Unlawful Immigration Practices (AB 2495)

“Living in the Shadows” is a term used to describe the social, economic and financial situation faced by undocumented immigrants. While countless studies highlight the positive financial contributions immigrants make to the nation’s economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), many still find themselves in a position where they cannot access harassment and discrimination protections currently in place.

Federal-level protections do exist and are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS to protect immigrants from harassment and discrimination. However, with increased immigration enforcement, some employers and managers are threatening to “out” a worker’s undocumented status or involving federal agencies to deter them from exercising legal rights, such as making a harassment complaint, requesting an accommodation, or refusing to do something unsafe.  The unfortunate result of this situation is that people in these circumstances are in a position where they can be exploited, knowing that they will not report any misdeeds to the authorities.

AB 2495: Unlawful Immigration-Related Practices

AB 2495 goes into effect on January 1, 2027, and expands California labor protections by prohibiting employers and other individuals from retaliating against workers not only for exercising rights under state labor laws, but also under any local, state, or federal workplace statute or regulation. Additionally, the legislation makes it unlawful to use a worker's perceived immigration status—such as threatening to contact immigration authorities, filing false police reports, demanding improper work authorization documents, or misusing the E-Verify system (a federal electronic database used by employers to verify employees' work eligibility)—to intimidate them, discourage them from exercising their legal rights, or force them to engage in conduct they have a legal right to avoid.

Employers who violate this law face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation for each affected person, along with potential temporary suspensions of their business operating licenses.

What Should Employers Do?

Before AB 2495 takes effect on January 1, 2027, employers can take proactive steps to prevent violations.

• Review existing hiring, I-9/employment verification practices, internal complaint procedures, and anti-retaliation policies to ensure compliance with existing laws.
• Train management teams on their roles and responsibilities, making sure they understand the consequences of using someone’s perceived immigration status to deter them from exercising legal rights.
• HR personnel, recruiters, and supervisory staff need to understand the legal risks associated with making or tolerating immigration-related comments, questions, or threats, and to enforce their policies to address any violations.
• Harassment training for all managers and employees should also be up-to-date and contain all of the mandatory protected classes and topics.

CEA can assist your company with I-9 audits, Harassment Prevention Training, and employee handbook policies. Give us a call at 800.399.5331 to get started.