The California Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates. 

As of 2024, the minimum wage is $16.00 per hour for most employees.

Starting January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage will be $16.50 per hour for most employees, $17.36 for employers with 26 or more employees, and $20.00 for most fast-food employees.

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In California, there is no separate tipped minimum wage amount. Employers must pay the minimum wage rate regardless of how much you make in tips.

California has its own overtime rules and requires daily and weekly overtime pay at either time and a half or double the employee’s regular rate of pay. Here is a breakdown of how it works:

California’s wage and hour laws generally require that employers provide nonexempt employees with an unpaid meal period of no less than 30 minutes when they work more than five consecutive hours (or more than six hours for employees in the motion picture industry in specific situations). This meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employee and employer if the total work period is no more than six hours.

A second 30-minute unpaid meal period must be provided to employees who work more than 10 hours a day. The first meal period must be provided no later than the 5th hour of work. The second meal period must be provided no later than the end of the 10th hour of work. This meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employee and the employer if the total hours worked is not more than 12 hours and the first meal period was not waived.

If the employee is not provided with one or more required rest breaks, or one or more required meal periods, the employer must pay a missed break penalty equal to one hour of pay for the missed rest break(s) and one hour for the missed meal period(s).

The table below summarizes the number of meal and rest breaks an employer should provide depending on the length of the shift.

In California, employers are legally required to pay split shift premium pay to their nonexempt employees who work split shifts. A split shift is a work schedule that is interrupted by unpaid, nonworking time that is longer than a bona fide meal break. If an employee requests the break for their own convenience, however, the shift is not a split shift. Split shift premium pay is one hour of pay at the state minimum wage, or the local minimum wage, whichever is greater. One important thing to note is that if the employee is paid higher than minimum wage, any amounts over and above minimum wage may be credited toward the split shift premium to reduce or eliminate the premium.

Vacation leave
In California, employers have no legal requirement to provide either paid or unpaid vacation time. However, if there is an agreement, then certain employers are obligated to fulfill vacation pay. For more detailed information, see here.

Paid Sick Leave
Starting January 1, 2024, California requires employers to provide eligible employees with 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave per year, whichever is greater. For example, if an employee works 10-hour days, 5 days per week, they would be entitled to 50 hours of paid sick leave per year. 

Employers can choose to frontload all of the paid sick leave at the beginning of the year, or allow employees to accrue paid sick leave over the course of the year. If the employer uses an accrual method, all unused paid sick leave must carry over to the next year (up to an accrual cap of 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is greater). 

Employees are eligible for paid sick leave if they work at least 30 days for the same employer within one year in California. This includes full time, part time, per diem, staffing agency employees, and temporary employees. 

Many cities and counties within California have their own separate paid sick leave laws which may provide employees with greater entitlements than this state law. Please consult with your local regulator for more information. 

Holidays
In California, hours worked on holidays, and weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) are treated like normal working hours. California does not require employers to provide paid holidays or give employees time off for any holiday.

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In California, almost all minors under 18 years old are subject to the state’s child labor protections under the California Labor Code. Emancipated minors are subject to all state child labor law requirements and can apply for a work permit without their parents’ permission. 

The child labor laws place restrictions on the days, times, and number of hours that minors can work in the state of California. We have summarized the key restrictions below.

Age 16-17:

• When school is in session, they may work up to 4 hours per day on a school day and 8 hours on a nonschool day or on any day preceding a nonschool day, up to a total of 48 hours per week. They must have completed 7th grade to work while school is in session.

• When school is not in session, they may work 8 hours per day, up to 48 hours in a week.

• 16 and 17-year-olds can work between the hours of 5 AM and 10 PM, and until 12:30 AM on an evening preceding a nonschool day.

Age 14-15:

• When school is in session, they may work up to 3 hours per school day, outside school hours, and 8 hours on a nonschool day, up to a total of 18 hours per week. 

• When school is not in session, they may work 8 hours per day, up to 40 hours in a week.

• 14 and 15-year olds can work between the hours of 7AM and 7PM, and until 9PM from June 1 through Labor Day.

Age 12-13:

• Cannot be employed on any school day, even during non-school hours.

