Governor Newsom recently signed into law AB 1803, which will require employers to provide anti-hate speech training.
As a reminder, California employers with 5 or more employees are already required to provide sexual harassment prevention training to employees within 6 months of hire and every 2 years.
The City of Philadelphia has amended its Fair Practices Ordinance to specifically protect employees from discrimination on the basis of menstruation, perimenopause and menopause.
This includes discrimination on the basis of reproductive health autonomy, whether based on pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, or menstruation, perimenopause or menopause. The law further requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee for needs related to menstruation, perimenopause or menopause if related symptoms substantially interfere with an employee’s ability to perform one or more job functions, absent undue hardship.
The city just expanded its Fair Chance Ordinance. Under the new amendment, employers are now prohibited from considering out-of-state criminal convictions or arrests tied to conduct that’s lawful in California, including abortion-related healthcare, gender-affirming care, drag performances, and miscarriage-related care.
On August 14, 2026, the Southern District of New York issued a notable decision for employers addressing the scope of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) in Lane v. Salesforce, Inc. As previously discussed in PERKS, the EFAA enables employees asserting sexual harassment or sexual assault claims to proceed in court despite a pre-dispute arbitration agreement with their employer.
On July 8, 2026, in a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit (which includes California) interpreted the effective date of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA). As previously discussed in PERKS, the EFAA enables employees asserting sexual harassment or sexual assault claims to proceed in court to litigate certain claims despite the existence of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement with their employer.
Governor Pritzker has signed the Illinois Menopause Equity and Care Act. In doing so, Illinois has followed Rhode Island and Philadelphia, in including menopause-related conditions as a protected status under the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
