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This section discusses wage and hour requirements for specific jobs and industries.
This topic contains the following information:
If you do business with government entities, you must follow additional state and federal requirements for wages and benefits. Wages and benefits are often heavily influenced by collectively bargained rates.
The Department of Industrial Relations defines the prevailing wage rate as the basic hourly rate paid on public works projects to a majority of employees engaged in a particular craft, classification or type of work within a locality and in the nearest labor market area. The prevailing wage obligation is imposed when you:
A prevailing wage obligation is virtually synonymous with the minimum wage obligation, although the amount you must pay as prevailing wages is generally significantly higher than the minimum wage. The principal difference is that prevailing wage legislation frequently requires the provision of both local prevailing wages and fringe benefits or payment of the costs of benefits.
The U.S. Department of Labor establishes a minimum wage for all workers on certain federal construction and service contracts. In recent years, a series of executive orders and subsequent regulations have increased the federal contractor minimum wage based on when the contract was formed or renewed.
On January 1, 2025, the federal contractor minimum wage was scheduled to increase to $17.75 per hour for covered contracts entered into on or after January 30, 2022, or that are renewed or extended (pursuant to an option or otherwise) on or after January 30, 2022. The 2025 rate was established by U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule published on September 30, 2022, at the direction of Executive Order 14026 and adjusted for inflation for 2025. This is an increase from the 2024 rate of $17.20 per hour.
However, on November 5, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the Order and its implementing regulations exceeded the authority Congress granted the Executive Branch.
The Ninth Circuit decision created a circuit split with the Fifth and Tenth Circuits, which found EO 14026 valid, but in January 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the issue.
President Trump’s order did not, however, rescind Executive Order 13658, which established minimum wages for covered contracts entered, extended or renewed between January 1, 2015, and January 29, 2022. Under Executive Order 13658, the minimum wage rate for covered contracts is $13.30 per hour, effective January 1, 2025.
This minimum wage requirement applies to:
The Walsh-Healey Act covers employers with federal government contracts that manufacture or supply articles with a value of more than $10,000. Under this law, government contractors must pay prevailing wage rates in addition to conforming to the FLSA’s requirements.1 The Act requires these employers to pay the locally prevailing minimum wage as determined by the Secretary of Labor, but doesn’t require payment of locally prevailing fringe benefits. The Walsh-Healey Act is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor. Penalties for violations include liquidated damages to claimants and the possibility of being excluded from government work.
The Davis-Bacon Act covers employers with federal government contracts in excess of $2,000. All laborers and mechanics engaged in the construction, alteration or repair of public work pursuant to such a contract must be paid an amount equal to the total of the locally prevailing minimum wage and fringe benefits as determined by the Secretary of Labor.2 The Davis-Bacon Act covers the principal contractor and all subcontractors who work for the principal contractor.
California imposes prevailing wage obligations upon employers who provide services or construction work for public entities under contract and in excess of $1,000.3
Covered contractors and subcontractors must provide accurate payroll records to the Labor Commissioner showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by him or her in connection with the public work.
Payroll records must be provided to the Labor Commissioner at least once every 30 days while the work is being performed and within 30 days after the final day of work performed and must be in an electronic format prescribed by the Labor Commissioner. Contractors who don’t comply with the disclosure requirements will face a penalty of $100 per day in which they were in violation, not to exceed a total penalty of $5,000. The law provides that the Labor Commissioner can’t levy penalties until 14 days after the deadline to provide the records.4
Payroll records must be certified and copies must be provided to the DLSE or the entity that awarded the contract within 10 days of written request.5
Covered contractors must also keep accurate records showing the names and actual hours worked each calendar day and week by each worker employed in connection with the public work. These records must be open at reasonable hours for inspection by DLSE or the entity that awarded the contract.6
In most cases, the prevailing wage and benefits required by California public works projects are higher than those required by federal law. For example, California requires overtime after 8 hours of work in a day and 40 hours of work in a week on state public works projects.7
Work that is performed by a volunteer, a volunteer coordinator, by members of the California Conservation Corps or members of a certified Community Conservation Corps are exempt from the prevailing wage requirement.8
A penalty per day per employee can be imposed for failing to pay prevailing wages or overtime on state jobs in California.9 The penalty starts at $40 per day per employee unless the error is the result of a good-faith mistake that is promptly and voluntarily corrected. The minimum penalty increases to $80 per day per employee if the contractor has been subject to a penalty within the previous three years, and to $120 per day per employee if the Labor Commissioner determines that a willful violation occurred. When any amount is collected from a contractor, the amount will be applied first to satisfy any outstanding wage claim before it is applied to the penalty.10 It is a misdemeanor to willfully fail to pay the prevailing wage.11
Charter cities are prohibited from using or receiving state funds or financial assistance for construction projects if the city has a provision authorizing a contract to not comply with prevailing wage provisions on any public works contract.12
In addition, the Labor Commissioner publishes a list of contractors and subcontractors that have committed willful violations or against which a final compliance order was issued. The list includes the date of each assessment, the amount of wages and penalties assessed and the amount collected. The list is updated quarterly. A name remains on the list until the date the assessment is satisfied or three years, whichever is later.
