Workplace Surveillance Laws in California: What Your Employer Can and Cannot Monitor

California lets employers monitor work computers, work email and ordinary work areas, and no California statute generally requires them to warn you or get your consent first, beyond the CCPA's notice rule for larger employers. Recording a phone call or a confidential conversation is different: it generally takes everyone's consent. Other limits: no recording in restrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms, no social media password demands, and a constitutional privacy right. Two new laws start January 1, 2027.

At a glance

What people assume, and what California law says

Can a California employer monitor you at work?

Yes, within limits. The California Attorney General's workplace privacy page says: "Your employer is generally allowed to monitor your workplace communications, such as business phone calls and computer usage," and to access voicemail and e-mail.

The main limit is the California Constitution. Article I, section 1 lists privacy among the inalienable rights of all people, and in Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn. (1994), the California Supreme Court held that this right can be enforced against private entities as well as the government, and it named private employers among the businesses the voters had in mind. A claim needs three things:

1. a legally protected privacy interest,
2. a reasonable expectation of privacy in the circumstances, and
3. a serious invasion of that privacy by the employer.

An employer can then try to justify what it did.

What you were told still matters. In TBG Insurance Services Corp. v. Superior Court (2002), an executive had signed a policy letting his employer monitor two company computers, one at his home. The Court of Appeal held that, given that consent, he had no reasonable expectation of privacy when he used the home computer for personal matters. The court added that advance notice is one of the factors that can affect the expectation of privacy.

Can your employer record audio of you at work?

Not without everyone's consent, if the conversation is confidential or is a phone call involving a cell or cordless phone. Penal Code section 632 makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on a confidential communication without the consent of all parties, and it applies to companies as well as individuals. A conversation is not confidential where the people in it may reasonably expect to be overheard or recorded, so an announced recording or a recorder everyone knows about generally falls outside the section. A person recorded in violation of section 632 can sue, and does not need to prove actual damages first.

Phone calls have a second rule. Penal Code section 632.7 makes it a crime to record a call between cell phones or cordless phones, or between one of them and a landline, without the consent of all parties. Unlike section 632, it does not require the call to be confidential.

Neither section covers a silent video camera. Both apply when you are the one holding the phone too. Our guide on whether you can record your boss in California explains how section 632 works when an employee records.

Where are cameras banned in a California workplace?

In three kinds of rooms. Labor Code section 435 says "No employer may cause an audio or video recording to be made of an employee in a restroom, locker room, or room designated by an employer for changing clothes, unless authorized by court order." A recording made in violation cannot be used by the employer for any purpose. The section covers private and public employers, except the federal government, and a violation is an infraction.

Penal Code section 647(j) adds a criminal ban on using a camera or a phone to look into a bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room or other area where the person inside has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade that privacy. Unlike section 435, it requires proof of intent. It does not apply to areas of a private business used to count currency or other negotiable instruments.

Outside those rooms, video is judged under the privacy right. In Hernandez v. Hillsides, Inc. (2009), an employer hid a camera in an office to catch someone viewing pornography on a computer there at night. The California Supreme Court found the employees reasonably expected their employer would not secretly install video equipment behind closed doors. The employer still won, because the surveillance was "drastically limited in nature and scope", never reached the employees who sued, and was driven by strong countervailing concerns. Whether a hidden camera crosses the line turns on where it was, who it targeted and why.

Can your employer track your location?

On a company vehicle, generally yes. Penal Code section 637.7 bars any person or entity from using an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person, but it does not apply when the registered owner, lessor or lessee of a vehicle has consented to tracking that vehicle. So an employer can consent for its own fleet car but needs yours for a car you own. A violation is a misdemeanor.

The statute defines a tracking device as one "attached to a vehicle or other movable thing". It does not say whether a tracking app on your own phone counts.

For larger employers covered by the CCPA, your precise geolocation is sensitive personal information under Civil Code section 1798.140. You can ask a covered business to limit its use, but it can refuse where it uses the data only for purposes the law allows, such as providing the services you would reasonably expect or ensuring physical safety.

Can your employer read your work email or ask for your social media?

Work email, generally yes. Your personal accounts are different. Labor Code section 980 says an employer "shall not require or request" that an employee or applicant:

• disclose a username or password for personal social media,
• access personal social media in front of the employer, or
• divulge personal social media, except as the section allows.

The law's definition of social media includes email and text messages. The investigation exception: an employer may ask you to share personal social media it reasonably believes is relevant to an investigation of misconduct or a legal violation, used only for that investigation or a related proceeding. Section 980 does not stop an employer from requiring the login to a device it issued you. It also bars firing, discipline or retaliation for refusing a request the section prohibits.

