California Employment Law and Compliance Resources
MINIMUM WAGE
California Minimum Wage: $16.90/hour
($9.65 higher than the federal rate).
County Variations: Some counties have higher minimum wages.
Health Care Workers: Minimum wage ranges from $18 to $23/hour, depending on the facility type.
Fast Food Workers: Earn a $20/hour minimum wage under AB 1228.
AB 1228: Created the Fast Food Council to oversee future wage increases and industry standards.
OVERTIME PAY
California Overtime Rules: Overtime applies based on both daily and weekly hours worked.
Overtime Rates: 1.5x the regular rate after 8 hours/day, 2x after 12 hours/day.
7-Day Rule: 1.5x pay for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive workday, 2x after 8 hours.
Eligibility: Applies to nonexempt workers 18+ and certain 16-17-year-olds not in school.
CALL-BACK & STANDBY TIME
Paid Waiting Time: Employees must be paid when under the employer’s control, even if they’re idle or waiting.
Standby at Workplace: If required to stay on-site, employees must be compensated.
Standby Away from Work: Pay depends on restrictions like response time, ability to travel, call frequency, and ability to trade shifts.
FINAL PAY
Voluntary Resignation: Final paycheck due immediately if 72 hours' notice is given; otherwise, within 72 hours.
Termination: Employees must be paid their final wages immediately.
Seasonal Workers: Those in perishable goods (curing, canning, drying) must be paid within 72 hours of layoff.
Meal Breaks & Rest Periods
Meal & Rest Breaks
Generally, most California employees are entitled to:
- An uninterrupted 30-minute unpaid meal break for workers working more than five hours in a day.
- An additional 30-minute unpaid meal break when working more than 12 hours in a day.
- A paid 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked. If not provided, the employee is owed an additional hour of premium pay at the regular rate.
During meal breaks and rest periods, employees should be free from job responsibilities and should not be on-call.
On-Duty Meal Periods
If employees can’t be fully relieved of their duties for meal breaks, on-duty meal periods will apply.
- Meal periods must be paid if an employee needs to stay at the work site or facility.
- On-duty meal breaks are only allowed if the nature of the job makes it impossible for workers to be free of all of their duties.
- There should be a written agreement between employer and employee.
- On-site meal breaks should only happen for real, job-related reasons, not just because both employer and employee agree.
Industry-Specific Regulations
There are also industry-specific regulations and exemptions for meal and rest breaks in California. For instance, rest breaks can be staggered in the construction, drilling, logging, and mining industries to prevent disruptions in operations. If a break is missed, it must be provided within the same workday or the employer must pay a penalty for the missed break.
Paid Leave & Child Labor Laws
Paid Leave
California employees may be entitled to several types of paid leaves. Here are some of them:
- Paid sick leave - Employees can be entitled to 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave per year if they are working for the same employer for a minimum of 30 days in a year and if 90 days of employment have elapsed before they use any paid sick leave.
- Paid family leave - This leave is administered by the California Employment Development Department. Eligible employees can receive benefits for up to eight weeks, and it’s 70-90% of an employee’s weekly wages earned 5 to 18 months before the claim date.
- State disability insurance - Employees may be eligible for up to 52 weeks of benefit payments if they can’t work due to illness, injury, surgery, pregnancy, or childbirth.
- Paid voting leave - Employees can take up to 2 hours off to vote without losing any pay.
Child Labor Laws
California requires work permits for minors under 18.
Minors 14 and 15 years old can work 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week when school is not in session. When school is in session, they can work 3 hours per day and 18 hours per week. They are not allowed to work between 7PM (9PM from June 1st to Labor Day) to 7AM.
Minors 16 and 17 years old can work 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week when school is not in session. When school is in session, they can work 4 hours per day or 8 hours on a non-school day or any day preceding a non-school day. They are not allowed to work from 10PM (or 12:30AM before a non-school day) to 5AM.
Fair Workweek Laws (Predictive Scheduling)
California does not have a single statewide Fair Workweek law. Instead, five city and county ordinances apply predictive scheduling rules to covered employers:
San Francisco
Formula retail chains with 40+ locations worldwide and 20+ employees in the city must give 14 days' schedule notice, with predictability pay owed for changes made inside 7 days.
Los Angeles (City)
Retail employers with 300+ employees globally must give 14 days' notice; employees can't work a shift starting less than 10 hours after their previous one unless they give written consent, in which case that shift is paid at time-and-a-half.
Los Angeles County (Unincorporated Areas)
Same 300-employee, 14-day framework as the City, including the 10-hour rest rule and time-and-a-half for consented shorter-rest shifts.
Berkeley
Employers with 10+ Berkeley employees (and 56–100+ globally, depending on industry) owe 1 hour of predictability pay for schedule changes made 1–14 days before a shift. Inside 24 hours' notice, that becomes up to 4 hours (or the number of hours reduced, whichever is less) for cancellations or reduced hours, and 1 hour for additions, changes, or moved shifts.
Emeryville
Retail and fast food employers with 56+ employees globally (or 20+ locally) owe 1 hour of predictability pay for schedule changes made 1–14 days before a shift. Inside 24 hours' notice, that becomes the lesser of 4 hours' pay or the originally scheduled hours for cancellations or reduced hours, and 1 hour for other changes. Employers must also pay time-and-a-half for any shift scheduled less than 11 hours apart.
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California State Payroll Taxes
California has several payroll taxes, some shouldered by employers while others are deducted from employees' pay.
Unemployment Insurance (UI) Tax
UI is covered by the employee and it applies to the first $7,000 of each employee’s annual wages. This insurance is used to fund unemployment benefits for eligible workers who lose their jobs. Contribution rates range from 1.5% to 6.2%.
Employment Training Tax (ETT)
ETT is another tax shouldered by employers and it’s used to support worker training programs. ETT rate is 0.1%.
State Disability Insurance Tax (SDI)
SDI provides benefits for non-work related illness, injury or pregnancy. Employees foot the bill for SDI and the current withholding rate is 1.3%.
California Personal Income Tax (PIT)
PIT is used to fund state government services, including public education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Employees pay for PIT in California and current tax rates are 1% to 13.3%.
Other Laws
CA Cellphone Law
California Labor Code 2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for any job-related expenses incurred, which includes costs related to personal cellphone use for work duties.
Jury Duty
Employers are not required to pay employees for jury duty-related absences.
An In-depth Look Into California Laws
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