For more information on state prevailing wages, see the DIR website.
California law permits a federally recognized joint labor management committee to obtain a copy of a certified payroll from a contractor on a public works project, with names and SSNs deleted (with an exception of allowing disclosure of last four digits in certain circumstances).13 If the committee discovers unpaid prevailing wages or fringe benefits due and related penalties, the committee can file a civil action to collect them. Courts can award restitution to employees and attorneys’ fees and costs to the committee.14
The DLSE is authorized to conduct investigations to determine if employers have violated state prevailing wage laws. During an investigation, the DLSE must keep confidential the name and other identifying information of any employee who reports a violation of prevailing wage laws.15
Employees directly employed by the state or any county, incorporated city or town or other municipal corporation do not fall under provisions that establish time and form of payment.16
Seasonal laborers hired in California to work outside the state receive full protection of laws regulating the form and timing of payment that apply to people working in California. Seasonal laborers under California law include those hired to work outside of California for more than one month, excluding seamen and others covered by federal law.17 For seasonal labor, the Labor Commissioner resolves all disputes about wage payment, though the courts can review these determinations.18
Student employees, camp counselors and program counselors of organized camps aren't subject to the minimum wage requirement if the employee receives a weekly salary of at least 85 percent of the minimum wage for a 40-hour week, regardless of the number of hours the employee might work at the organized camp. If the employee works less than a
40-hour week, the employee must receive at least 85 percent of the minimum hourly wage for each hour worked. The organized camp can deduct the value of meals and lodging from the salary of student employees, pursuant to the appropriate IWC Wage Orders.19
“Organized camp” means a site with a program and facilities established for the primary purposes of providing an outdoor group living experience with social, spiritual, educational or recreational objectives for five days or more during one or more seasons of the year. It doesn’t include a motel, tourist camp, trailer park, resort, hunting camp, auto court, labor camp or penal or correctional camp; nor does it include a child care institution or home-finding agency, or any charitable or recreational organization that complies with the rules and regulations for recreational trailer parks.20
Employers who contract for labor and services may be held liable if the labor contractor fails to pay its workers properly, fails to provide workers’ compensation coverage or retaliates against workers for bringing complaints.21 For more information, see Non-Direct Hire.
In addition, a contract or agreement for labor or services with a construction, farm labor, garment, janitorial, security guard, warehouse contractor or port drayage motor carriers (trucking companies that specialize in moving freight in and out of ocean ports) violates the law if the contracting party knows or should know that the terms provide insufficient funds to allow the contractor to comply with all applicable local, state and federal laws or regulations governing the labor or services to be provided.22 The laws cover a contract or agreement with any person, licensed or not, who acts in the capacity of a construction, farm labor, garment, janitorial or security guard, warehouse contractor or port drayage motor carrier.
Port drayage motor carriers were added to the list of specific industries covered by Labor Code section 2810 in 2025. The law, however, doesn’t apply to a contract with a port drayage motor carrier involving 30 days or fewer cumulative labor or services within a one-year period.
