Spencer Fane attorneys Elaisha Nandrajog, Servando Sandoval, and Jen Coleman discuss California employment law updates in a three-part article series published by the Daily Journal: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
In the article series, which originated as a firm blog post, the team examines the major employment law changes taking effect in California in 2026, highlighting impacts on wages, contracts, leave, and workplace policies. Key areas include minimum wage increases, pay equity, employee notices, and restrictions on certain employment agreements. The team also reviews protections related to training, bias mitigation, and AI use in the workplace. The article series emphasizes the importance for employers to update policies, procedures, and compliance practices to avoid penalties and legal risks.
“California employers are facing another significant wave of employment law changes in 2026. A broad range of new and amended statutes impact wages, pay equity, leave rights, workforce reductions, data reporting, contracting practices, and compliance obligations – many with near-term deadlines and meaningful penalties for noncompliance. For California employers, its compliance time,” the team wrote.
At the firm, Elaisha represents employers in a wide range of matters in state courts and federal courts as well as before administrative agencies, providing preventive counsel that helps successfully resolve litigious matters. She has experience defending companies of all sizes in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff cases and her work involves complex wage and hour class actions as well as representative actions brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act.
Servando represents both for-profit and nonprofit owners, property managers and developers, employers, and other businesses and individuals involved in state and federal litigation and administrative hearings. He also provides guidance to his clients in all aspects of day-to-day employment issues, including but not limited to discrimination, sexual harassment, leaves of absence, and wage and hour claims.
Jen is a trial attorney who regularly advises and represents employers of all sizes on a variety of day-to-day legal issues. Within her active labor and employment law practice, she adeptly navigates employment counseling, guidance, and risk assessment throughout the employee life cycle, specifically focusing on matters relating to company policies and procedures, hiring, management, discipline, termination, and defense of claims and/or charges brought by employees post-departure. Jen also has significant litigation experience in single plaintiff and class action wage and hour controversies, PAGA representative actions, FLSA collective actions, misclassification actions, single plaintiff discrimination, harassment and retaliation actions and trade secret and restrictive covenant actions.