What rights does the CCPA give you as an employee?

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has covered employees and job applicants since its employment exemption expired on December 31, 2022. It applies only to a for-profit company doing business in California that meets one of these tests:

• gross annual revenue of $26.625 million or more (the figure as adjusted for 2025 and 2026),
• buying, selling or sharing the personal information of 100,000 or more consumers or households, or
• earning 50 percent or more of its annual revenue from selling or sharing personal information.

The CCPA does not generally apply to nonprofits or government agencies. It protects California residents, so an employee who lives in another state is not covered. If your employer is covered, it must tell you, at or before the point of collection, what categories of personal information it collects, why, and how long it keeps them. That is the closest thing California has to a general monitoring-notice rule.

You also have the right to:

• Know what personal information the business has collected about you. You can ask up to twice a year, free of charge.
• Delete it, subject to exceptions that include records the employer must keep by law.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Limit the use of sensitive personal information, such as precise geolocation and biometrics, where the business uses it beyond the purposes the law allows.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of your information.
• Equal treatment. The law bars retaliation against an employee or applicant for using these rights.

You cannot sue a business for most CCPA violations. A data breach is the exception. Otherwise, complain to the California Privacy Protection Agency or the Attorney General.

Under the agency's regulations, which took effect January 1, 2026, a business using automated decisionmaking technology for significant decisions about you, such as employment decisions, must give you notice, an opt-out where it applies, and information about how it worked. Businesses must comply with those requirements by January 1, 2027.

What new workplace surveillance laws start in 2027?

Two, and neither is in force yet. Both were approved by the Governor on September 30, 2026, and both start on January 1, 2027.

AB 1331 (Chapter 851, Statutes of 2026): bathrooms. From January 1, 2027, unless a court orders otherwise, an employer may not use a workplace surveillance tool to monitor employees in a bathroom in the workplace. The law defines such a tool broadly, including video, audio, continuous time-tracking and geolocation. Employees may leave those tools behind when they enter a bathroom, unless they must remain available during meal or rest periods under federal or state law. The employer may still check the tools for a single entry and exit. It is not a violation when an employee chooses to bring a tool in, or brings a badge or personal alarm the employer requires for identification or safety, as long as it neither detects nor records audio or video and has no built-in artificial intelligence. Public employers are covered. The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors enforce it, with a penalty of up to $500 for each violation.

AB 1883 (Chapter 853, Statutes of 2026): AI emotion reading and neural data. From January 1, 2027, an employer may not use a workplace surveillance tool that uses artificial intelligence to recognize or make inferences about an employee's emotional state, or to collect neural data, meaning measurements of the activity of the nervous system. The law does not stop tools used to ensure safety. An employee, the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor can recover a penalty of up to $500 for each violation, paid to the employee as a statutory penalty or as a civil penalty, but not both. It covers public employers, including the University of California.

What did not pass. AB 1221, the broader bill that would have required notice and set limits on surveillance tools, died on January 31, 2026. SB 7, on automated decision systems in employment, was vetoed in October 2025.

Ready to talk it through?

If monitoring at work led to discipline or a firing, ask for a free, confidential case review and a lawyer can look at whether a line was crossed.

Are fingerprint timeclocks and biometrics legal?

Labor Code section 1051 does not ban a fingerprint timeclock as such. It makes it a misdemeanor to require an employee or applicant, as a condition of employment, to be photographed or fingerprinted so the photos or prints can be passed to another employer or a third party, where they could be used against the worker.

Under the CCPA, processing biometric information to uniquely identify you is sensitive personal information under Civil Code section 1798.140. A covered employer must disclose it at collection, and you can ask it to limit how it uses that data.

Can monitoring be used against organizing, complaints or whistleblowing?

Monitoring is not a license to retaliate. Several laws protect conduct an employer might learn about by watching you:

• Organizing. Section 7 of the NLRA, the federal labor law, protects the right to form or join a union and "to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection". Section 8(a)(1) makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in exercising those rights. The NLRA does not cover supervisors, agricultural workers or government employees.
• Reporting a violation. Labor Code section 1102.5 bars retaliation for disclosing what you reasonably believe is a violation of law to a government agency or a person with authority over you, or because the employer believes you did or may. Our guide to Labor Code 1102.5 whistleblower rights explains how it works.
• Off-duty conduct. Labor Code sections 96(k) and 98.6 cover a demotion, suspension or firing for lawful conduct during nonworking hours away from the employer's premises. Courts read this narrowly. In Grinzi v. San Diego Hospice Corp. (2004), the Court of Appeal held that section 96(k) only sets a procedure for the Labor Commissioner and gives employees no substantive rights of its own, so it protects off-duty conduct only where the employee was asserting a recognized constitutional right.
• Talking about working conditions. Labor Code section 232.5 bars firing or disciplining an employee for disclosing information about the employer's working conditions. Telling others how you are monitored can be disclosing your working conditions. It does not permit disclosing proprietary, trade secret or privileged information without the employer's consent.
• Using your CCPA rights, as above.

