Minimum Wage $16.90 / HR
California has one of the highest minimum wages in the country. Most workers are entitled to at least $16.90 per hour. California also has industry-specific minimum wages that go beyond the state rate. Fast-food workers at national chains with 60 or more locations must be paid at least $20.00 per hour, a rule that took effect in April 2024. Healthcare facility workers have their own rate schedule depending on role and facility type.
California also has local law precedence. If the city or county where you work has set a higher minimum wage than the state rate, your employer must pay the higher amount. You are always entitled to whichever rate is greatest, whether that comes from the state, your city, or your industry. Deductions for uniforms, tools, or equipment cannot bring your pay below the applicable minimum wage.
Tipped workers in California receive full minimum wage on top of any tips. Unlike many other states, California does not allow a lower tipped minimum wage. Your tips are yours. Your employer cannot use them to satisfy the minimum wage requirement.
Overtime Laws DAILY + WEEKLY
California goes further than federal law on overtime. Under federal law, overtime only kicks in after 40 hours in a week. California calculates overtime both daily and weekly, which means more workers qualify more often.
The daily rules work like this: you earn 1.5 times your regular rate for any hours past 8 in a single workday, and double your regular rate for any hours past 12 in a single workday. A long shift can trigger multiple tiers of overtime pay within a single day, even if your total weekly hours stay under 40. The weekly rules mirror federal law: all hours past 40 in the week are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.
California also has rules for the seventh consecutive day of work. If you work seven days in a row within a workweek, the first eight hours on that seventh day must be paid at 1.5 times your rate. Any hours beyond eight on that seventh day are paid at double time. Your employer cannot rearrange your schedule to avoid these rules once the workweek is set.
California law also requires overtime to be paid even if it was not authorized. If your employer knew or should have known you were working extra hours, they owe you overtime for that time. A blanket policy against unauthorized overtime does not eliminate the obligation to pay for it. Under Labor Code Section 1194, employees cannot waive their right to overtime, and any agreement to do so has no legal effect.
Nondiscretionary bonuses must be included when calculating your regular rate of pay for overtime purposes. If your employer pays you a production bonus, a performance bonus, or any other incentive bonus tied to your work, that amount factors into what your overtime rate should be. Employers who calculate overtime only on your base wage while ignoring bonuses are likely underpaying overtime.
Meal & Rest Breaks MANDATED
California mandates both meal periods and rest breaks, and employers who skip them owe extra pay for each violation. These are not suggestions. They are legal obligations that apply to most workers in the state.
For meal breaks, you are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid period when you work more than 5 hours in a day. If your shift runs past 10 hours, you are entitled to a second 30-minute meal period. During a meal break, you must be completely relieved of all duties and free to leave the premises. If your employer requires you to remain on-site or on-call, that meal period must be paid, regardless of whether you were called back to work.
For rest breaks, you are entitled to a 10-minute paid break for every four hours worked, or major fraction thereof. These breaks must be in the middle of each work period as much as possible. Rest breaks are paid time. You cannot be required to clock out or leave the premises during a rest break.
When an employer fails to provide a compliant meal or rest break, they owe one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate for each missed break. These are called premium pay violations. If an employer has been routinely skipping breaks for a large number of employees, the exposure can be substantial, and a PAGA claim may allow those workers to seek recovery on behalf of themselves and others.
The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) CA SPECIFIC
California's Private Attorneys General Act, known as PAGA, is one of the most powerful wage enforcement tools in the country. It allows workers to file a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other employees to recover civil penalties for Labor Code violations. When a single employer is violating wage laws across a large workforce, PAGA turns an individual wage claim into something much larger.
PAGA applies to a wide range of violations, including unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, inaccurate pay stubs, and failure to pay all wages at termination. Civil penalties under PAGA can be significant, and a portion of any recovery goes to the state while the rest goes to the affected employees.
If you believe your employer has been systematically violating wage laws across your workplace, a PAGA claim may recover far more than a standard individual wage claim. An attorney can evaluate whether the violations you experienced are part of a broader pattern affecting other workers.
Employee Misclassification AB5 / ABC TEST
California uses the ABC test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. This test was codified through AB5, and it sets a high bar for classifying workers as contractors. Under the ABC test, a worker is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring company can prove all three of the following.
First, the worker must be free from the company's control and direction in how the work is performed. Second, the work must be outside the usual course of the company's business. Third, the worker must be customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. All three must be true. If any one of them fails, the worker is an employee under California law.
Misclassification is especially common in transportation, delivery, construction, janitorial, and gig economy work. If you have been called an independent contractor but your work is controlled by the company, your schedule is set by the company, and the work you do is the core of what that company does, you may have been misclassified. A misclassified worker is typically owed unpaid overtime, missed break premiums, and other wages that employees receive.
Filing a Claim 4 YEAR WINDOW
California gives workers up to four years to file a wage claim under California's Unfair Competition Law. This is one of the longer deadlines in the country, and it means workers who were underpaid several years ago may still be able to recover. The clock starts from the date each violation occurred, not from when you learned about it.
For wages owed at termination, California law requires final pay to be delivered immediately upon discharge, or on the last day worked if the employee resigned with at least 72 hours notice. When an employer fails to do this, a waiting time penalty equal to one day of wages per day of delay, up to 30 days, may be added to the claim under Labor Code Section 203.
Retaliation for pursuing a wage claim is illegal. Your employer cannot fire you, cut your hours, demote you, or threaten you in response to a complaint. If retaliation occurs, that becomes an additional violation on top of the original wage claim and can increase what you are owed.
Gather what you can before reaching out: pay stubs, timesheets, schedules, any communications from your employer about pay or hours. Even partial records can help. An attorney can work with what you have and identify what else might be available.
Think You May Be Owed Back Wages?
Josephson Dunlap reviews wage claims for California workers at no cost. There is no fee unless wages are recovered. A case manager will go through your situation and tell you where you stand.