Minimum Wage Rate

• Effective July 1, 2026, the Los Angeles County minimum wage is $18.47 per hour. 2

Future rate increases will be made annually based on the Regional Consumer Price Index.

• The Los Angeles County minimum wage is higher than the standard California state minimum wage but not the state minimum wage rates for the fast food and health care industries. You must pay the higher minimum wage to employees eligible for it. For more information on the state minimum wage rates, see the HR Library’s Minimum Wage.

Coverage and Eligibility

A covered employee (employee) under the MWO is any employee who:

• Performs at least two hours of work in one particular week in Los Angeles County, whether full or part-time; and
• Is entitled to payment of a California minimum wage.3

You must pay employees at least the Los Angeles County minimum wage for each hour worked in Los Angeles County, regardless of where the employer is located or whether the employee is a County resident.4

An employee traveling through the county with no employment-related stops is not covered by the MWO. Stops for refueling or personal meals or errands are not considered employment-related stops.5

Employees cannot waive their right to receive at least the Los Angeles County minimum wage.6

You do not need to pay the Los Angeles County minimum wage to individuals who are exempt from the state minimum wage.7 For more information on these types of employees, see Minimum Wage.

You can find additional information regarding application of the MWO on the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk website.

Posting, Notices and Recordkeeping Requirements

The MWO requires you to display an official, county-provided notice specifying the minimum wage and rights of employees. You must display the county-provided notice in each of your business locations. You must post the county's official notice in English, Spanish, and the primary language you use to communicate with each employee regarding each employee's work functions, if other than English or Spanish. The notice must be posted in a conspicuous place at all locations where employees work. If you do not have a physical jobsite you must provide a copy of the notice to employees.8

• Los Angeles Labor Law Posters

In addition, you must display the California Minimum Wage Order, which can be found on CalChamber's California and Federal Labor Law poster.

• California and Federal Labor Law Posters

At the time of hire, you must provide employees a written statement disclosing:

1. The company's name, any trade (doing business as) names, the physical and mailing address of the company's main office, email address and the company's telephone number;
2. The employee's rate or rates of pay;
3. The company's tip policy, including any tip sharing, pooling or allocation policies, if applicable;
4. The employee's pay basis (e.g., hour, shift, day, week, commission);
5. The formula by which the DCBA can determine the employee's rate of pay and total pay;
6. The employee's established payday for earned wage compensation; and
7. Each deduction that will be collected from the employee's pay each pay period.9

The ordinance also says the notice must include anything else required by the director's rules, so this list could expand if applicable rules are promulgated.

State law also requires you to provide Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) at the time of hire to most employees that includes much of this information.10 To meet your obligation under the MWO, you can provide a supplemental notice to the state-required notice.11 More information about the notice can be found at New Employee Orientation.

You are required to retain records of each “employee's name, address, occupation, dates of employment, rate or rates of pay, amount paid each Pay Period, hours worked for each employee, and the formula by which each employee's wages are calculated.” Records must be kept for four years.12

If you do not keep adequate records documenting wages paid, or you do not allow the county reasonable access to payroll records, the employee's account of how much they were paid will be presumed to be accurate. You will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.

Enforcement

The MWO is enforced by the DCBA.13 The DCBA may conduct investigations and take administrative actions to enforce the minimum wage.

If the DCBA determines that an employer violated the MWO it will issue a Wage Enforcement Order, which the employer is required to post within 24 hours of receipt.14

The DCBA may also assess the employer additional fines payable to the county. Those fines include: up to $100 for each day, or part of a day for each person the employer failed to pay minimum wage; up to $500 for failing to post any required notice; failing to maintain payroll records; failing to allow DCBA access to records and failing to provide employees' required information; and up to $1,000 if the DCBA determines the employer retaliated against an employee.15 For more information, see “Retaliation” on this page.

The DCBA may increase the fine by 50 percent for each subsequent violation within three years. The maximum administrative fine that may be imposed by a Wage Enforcement Order in a calendar year is $20,000 per employee. In retaliation cases, the maximum is $30,000 per employee per calendar year.16 An employer has the right to an administrative hearing to contest the DCBA's determinations.17

When an employer is determined to have violated the MWO, the DCBA may recommend that any license issued by the county be suspended, revoked or denied in the case. Employers who are county contractors and violate the MWO may face contract penalties or disqualification from contracting with the county.18

In addition, aggrieved employees, the county, or entities acting on behalf of the public may file a civil lawsuit for any violation of the MWO.19

Remedies may include: reinstatement; back pay; fines of $100 owed to each employee for each day that the violation occurred; interest on wages owed; and attorneys' fees and costs. In cases of retaliation, employees are also entitled to triple all back wages, fines and penalties.20

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 DCBA cannot both cite the employer for the same violation.

Retaliation

Employees who assert their rights under the minimum wage ordinance are protected against retaliation.21 For example, employees have the right to complain to their employer that they are not being paid the minimum wage; file formal complaints; inform other employees of their rights to the Los Angeles County minimum wage; or to assist other employees to assert their rights.

If an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days after the employee asserted rights protected by the minimum wage ordinance, the employer's action will be presumed to be retaliatory. The employer will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.

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1. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.100.030C

2. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.100.040A

3. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.100.030C

4. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.100.040

5. Rules Relative to County of Los Angeles Minimum Wage and Enforcement Ordinances, adopted June 21, 2016, Rule 3.0B

6. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.100.060

7. Los Angeles County Code secs. 8.100.030C, 8.100.04A

8. Los Angeles County Code secs. 8.101.050, 8.101.060

9. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.060B

10. Lab. Code sec. 2810.5

11. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.060

12. Los Angeles County Code secs. 8.101.070A, B, D

13. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.090

14. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.120C

15. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.150A

16. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.150B, C

17. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.140

18. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.160A, B

19. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.170B

20. Los Angeles County Code sec. 8.101.150A, F

21. Los Angeles County Code secs. 8.100.050, 8.101.080