Code Civ. Proc., § 1002.5 · Chapter 3.6. Agreements Settling Employment Disputes
Code Civ. Proc., § 1002.5
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) An agreement to settle an employment dispute shall not contain a provision prohibiting, preventing, or otherwise restricting a settling party that is an aggrieved person from obtaining future employment with the employer against which the aggrieved person has filed a claim, or any parent company, subsidiary, division, affiliate, or contractor of the employer. A provision in an agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2020, that violates this section is void as a matter of law and against public policy.
(b) Nothing in subdivision (a) does any of the following:
(1) Preclude the employer and aggrieved person from making an agreement to do either of the following:
(A) End a current employment relationship.
(B) Prohibit or otherwise restrict the settling aggrieved person from obtaining future employment with the settling employer, if the employer has made and documented a good faith determination, before the aggrieved person filed the claim that the aggrieved person engaged in sexual harassment, sexual assault, or any criminal conduct.
(2) Require an employer to continue to employ or rehire a person if there is a legitimate non-discriminatory or non-retaliatory reason for terminating the employment relationship or refusing to rehire the person.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Aggrieved person” means a person who, in good faith, has filed a claim against the person’s employer in court, before an administrative agency, in an alternative dispute resolution forum, or through the employer’s internal complaint process.
(2) “Sexual assault” means conduct that would constitute a crime under Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code, assault with the intent to commit any of those crimes, or an attempt to commit any of those crimes.
(3) “Sexual harassment” has the same meaning as in subdivision (j) of Section 12940 of the Government Code.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 73, Sec. 1. (AB 2143) Effective January 1, 2021.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP§ionNum=1002.5.
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- sha256 6dcac8631de76a6c6887aeeeec735d22b247432db07d09c829588c6eac471ae4
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 243.3Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 261Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 264.1Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 286Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 287Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 289Printed as Section 243.3, 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 287, or 289 of the Penal Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.