The 2018 California Legislative Session ended with the expiration of the September 30^th deadline for Governor Jerry Brown to sign or veto any bills. Not surprisingly, a number of significant employment bills were enacted in 2018, with #MeToo-related issues dominating the legislative agenda. New employment laws enacted during 2018 that California employers should consider include those that will:

• Require employers with five or more employees provide harassment training for both supervisory and non-supervisory employees (SB 1343);
• Impose new limits on settlement agreements regarding sexual harassment claims, including prohibiting confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions (SB 820 and SB 1300);
• Re-define legal standards for sexual harassment litigation, including making it more difficult to obtain summary judgment (SB 1300);
• Extend defamation protections for good faith sexual harassment allegations, workplace investigations and references (AB 2770). 
• Expand workplace lactation accommodation requirements, including to prohibit usage of a bathroom for employees to express milk (AB 1976);
• Clarify various aspects of California’s ban on prior salary history inquiries (AB 2282);
• Impose new limits during criminal record background checks (SB 1412); and
• Require larger, publicly-traded California corporations to have a certain number of female directors (SB 826).