Senate Bill 399, the "California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act," took effect on January 1, 2025. It restricted what is commonly called the "captive audience meeting."

It is not currently enforceable. On September 30, 2025, a federal judge blocked it statewide, and that block is still in place.

What the law says

An employer may not discharge, discipline, or otherwise retaliate against an employee who declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting whose purpose is to communicate the employer's opinion on religious or political matters. The definition of "political matters" expressly includes the decision whether to join or support a labor organization.

An employee who declines to attend such a meeting must continue to be paid if the meeting falls during working hours.

The law does not prevent an employer from holding these meetings or expressing its views. It makes attendance voluntary. It also carves out communications the employer is legally required to make, information employees need to do their jobs, and certain religious, political, and educational employers in defined circumstances.

Enforcement runs through the Labor Commissioner, with a civil penalty of $500 per employee per violation, and employees may also sue.

What the court did

Two federal lawsuits were filed in the Eastern District of California. The California Chamber of Commerce and the California Restaurant Association filed on December 31, 2024. The Liberty Justice Center and California Justice Center filed a second suit on February 11, 2025.

On September 30, 2025, Judge Daniel Calabretta granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement statewide. The court found SB 399 likely preempted by the National Labor Relations Act under both the Machinists and Garmon doctrines, and separately found it likely violated the First Amendment as a restriction on employer speech.

A preliminary injunction is not a final judgment. It is a ruling that the challengers are likely to win, issued to hold the status quo while the case proceeds.

Where it stands now

The injunction was appealed. The Ninth Circuit heard oral argument on July 7, 2026 in the consolidated challenges, including California Policy Center v. Garcia-Brower. No decision has issued, and appellate rulings of this kind commonly take months.

Three outcomes are possible: the Ninth Circuit affirms and the law stays blocked, it reverses and the law becomes enforceable again, or it returns the case to the district court on narrower grounds such as standing, which the panel raised at argument.

The practical takeaway

California employers are not currently restricted by SB 399, because a court has stayed it. That is a different thing from the law having been repealed, and it is a different thing from the conduct being risk-free.

Two reasons for care. First, an injunction can be lifted, and a reversal would restore a law that is already on the books rather than requiring the Legislature to pass anything. Second, federal labor law governs this conduct independently of SB 399, and the National Labor Relations Board's position on captive audience meetings has itself shifted in recent years.

If you were already running these meetings as voluntary, there is no reason to change. If you stopped holding them because of SB 399, the legal reason for that has been suspended, not removed. Watch the Ninth Circuit.