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The city of Half Moon Bay (the city) enacted a minimum wage ordinance (the MWO) that requires you to pay any employee who works at least two hours in a calendar week within the geographic boundaries of the city of Half Moon Bay at the local minimum wage rate (the Half Moon Bay minimum wage).1
You can find more information regarding the MWO on the city's website. You may also contact the City Manager’s Office by phone at (650) 750-2010 or by email at minimumwage@hmbcity.com.
You can find the current Half Moon Bay minimum wage on the city's website.
A covered employee (employee) under the MWO is any employee, whether adult or minor, who:
You must pay employees at least the Half Moon Bay minimum wage for each hour worked in Half Moon Bay, not including tips or gratuities. 4 The Half Moon Bay minimum wage applies to employees working in Half Moon Bay, regardless of where the employer is located or whether the employee is a Half Moon Bay resident.5
Employees cannot waive their right to receive at least the Half Moon Bay minimum wage, except through a valid collective bargaining agreement.6
You may not reduce the hourly wage to any employee or increase charges to employees for parking, meals, uniforms or other items.7
You do not need to pay the Half Moon Bay minimum wage to individuals who are not entitled to the state minimum wage.8 For more information on these types of employees, see the HR Library's Minimum Wage.
You can find additional information regarding application of the MWO on the city’s Frequently Asked Questions page.
The MWO includes “learners” under California law. Under the MWO, an employee who is a “learner” of any age, must be paid at least 85 percent of the applicable Half Moon Bay minimum wage for the first 160 hours of employment. You must pay the full applicable Half Moon Bay minimum wage for every hour worked beyond 160 hours.9
State, federal and county agencies, including public school district employers, are not required to pay minimum wage when the work performed is related to their governmental function. However, minimum wage must be paid for work not related to an agency’s governmental function, including but not limited to, booster or gift shops, non-K-12 cafeterias or on-site concessions and similar operations. 10
The MWO requires you to the post official, city-provided notice specifying the minimum wage and describing employee rights under the MWO. The notice must be posted in a conspicuous place at any workplace or job site where any employee works.11
Also, you must display the California Minimum Wage Order, which can be found on CalChamber’s California and Federal Labor Law posters.
State law also requires you to provide Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) at the time of hire to all nonexempt employees that includes this information and meets the obligation under the MWO.12 More information about the notice can be found on the HR Library's New Employee Orientation page.
You also are required to retain payroll records pertaining to employees for a period of three years. You must allow the city to access these records with appropriate notice and at a mutually agreeable time.13
If you do not keep adequate records documenting wages paid, or you do not allow the City reasonable access to such records, the employee’s account of how much they were paid will be presumed to be accurate, absent clear and convincing evidence establishing otherwise.14
The MWO is enforced by the city, which may conduct investigations and take administrative actions to enforce the MWO.15
In addition, aggrieved employees or the city may file a civil lawsuit for any violation of the MWO.16
Remedies for violations may include: reinstatement; back pay; penalties of $50 owed to each employee for each day that the violation occurred; interest on wages owed; reimbursement of the City’s administrative costs of enforcement; injunctive relief; and attorneys’ fees and costs.17
The California Labor Commissioner also has the authority to investigate and enforce local minimum wage and overtime provisions, including such provisions in the MWO, and to issue citations and penalties against employers for violations. However, the Labor Commissioner and the city cannot both cite the employer for the same violation.
Employees who assert their rights under the MWO are protected from retaliation.18 For example, employees have the right to complain to their employer that they are not being paid the Half Moon Bay minimum wage, file formal complaints; inform other employees of their right to the Half Moon Bay minimum wage, or assist other employees in asserting their rights.
If an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days after the employee asserted rights protected by the MWO, it will be presumed the action was retaliation. The employer will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.19
1. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.020(c), (d); 3.300.030
2. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.030(b)
3. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.020(c), (d); 3.300.030
4. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.030(d)
5. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.020(c), (d); 3.300.030; also see Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Local Minimum Wage Ordinance
6. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.090
7. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.030(e)
8. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.020(c), (d); 3.300.030
9. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.020(e); 3.300.030(c)
10. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.040
11. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.050(c)
12. Cal. Lab. Code sec. 2810.5
13. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.050(d)
14. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.050(d)
15. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code secs. 3.300.070; 3.300.080
16. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.080(b)
17. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.080(b), (e)
18. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.060
19. Half Moon Bay Mun. Code sec. 3.300.060(b)