A contracting party knows that terms are insufficient if the party has the knowledge, arising from familiarity with the normal facts and circumstances of the business activity, that the contract or agreement doesn’t include sufficient funds to allow the contractor to comply with applicable laws. A contracting party should know that terms are insufficient if the party has knowledge of any additional facts or information that would make a reasonably prudent person question if the contract or agreement contains sufficient funds to allow the contractor to comply with applicable laws. A failure to request or obtain any information from the contractor that is required by any applicable statute or by the contract or agreement constitutes knowledge of that information for purposes of this section.
Contractor liability under this section is limited to situations where the contractor pays subcontractors a contract price insufficient to allow payment of minimum wage; merely paying less than the average local prevailing wage, if higher than minimum wage, doesn’t violate the law.23
The law presumes that a contract or agreement meets these requirements if the contract is a single written document that includes:24
If the information regarding number of workers employed or used as independent contractors under the contract is unknown at the time that the contract or agreement is executed, the best estimate available at that time is sufficient. If an estimate is used, the parties have a continuing duty to determine the information and put it in writing after that information becomes known.25 A material change to the terms and conditions of a contract or agreement must be in writing in a single document. That document must contain all of the provisions affected by the change.
You must retain a copy of any contract or agreement for not less than four years following the termination of the contract or agreement.
Labor Code section 2810 doesn’t apply to a person or entity who executes a collective bargaining agreement covering the employees who are employed under the contract or agreement. Labor Code section 2810 doesn’t apply to a contract or agreement for labor or services to be performed in a residence if a family member of the contracting party resides in the residence for which the labor or services are to be performed for at least a part of the year.
Employees affected by a violation can bring an action for injunctive relief and file for damages to recover the greater of:
Applicants for licensure as a farm labor contractor, registration as a garment manufacturer, renewal or reinstatement of a farm labor contractor license or a garment manufacturer registration, or a change in the individuals licensed or registered must submit a statement to the Labor Commissioner as to whether the applicant has satisfied all requirements imposed by a final judgment, order or accord involving unpaid wages.26
General contractors on certain private construction contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022 can be held liable for any unpaid wages, benefits or contributions that a subcontractor owes to a laborer who performed work under the contract. Liability can also include penalties and liquidated damages for contracts.27
The general contractor’s liability will include penalties and liquidated damages only under specific circumstances. If a worker employed by a subcontractor on a private construction project is not paid the wage, fringe or other benefit payment or contribution owed by the subcontractor on account of the worker’s performance of labor on that project, the direct contractor of the project is not liable for any associated penalties or liquidated damages unless the direct contractor had knowledge of the subcontractor’s failure to pay the specified wage, fringe or other benefit payment or contribution, or the direct contractor fails to comply with all of the following requirements:
The general contractor can request payroll records from subcontractors to confirm that wages and other benefits or contributions are being made.
The Labor Commissioner can enforce this law against the general contractor. In addition, a third party owed benefit payments or contributions can sue the general contractor.
Foreign labor contractors who recruit foreign workers for assignments in California must register with the Labor Commissioner and meet registration, licensing and bonding requirements. For more information, see ”Contracting for Foreign Workers” in Non-Direct Hire.
Garment manufacturers must register with the Labor Commissioner and are subject to specific requirements.
Under California law, a “garment manufacturer” is anyone engaged in garment manufacturing who is not a contractor and a “brand guarantor” is anyone contracting for the performance of garment manufacturing.29
Garment manufacturing is defined as "sewing, cutting, making, processing, repairing, finishing, assembling, dyeing, altering a garment's design, causing another person to alter a garment's design, affixing a label to a garment, or otherwise preparing any garment or any article of wearing apparel or accessories designed or intended to be worn by any individual...."
To register or renew registration, garment manufacturers must complete a written application and take an examination covering the laws and regulations that protect employees in the industry.30 Garment manufacturers must certify that they have a current workers’ compensation insurance policy in force for all employees.31 The business name, address and registration number must be displayed at the entrance of the premises.32 Those who manufacture garments by themselves, tailors solely engaged in alterations and employees who have wages as sole compensation are exempted from these garment manufacturing laws.33
Employers must pay employees engaged in garment manufacturing an hourly rate not less than the applicable minimum wage and cannot pay employees by piece rate or by the unit.34 Employers who violate the prohibition against piece rate compensation are subject to a penalty of $200 per employee per pay period, enforceable by the Labor Commissioner. The prohibition on piece rate compensation doesn’t apply to workplaces where employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for wages, hours of work, and working conditions of the employees; premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked and a regular hourly rate of pay for those employees of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage; stewards or monitors; and a process to resolve disputes concerning nonpayment of wages.