• May be employed during school holidays and vacations.

• Most officials will not approve a work permit for this age group allowing them to work beyond the restrictions specified above for 14-15 year olds.

Hiring
To hire a new employee in California, an employer must require first enroll the new hire or rehire to the New Employee Registry Program within 20 days of their start date. They must also have a California payroll tax account number. Here’s a list for what employers will need from the new hire:

• Form DE34

• Social security number

• Full name

• Address

• Start-of work date

Firing
California supports “at-will” employment laws. All California employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and for no reason at all with the exception of an unlawful reason such as discrimination, or retaliation.

Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance

The City of Los Angeles enacted its Fair Workweek Ordinance in 2023. The ordinance aims to make work schedules more predictable for retail employees, which means a stable income and far less stress when it comes to making ends meet, planning childcare, or balancing their studies. 

Large California retailers (with at least 300 employees worldwide) are required to provide employees with:

• A good faith estimate of expected work hours, days, locations and whether the employee can expect to work any on-call shifts;

• At least 14 days’ notice of work schedules;

• Predictability pay for schedule changes;

• A chance to say no to extra work or clopenings;

• At least 10 hours rest between shifts, or premium pay to work with the shift (with consent);

• Access to new hours before hiring new staff; and

• Notice of their rights under Fair Workweek, posted in the workplace.

For more information, learn more here. 

San Francisco

The City of San Francisco’s Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinance took effect in 2014. The law applies to Formula Retail Establishments (chain retailers) with at least 40 stores worldwide and 20 or more employees in San Francisco, as well as their janitorial and security contractors. Key requirements of San Francisco’s law are:

• Covered employers are required to offer any extra work hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new staff, or using contractors or staffing agencies to fill those shifts.

• Employees must be provided with a good faith written estimate of their expected minimum number of shifts per month and the days and times of those shifts.

• Work schedules must be posted at least 2 weeks in advance.

• Employers must pay predictability pay for schedule changes.

• Employers must pay premium pay if an employee is required to be on-call but is not called in to work. 

To learn more about the requirements and exceptions, see here.

Emeryville

The City of Emeryville enacted the Fair Workweek Ordinance on July 1st, 2017. The law aims to provide employees with stable and predictable schedules.

Retail Firms with 56 or more employees worldwide and 20 or more employees in Emeryville are required to comply with this law, which requires:

• At least 14 days’ advance notice of the work schedule;

• Notice, right to decline, and compensation for schedule changes with less than 14 days notice;

• Offer of open shifts to existing employees before hiring new staff;

• At least 11 hours of rest between shifts (or payment of clopening premium pay); and 

• Right to rest a flexible working arrangement.

To learn more about the requirements and exceptions, see here. 

San Jose

San Jose’s Opportunity to Work Ordinance requires covered employers to offer open shifts to existing, qualified, part-time employees before hiring new employees or using contractors or staffing agencies. It took effect in 2017. 

San Jose’s law applies to all employers with 36 or more employees within the city of San Jose. Covered employers are also required to post the official notice in the workplace. 

For more information about San Jose’s requirements, see here.

Berkeley

The City of Berkeley Fair Workweek Ordinance took effect in 2024. It applies to employers in Berkeley, California who employ at least 10 employees in the City and are:

• in the building services, healthcare, hotel, manufacturing, retail, or warehouse services industries, and employ 56 or more employees globally; or

• in the restaurant industry, and employ 100 or more employees globally; or

• franchisees primarily engaged in the retail or restaurant industries and associated with a network of franchises with franchisees employing in the aggregate 100 or more employees globally; or

• nonprofit corporations in the industries specified above, employing 100 or more employees globally.

As with the other Fair Workweek laws, Berkeley’s ordinance requires covered employers to:

• Provide a good faith estimate of the days and times the employee can expect to work;

• Provide at least 14 days advance notice of the work schedule;

• Obtain employee consent and pay predictability pay for schedule changes;

• Provide at least 11 hours of rest between shifts or pay clopening premium pay; and 

• Offer work to existing, qualified part-time employees before hiring new staff or contractors to do the work. 

For more information about Berkeley’s Fair Workweek Ordinance, see here.

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