California Employers Prepare for Landmark Worker Privacy Rights

Consumer privacy rights extended to California workers in the coming months will be the first in the US to test how companies give employees more control over the collection and use of their personal information.

Coverage under the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act and its amendments will expand Jan. 1 to include data on employees, job applicants, independent contractors, and business-to-business operations, among other categories. The new workplace requirements mark a departure from the consumer-only scope of four other states’ privacy laws that will go into effect in 2023.

“It’s very big and significant, because before now employers have not ...