Assembly Bill 1281 extends to January 1, 2022, the exemption for employee personal information from most requirements of California’s Consumer Privacy Act.  Under last year’s AB 25, this exemption was set to expire on January 1, 2021.  Having been signed by Governor Newsom, AB 1281 will effectively replace AB 25 commencing on January 1, 2021.

The exemption allows businesses to collect and use a person’s information within the context of that person’s role or former role at the business. Employers still have the obligation to provide the employee or applicant with contemporaneous or prior notice of the categories of data to be collected and the purposes for which it will be used.

It should be noted, however, that if Proposition 24 (the Consumer Personal Information Law and Agency Initiative) is passed by voters at the polls on November 3, 2020, AB 1281 will become inoperative and the employee/applicant exemption will not expire until January 1, 2023.

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Joanne Warriner.

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