If monitoring was used to find out who complained, our overview of California workplace retaliation laws covers the wider picture.

What can you do if your employer crossed the line?

1. Write down what you know. What is being monitored, where any camera is, when you learned of it, and anything said about it. Our guide to documenting workplace evidence explains how to keep records that hold up.
2. Do not secretly record conversations to prove it. Penal Code sections 632 and 632.7 apply to you too.
3. Ask for your data if your employer is covered by the CCPA.
4. Watch the deadline. A retaliation complaint to the Labor Commissioner generally must be filed within one year of the violation. A charge with the National Labor Relations Board about organizing generally must be filed within six months of the unfair labor practice. Other claims run on other clocks, as our guide to how long you have to file a wrongful termination claim explains.
5. Talk to an employment lawyer before you confront your employer, especially if you were disciplined or fired after objecting to monitoring.

Frequently asked questions

Can my employer record me without telling me in California?

On video in an ordinary work area, generally yes, subject to your constitutional right to privacy. Audio of a confidential conversation, or of a call involving a cell or cordless phone, no: Penal Code sections 632 and 632.7 require the consent of everyone in it. And no recording at all is allowed in a restroom, locker room or changing room unless a court orders it.

Is audio surveillance legal in the workplace in California?

It depends on the conversation. Penal Code section 632 bars recording a confidential conversation without the consent of everyone in it, and section 632.7 bars recording a call involving a cell or cordless phone without everyone's consent, confidential or not. A recorded line that announces itself, or a recorder everyone knows about, generally falls outside section 632.

Can my employer track my personal phone?

Penal Code section 637.7 is written about devices attached to a vehicle or other movable thing, and its text does not say whether an app on your own phone counts. If your employer is covered by the CCPA, your precise geolocation is sensitive personal information, and you can ask it to limit its use. Ask a lawyer about your specific situation.

Do I have to give my employer my social media password?

No. Labor Code section 980 bars an employer from requiring or requesting the username or password to your personal social media. A misconduct investigation can justify asking you to share relevant content, but never your password. An employer can require the login to a device it issued you.

Can I be fired for refusing to be monitored?

It depends on what you refused. Section 980 bars firing you for refusing an unlawful social media request, and Labor Code section 1102.5 bars retaliation for refusing to take part in an activity that would violate a law. Refusing lawful monitoring of company computers is generally not protected on its own, so talk to a lawyer before you refuse.

Does the CCPA cover employees?

Yes, since its employment exemption expired on December 31, 2022, but only if you live in California and your employer is a covered business, such as one with gross annual revenue of $26.625 million or more. You can ask what it has collected about you and ask it to limit how it uses sensitive information.

When do California's new workplace surveillance laws take effect?

January 1, 2027. AB 1331 (Chapter 851) bars employers from using surveillance tools to monitor employees in workplace bathrooms, and AB 1883 (Chapter 853) bars employers from using AI tools on employees to read emotions or collect neural data, though it does not stop tools used to ensure safety. Both were signed on September 30, 2026. AB 1221 died and is not law.

Where to start

If monitoring was used to discipline or fire you, or you were punished after objecting to it, the firm reviews cases from anywhere in California. Deadlines can run early, so tell us what happened for a free, confidential case review.

The Law Offices of Jonathan J. Delshad is a Los Angeles based employment law firm representing employees across California in wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wage and hour matters. Representing employees is the core of the firm's practice. Mr. Delshad serves as Editor-in-Chief of the California Wrongful Termination Law Review and trained at Latham & Watkins. Recognition includes Super Lawyers (2022 to 2027), Best Lawyers (since 2017), and an Avvo 10.0 "Superb" rating. Reviewed for California employment law accuracy. Last updated: October 28, 2026.

Attorney advertising. This article is educational only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship, which exists only under a signed engagement agreement. Every case is different, and outcomes depend on the specific facts. Deadlines can run early, so consult a lawyer promptly about your situation.