Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Workforce Readiness Week (April 28 to May 2, 2025)

In accordance with Education Code 49110.5, I am notifying you of the requirements for Workplace Readiness Week and welcoming you and your students to participate. Given that May is Labor History Month, this is an excellent way to prepare our students as we approach this opportunity to recognize the importance and impact of labor rights.

Education Code 49110.5 was added to California State statutes by passage of Assembly Bill 800 (Ortega) in 2024, which marks the inaugural implementation of Workplace Readiness Week in California and requires distribution of the Labor Rights Information Sheet (Information Sheet) to every student who applies for a work permit. The chief goals of the new law are to prepare students to enter the workforce knowing their rights as young workers, enable minors to recognize when they are encountering illegal labor practices and unsafe working conditions and to self-advocate when necessary to protect themselves, create awareness of the power of unions to protect labor rights and the right to organize, and inform students of the benefits and opportunities provided by state-approved apprenticeships.

During Career Readiness Week, all public schools (including charter schools) shall provide information to pupils detailing their rights as workers as provided in a list of specific topics to be covered in the statute:

1. Local, state, and federal laws regarding each of the following issues:
   • Prohibitions against misclassification of employees as independent contractors
   • Child labor
   • Wage and hour protections
   • Worker safety
   • Workers’ compensation
   • Unemployment insurance
   • Paid Sick Leave, Paid Family Leave, State Disability Insurance, and the California Family Rights Act
   • The right to organize a union in the workplace
   • Prohibitions against retaliation by employers when workers exercise these or any other rights guaranteed by law
     
2. The labor movement’s role in winning the protections and benefits described in subparagraphs (A) to (I), inclusive of paragraph (1).
   
3. An introduction to state-approved apprenticeship programs in California, how to access them, the variety of programs available, and how they can provide an alternative career path.

All students are encouraged to participate; however, students in eleventh and twelfth grades shall have the topics listed above integrated into their regular school program, consistent with the history–social science framework. Schools may also include activities that occur outside the regular school day focusing on the required topics. In addition, it is required that work permit issuers at schools present students applying for work permits with a physical Information Sheet that contains information about the topics listed above.

To assist schools with implementing Career Readiness Week and the distribution of the Information Sheet, the CDE has posted resources on its website that include standards-based curriculum for use during Workplace Readiness Week and a template for the Information Sheet that must now be distributed whenever a minor applies for a work permit. Please find these resources at the following link: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/we/workpermitsforstudents.asp.

Questions about the implementation of AB 800 or the resources available may be directed to Erle Hall, Education Programs Consultant in the CDE Career Technical Education Leadership Office, at ehall@cde.ca.gov.

Thank you in advance for making Workplace Readiness Week meaningful and powerful for our students. And thank you for all you and your teams do to support the mission of public education in the Golden State.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction