Cameras and Trackers Near Bathrooms: What AB 1331 Bans for Employers

Starting January 1, 2027, AB 1331 bars California employers from using a workplace surveillance tool, such as a camera, microphone, badge tracker or location app, to monitor employees in a workplace bathroom. Employees can leave tracking tools behind when they go in. A violation can cost up to $500 each time.

I am Mac Malbrough. I hold a J.D. and an MS-HRM, I am not an attorney, and this is general information, not legal advice. I read AB 1331, Chapter 851 of the Statutes of 2026, on the California Legislative Information site on November 6, 2026. It was approved on September 30, 2026 and adds Part 5.8, beginning at Section 1560, to the Labor Code. This post is written for employers of 10 to 150 people who run timekeeping, badge, scheduling or location software and want to know where the line is.

What does AB 1331 ban?

Section 1561 says that, unless directed by a court order, an employer shall not use a workplace surveillance tool “to monitor or surveil employees in a bathroom located in the workplace.” The definition of a workplace surveillance tool is broad. It means a system, application, instrument or device that collects or facilitates collecting employee data, activities, communications, actions, biometrics or behaviors by means other than direct observation by a person. The text lists video or audio surveillance, continuous incremental time-tracking tools, geolocation, electromagnetic tracking and photo-optical systems, and says “or other means.”

The definition leaves out smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and weapon detection systems that automatically screen a person’s body. So the question for your tools is not whether they are cameras. It is whether they collect data about where an employee is or what an employee does, without a person watching, and whether they keep doing it inside a bathroom.

Can employees leave tracking tools behind?

Yes. An employee has the right to leave behind workplace surveillance tools that are on their person or in their possession when entering a bathroom. That covers a wearable, a phone running a tracking app or a handheld scanner that records location. The right has limits:

• It does not apply if the employee is required by federal law or existing state law to stay available during a meal or rest period.
• An employer may still check a tool for the one-time entry and exit of a bathroom, which I read as permission to log when someone walks in and out, not to follow them inside.

Do badge and timekeeping systems break the law?

Not by existing, and not by logging a door. A badge reader that stamps the moment a person enters or leaves a bathroom fits the one-time entry and exit allowance. The higher-risk uses are the ones that keep collecting while the person is inside: a phone app that reports location every few minutes, a wearable that records movement, or software that measures how long someone stays in the room by following the device. I would treat any tool that tells a manager what an employee is doing in a bathroom, or for how long, as a tool to remove or reconfigure.

What are the exceptions?

The bill says an employer is not in violation in two situations. First, an employee voluntarily chooses to bring a tool into a bathroom. Second, an employee brings a tool, including a badge or personal alarm system, because the employer’s policy requires that tool to be on the person while on the premises for identification or safety purposes, or because the tool is needed to open a locked or secured bathroom. That second exception only holds if the tool does not detect or record audio or video and does not have physically embedded or attached artificial intelligence.

Two more provisions matter. The part does not prohibit an employer from using these tools as required by federal or existing state law or regulation, and it does not authorize any use that other law prohibits. There is also a narrow exemption for certain aircraft development and national security, military, space or defense work covered by federal law or a binding federal contract. Most small employers will not touch it.

What are the penalties, and who enforces them?

The Labor Commissioner can investigate, order temporary relief and issue citations, and a public prosecutor can also enforce the part. In a civil action, the petitioner can seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, including punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. An employer who violates the part may also face a penalty of up to $500 for each violation. The text says the part does not limit other state or local laws that give equal or greater protection to employees, and it names Section 435 of the Labor Code, which already limits audio and video recording in restrooms, locker rooms and rooms for changing clothes.

What is a five-point audit of your tools?

Run this in an hour with your IT person or office manager.

1. List every tool that collects location, motion, time or video: badges, door systems, timekeeping apps, phone apps, vehicle trackers, wearables and cameras.
2. Map where each tool works. Draw a line around each bathroom, including the hallway and any shared building restrooms, and ask whether any tool can record inside it.
3. Check what the tool logs when someone passes through a door. Entry and exit stamps are the narrow use the bill allows. Continuous location or time-tracking that runs while someone is inside is the risk.
4. Write a short policy: employees may leave any tracking device behind when using a bathroom, except where federal or state law requires them to stay reachable.
5. Remove or reconfigure any tool that cannot meet the policy, and keep a record of what you changed and the date.

If a vendor says its product is fine, ask in writing whether it records location or activity continuously, whether it can be paused inside a defined area, and whether it uses artificial intelligence. My post on AB 1883 and emotion-reading cameras covers the related rules on what monitoring tools may collect. The workplace violence prevention plan guide shows how to keep safety needs, such as personal alarms, in line with the exception.

What should you do this week?

Make the list from point 1 of the audit this week, and send two questions to each vendor: does the tool record where an employee is or what an employee does while inside a bathroom, and can that be turned off? Then add the bathroom sentence to your handbook. The California compliance risk score and the HR compliance check-up are good next steps if you want help finding other gaps before January.

Sources

• AB 1331 (Elhawary), Chapter 851, Statutes of 2026, approved September 30, 2026, read November 6, 2026
• Labor Code Sections 1560 to 1565, as added by AB 1331, in the chaptered text above

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.