California’s Captive Audience Ban, aka SB 399 (Labor Code § 1137) is in a temporary holding pattern. A California district court judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the government from enforcing the statute for now.

What SB 399 would have done: it prohibited taking adverse action against employees who decline to attend employer communications or meetings on “political” or “religious” matters, expressly including union topics. The business coalition challenging the law argues it’s preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and violates the First Amendment. The court’s order signals those arguments are likely to succeed, at least preliminarily.

If you haven’t added SB 399 handbook language for 2025, you can hold off while the injunction stands. It’s worth noting that current standing federal guidance still treats mandatory union-related “captive-audience” meetings as unlawful. In November 2024, the NLRB held that compelling attendance at employer union presentations violates Section 8(a)(1) prospectively. However, the NLRB currently lacks a quorum and cannot issue new decisions or precedent but can regionally enforce violations.

What to do now:
• Keep any union-related meetings voluntary, not mandatory, with reasonable advance notice and no attendance tracking or consequences.
• Train supervisors on lawful do’s and don’ts (no threats, surveillance, or promises; stick to factual, non-coercive messaging).
• Monitor the state litigation for appeals or modifications to the injunction. Monitor any movement at the NLRB level.

Stay tuned for developments in this area.