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The city of Mountain View enacted a minimum wage ordinance (the MWO) that requires you to pay any employee who works at least two hours in one calendar week within the geographic boundaries of the city at the local minimum wage rate (the Mountain View minimum wage).
The MWO applies to your business if it is subject to Mountain View's business license requirements, or if you maintain a business facility in Mountain View.1 Transacting or conducting any business, trade, profession, calling, or occupation within Mountain View is considered an activity for which you must obtain a business license in Mountain View and thus must comply with the MWO.2 If you conduct any business in Mountain View, even if you do not have an office or facility there, the MWO likely applies to your business.
You can find more information regarding the MWO on the city's website. You may also contact the City Manager’s Office at (650) 903-6301 or by email at minwage@mountainview.gov.
You can find the current Mountain View minimum wage on the city's website.
A covered employee (employee) under the MWO is any employee who:
You must pay employees at least the Mountain View minimum wage for each hour worked in the city.4 The Mountain View minimum wage applies to employees working in the city, regardless of where the employer is located or whether the employee is a Mountain View resident.
Employees cannot waive their right to receive at least the Mountain View minimum wage, except through a valid collective bargaining agreement.5
You do not need to pay the Mountain View minimum wage to individuals who are not entitled to the state minimum wage.6 For more information on these types of employees, see Minimum Wage.
You can find additional information regarding application of the MWO in a Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
The MWO requires you to post an official, city-provided notice, specifying the minimum wage and describing employee rights. The city will publish this notice in all languages spoken by more than five percent of the workforce in the city. You must post this notice in any language spoken by at least five percent of the employees at the workplace or jobsite. The notices must be posted in a conspicuous place at all locations where employees work.7
In addition, you must display the California Minimum Wage Order, which can be found on CalChamber's California and Federal Labor Law posters.
At the time of hire, you must provide employees a written notice with your company's name, address and telephone number in writing.8
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.9 More information about the notice can be found at New Employee Orientation.
You also are required to retain payroll records pertaining to employees for a period of four years. The city must be permitted access to these records with appropriate notice and at a mutually agreeable time.10
If you do not keep adequate records documenting wages paid or you do not allow the city reasonable access to payroll records, the employee's account of how much they were paid will be presumed to be accurate. The employer will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.
The MWO is enforced by the city manager.11 The city may conduct investigations and take administrative actions to enforce the MWO. If the city investigates whether the employer violated the MWO, the employer will be required to post a notice on a form provided by the city informing employees of the investigation.12 The city is required to make every effort to resolve complaints informally before initiating an enforcement action.13
If the city determines that an employer violated the MWO, the city may issue an administrative citation and a fine of up to $50 for each day, or part of a day, and for each employee or person whose rights under the MWO were violated.14 The city also has the authority to take other enforcement actions such as revoking or suspending permits or licenses, until the violation is remedied.15 When repeated violations have been determined, the city may require the employer to post public notice.16
In addition, aggrieved employees, the city, an entity acting on behalf of a member who is an aggrieved employee, or an entity or person acting on behalf of employees or the public, may file a civil lawsuit for any violation of the MWO.17
Remedies for violation of the MWO may include: reinstatement; back pay; penalties of $50 owed to each employee for each day that the violation occurred in addition to fines; interest on wages owed; reimbursement of the city's administrative costs of enforcement; and attorneys' fees and costs.18
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 against retaliation.19 For example, employees have the right to complain to their employer that they are not being paid the Mountain View minimum wage; file formal complaints; inform other employees of their right to the Mountain View minimum wage; or to 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, the employer's action will be presumed to be retaliatory. The employer will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.
1. Mountain View City Code secs. 42.13(c), 42.14(a)
2. Mountain View City Code sec. 18.2
3. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.14(b)
4. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.13(b)
5. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.16
6. Mountain View City Code secs. 42.13(b), 42.14(a)
7. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.17(b)
8. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.17(b)
9. Lab. Code sec. 2810.5
10. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.17(c)
11. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.19(a)
12. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.19(b)
13. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.19(d)
14. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.20(a)
15. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.20(d)
16. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.20(f)
17. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.20(b)
18. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.20(b)
19. Mountain View City Code sec. 42.18