The proposal / 2027 California legislative session
Three rules for separation agreements
When you sign away your job, you should leave with a copy you can open. That is the whole idea. It is narrow, it costs an employer close to nothing, and it would quietly remove most of the leverage described across this site.
- 1
Copy by default
Current law
Labor Code 432 gives you a copy only if you ask. It sets no deadline.
Proposed change
Within five business days after everyone signs, the employer sends the complete signed agreement. No request needed.
- 2
A copy you can open
Current law
No rule on format. A signed agreement can sit behind a login you lose on your last day.
Proposed change
In a format you can open, save and print without logging into the employer’s systems. On paper if you ask.
- 3
Changes marked
Current law
No rule requiring an employer to mark what changed between versions.
Proposed change
If the employer changes the agreement after first giving it to you, it identifies every change in writing before you sign.
The problem, in one paragraph
California Labor Code section 432 says a worker who signs any document relating to getting or keeping a job "shall be given a copy of the instrument upon request." The history note reads "Amended by Stats. 1969, Ch. 714." A copy comes only if the worker knows to ask, and the law says nothing about format or later versions. Government Code section 12964.5 requires an employer offering a separation agreement to tell the worker they may consult a lawyer and to give at least five business days to do so. It says nothing about a draft that changes during that time.
Separation agreements now arrive as a PDF, then a revised PDF, then an e-signature link, often in the hardest week of someone's career. Months later many workers cannot open the signed copy, because it sits behind a company login they no longer have.
Why now
114,818
Job cuts announced in California through September 2026, the most of any state.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas
"Upon request"
The only way California's copy rule gives a worker a copy of what they signed.
Labor Code 432
5 business days
The minimum time to consider most California separation agreements. No rule marks what changed between versions.
Government Code 12964.5
Good for employers too
The bill does not penalize employers for routine paperwork. A complete signed copy, delivered with the signing record, is the employer's own best evidence if a signature is ever questioned.
In Garcia v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC (2024) 102 Cal.App.5th 41, a California Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration because the employer could not authenticate the employee's electronic signature. A rule that requires delivering the complete executed agreement, plus the platform's completion record, gives employers a cleaner evidentiary trail than they have today.
Cost to comply: one email with one attached file.
Draft model language
A working draft for Legislative Counsel. It will change.
Section ___ is added to the Labor Code, to read:
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Separation agreement" means an agreement related to an employee's separation from employment, including an agreement that contains a release of claims.
(2) "Fully executed" means signed by every party.
(3) "Complete copy" means the agreement as signed, including every exhibit, schedule and document incorporated by reference, and any certificate of completion or signature record generated by an electronic signature service.
(4) "Accessible format" means an electronic record that the employee can open, store and print without access to any account, system or service controlled by the employer or its vendor, delivered to an email address or other means the employee designates.
(b) Within five business days after a separation agreement is fully executed, and without a request, the employer shall provide the employee a complete copy in an accessible format. The employer shall provide a paper copy at no charge if the employee asks.
(c) If an employer changes the terms of a separation agreement after first providing it to the employee, the employer shall, at the time it provides the revised agreement and before the employee signs, provide either a copy that marks each change or a written list that identifies each change.
(d) An employer shall not enforce a separation agreement against an employee until the employer has complied with subdivision (b).
(e) An employer that violates subdivision (b) or (c) and does not cure the violation within seven calendar days after the employee's written request is subject to a penalty of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750), recoverable by the employee or the Labor Commissioner.
(f) A violation of this section does not by itself invalidate a separation agreement. The rights in this section cannot be waived.
(g) This section applies to separation agreements first offered on or after January 1, 2028.
Optional companion amendment to Government Code 12964.5(b)(4), adding: "If the employer makes a material change to the agreement after first providing it, the time period required by this paragraph begins again on the date the employer provides the changed agreement, unless the employee, after consulting an attorney, agrees in writing that it does not."
Design choices, and why
| Choice | Why |
|---|---|
| A new Labor Code section rather than amending Government Code 12964.5 | 12964.5 sits in the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which brings Civil Rights Department enforcement and heavier opposition. A standalone Labor Code duty keeps the referral simple. |
| Scope limited to separation agreements | Extending the rule to all instruments under Labor Code 432 would invite a fight over routine onboarding paperwork. |
| A $750 penalty with a seven-day cure | Modeled on Labor Code 1198.5(k), which is familiar and already administered. The cure window answers the main employer objection. |
| No PAGA exposure | PAGA exposure is the fastest route onto an opposition list. |
| The agreement stays valid | Making releases voidable would raise veto risk and hand opponents their best argument. |
| Technology neutral wording | Saying "a format the employee can open, store and print without access to an account controlled by the employer" rather than naming PDF keeps the bill clear of federal ESIGN preemption concerns. |
The path
- December 7, 2026. The 2027 session convenes.
- Mid-December 2026. An author's office sends the request to Legislative Counsel.
- February 19, 2027. Deadline to introduce a bill.
- Spring 2027. Policy committee hearing in the house of origin.
- Mid-2027. Second house, then concurrence.
- October 2027. The Governor signs or vetoes.
- January 1, 2028. If signed, the law takes effect.
Dates other than the convening date and the introduction deadline are approximate until the official 2027 calendar is published.
What would help most right now
A short personal message from a constituent to their own Assemblymember or Senator. That is the single most useful thing a supporter can do before February.It takes about four minutes.