can find it here.
• Incorporate the notice into onboarding documents for all new hires and make sure it is available to current employees.
• Train HR personnel and managers on employee rights under these new standards and related Labor Code provisions.
• Review and update relevant leave, accommodation, and anti-retaliation policies.

Please reach out to your Stradling attorney if you have any questions or need assistance with your businesses’ compliance with the ever changing California employment laws.