Back to Insights

California Compliance

Which California HR laws apply at my headcount?

By , J.D., MS-HRM

Published September 18, 2026. Last updated September 26, 2026.

Which California HR laws apply at my headcount?

Short answer

At 5 employees, most of California’s discrimination, leave, and training rules begin; at 15, pay ranges in job postings; at 100, annual pay data reporting. A few rules apply from the very first employee, and each threshold adds more.

This is the hub for every California compliance question on Insights. Find your headcount, then follow the links to the rules that matter most at that size. Each rule names its statute so you can read the source yourself and bring it to your attorney.

From the first employee

At 5 employees

  • FEHA’s full ban on discrimination and retaliation (Government Code 12940).
  • Up to 12 weeks of job-protected family and medical leave under CFRA (Government Code 12945.2).
  • Up to four months of pregnancy disability leave. How CFRA, pregnancy disability leave and paid sick leave stack.
  • Harassment prevention training every two years: two hours for supervisors, one hour for everyone else (Government Code 12950.1). What that training has to include.
  • The Fair Chance Act: no criminal history questions before a conditional offer (Government Code 12952).
  • Up to five days of bereavement leave (Government Code 12945.7) and up to five days of reproductive loss leave (Government Code 12945.6).

At 15 employees

At 20, 50, and 75

  • 20: federal COBRA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Below 20, Cal-COBRA generally covers continuation through the insurer.
  • 50: federal FMLA, and the Affordable Care Act coverage requirement for employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees.
  • 75: Cal-WARN, requiring 60 days’ notice before a mass layoff, relocation, or closure at a covered establishment (Labor Code 1400 and following). What the 2026 notice must include.

At 100 employees

  • An annual pay data report to the California Civil Rights Department, showing pay by job category, race, ethnicity, and sex (Government Code 12999).
  • The federal EEO-1 report.

A pay data report shows the same patterns an equal pay claim would. Organizations approaching 100 get more out of a range structure built on purpose than out of a first report that surprises them.

How is headcount counted?

Count everyone on payroll, including part-time employees, and in several California rules, employees outside the state. Misclassified contractors count too, which is why a classification review and a headcount check belong together. The thresholds are not all measured the same way: some use employees in the current or preceding calendar year, some count only full-time equivalents, and Cal-WARN looks at a single establishment over the prior year. When you are close to a line, check the statute that defines it.

Where do small organizations usually fall behind?

The pattern I see most is a company that crossed 5 employees a year ago and never scheduled harassment training, or crossed 15 and kept posting jobs without ranges. Nothing about the business felt different on the day it happened, so nothing changed. An urban organization of 10 to 150 people crosses three or four of these lines on the way up. Plan for the next one before you hire into it, and use a compliance check-up to confirm you caught up on the last one. To see where you stand today, the free California HR compliance checklist filters all 22 items to your exact headcount.

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.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.

From the store

This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and every situation is different; for advice on yours, talk with an employment attorney.

Related questions