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The city of Novato (the city) enacted a minimum wage ordinance (the MWO) that requires you to pay any employee who works more than two hours in a particular week within the geographic boundaries of the city of Novato at the local minimum wage rate (the Novato minimum wage).1
You can find more information regarding the MWO on the city's website. You may also contact the City Clerk by phone at (415) 899-8902 or by email at city@novato.org.
The schedule of minimum wage increases is different depending upon how many employees you employ, and is broken up by “very large,” “large,” and “small” employer size.2
For purposes of the MWO, the number of employees is determined by the number of people working for an employer during a given week, including full-time, part-time or temporary employees (including those made available through a staffing agency or similar entity), regardless of where the employees are located.3
The term “small employer” doesn’t include a franchisee with a franchisor or network of franchises with franchisees that employ more than 25 employees in aggregate.8
You can find the current Novato 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 Novato minimum wage for each hour worked in Novato, not including tips or gratuities.10 The Novato minimum wage applies to employees working in Novato, regardless of where the employer is located or whether the employee is a Novato resident.11 Employees cannot waive their right to receive at least the Novato minimum wage, except through a valid collective bargaining agreement.12
You may not reduce the hourly wage to any employee or increase charges to employees for parking, meals, uniforms or other items; nor may you may reduce the hourly wage to any employee to account for housing and meal costs paid for or provided by the employer, to pay for the costs of the increased hourly wage imposed by the MWO.13
Time spent in Novato for the sole purpose of traveling through the city from a location outside the city to a destination outside the city, with no employment-related or commercial stops in the city is not covered by the MWO. Stops for refueling or personal meals or errands are not considered employment-related stops.14
You do not need to pay the Novato minimum wage to individuals who are not entitled to the state minimum wage.15 You can find additional information regarding application of the MWO on the For more information on these types of employees, see the HR Library's Minimum Wage.
The MWO includes “learners” under California law. Under the MWO, an employee who is at least 14 but not older than 17 years of age and who is a “learner,” as defined in California Welfare Commission Order No. 4-2001, must be paid at least 85 percent of the applicable Novato minimum wage for the first 160 hours of employment. You must pay the full applicable Novato minimum wage for every hour worked beyond 160 hours.16
Governmental agencies are exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the MWO, including certain auxiliary organizations supporting community and state colleges.17
Commissions or guaranteed gratuities, not including discretionary tips or gratuities, may be counted toward the minimum wage rate of compensation, only when the commissions or guaranteed gratuities or tips are earned and paid together with other compensation paid to an employee (if any), and together are equal to or greater than the current minimum wage. Employees must be paid an amount that equals or exceeds the current hourly minimum wage for each pay period.18
The MWO requires you to 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.19 The notice must be in all languages spoken by more than 10 percent of your employees. In addition to posting the notice prominently in each workplace, you must provide a copy of the written notice to each current employee and to each new employee at the time of hire.20
Also, 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, and annually, you must provide employees a written notice with your company’s name, address and telephone number, and the name and contact information of the person responsible for inquiries regarding compliance with the MWO.21
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.22 More information about the notice can be found on the HR Library's New Employee Orientation page.
You also are required to retain records of each employee's name, hours worked and pay rate for a period of three years. You must provide the employee or the employee’s representative a copy of these records upon reasonable request.23
If you do not keep adequate records documenting wages paid, or you do not allow reasonable access to such records, the employee’s account of how much they were paid will be presumed to be accurate. You will have to offer clear and convincing evidence to establish otherwise.24
The MWO is enforced by the city, which may conduct investigations and take administrative actions to enforce the MWO.25
In addition, aggrieved employees may file a civil lawsuit for any violation of the MWO.26
Remedies for violations may include: reinstatement, back pay, penalties of $100 owed to each employee for each day that the violation occurred, interest on wages owed, reimbursement of the city’s administrative costs of enforcement, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The city may also issue a civil penalty, payable to the city, in the amount of $100 for each employee whose rights were violated, for each day that the violation occurred. This is in addition to the penalties payable to employees.27
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.28 For example, employees have the right to complain to their employer that they are not being paid the Novato minimum wage, file formal complaints, inform other employees of their right to the Novato minimum wage, or assist other employees in asserting their rights.
If an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 120 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.29
Employees who are found to have been unlawfully retaliated against can recover triple times the wages lost due to any violation.30
1. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(B), (C); 2-30.2(A)
2. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.3
3. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.1(M)
4. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(L), 2-30.3(A)
5. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.3(A)(3), 2-30.3(D)
6. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(H), 2-30.3(B)
7. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(K), 2-30.3(C)
8. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(D)-(F), (M)
9. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(B), 2-30.2(A)
10. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.4(B)
11. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(B), 2-30.2(A)
12. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.5, 2-30.6
13. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.4(E), 2-30.7(C)
14. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.2(B)(2)
15. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(B)(2), 2-30.2(A)
16. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.4(A)
17. City of Novato Municipal Code secs. 2-30.1(G), 2-30.4(C)
18. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.4(D)
19. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.9(A)
20. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.9(B)
21. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.9(D)
22. Cal. Lab. Code sec. 2810.5
23. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.9(C)
24. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.9(C)
25. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.8
26. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.8(A)
27. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.8(A), (B)
28. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.7
29. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.7(B)
30. City of Novato Municipal Code sec. 2-30.8(B)(3)