Under Labor Code section 2673.1, any garment manufacturer, contractor, or brand guarantor who contracts with another person for the performance of garment manufacturing will be jointly and severally liable with any manufacturer and contractor who performs those operations for the garment manufacturer or brand guarantor for all of the following:35
Employees can only enforce section 2673.1 by filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner against the contractor, garment manufacturer and the brand guarantor to recover unpaid wages and associated penalties.
The Labor Commissioner can issue stop orders or citations, or revoke, deny or suspend the registration of any garment manufacturer who fails to pay wages that the commissioner awarded to an employee.36
Any garment manufacturer who contracts with any other garment manufacturer who is not registered with the Labor Commissioner is deemed an employer and is jointly liable with the contracting person for certain wage and hour violations.37 Employees can file a lawsuit to recover wages and overtime payments due from a manufacturer who has contracted with an unregistered manufacturer. Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs can be awarded.38
The Labor Commissioner is authorized to confiscate garments if all wages due and owed have not been paid to employees performing the garment manufacturing.39 If the Labor Commissioner has confiscated manufactured apparel due to labor violations in the previous five years, the Labor Commissioner is also authorized to confiscate manufacturing equipment (for example, sewing machines) that belongs to manufacturers who violated labor laws.
Every employer engaged in the business of garment manufacturing must keep records for four years, which show the following:40
Brand guarantors must keep accurate records for four years that show all of the following:
Failing to maintain wage and hour records on employees, comply with registration requirements or failure to comply within 15 days of any judgment due for violation of any labor laws applicable to garment industry workers will result in a civil penalty of $100 for each affected employee on the first violation and $200 for subsequent violations,41
Garment manufacturers failure to display their name, address and registration number at the front entrance of the premises will result in a civil penalty. The penalty for the initial citation is $100 per day for each calendar day that the person doesn’t comply with the requirement. The fine increases to $200 per calendar day for subsequent violations.42
For more information regarding requirements for garment manufacturers, visit the DLSE website.
The janitorial industry has certain recordkeeping, registration and training requirements intended to protect covered janitorial workers from wage theft and sexual violence or harassment.
Employers are covered by these requirements if they employ at least one covered worker or otherwise engage by contract, subcontract, or franchise agreement for the provision of janitorial services by one or more covered workers. A covered worker is an employee, independent contractor or franchisee working predominantly as a janitor.43
Janitorial employers are required to keep detailed and accurate records for three years of:44
Covered janitorial employers must register annually with the Labor Commissioner. Information on registration and recordkeeping responsibilities can be found on the Labor Commissioner’s website.45
Covered janitorial employers also must provide employees with biennial sexual violence and harassment prevention training with specific substantive training requirements established by the Department of Industrial Relations.46 For more information, see Harassment Prevention Training Requirements for Specific Industries or Individuals.
The law includes civil fines of up to $10,000 for failure to register or for contracting with an unregistered janitorial contractor.47 Repeat violators are subject to even heftier fines.
For more information, see ”Labor Contractors in Specific Industries” on this page, and Displaced Worker.
Any establishment that is licensed by the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) (e.g., hair salons, nail salons, estheticians, etc.) must post a notice regarding workplace rights and wage-and-hour laws.48 This must be posted in English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.
The Labor Commissioner has created the barbering and cosmetology poster in all four languages. The poster can be found on the Labor Commissioner’s publications website.
The notice must be posted in a conspicuous location in clear view of employees. The BBC will inspect for compliance with the posting requirement; failure to post the notice will result in a fine.
In addition, the BBC must provide every licensee and applicant with basic labor law education as part of the health and safety curriculum provided at BBC schools.49
Basic labor law education, includes, but is not limited to, information on:
The information must be made available in English, Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese.
License applicants must also sign an acknowledgment that they understand that establishments are responsible for compliance with California labor laws and understand the basic labor law educational information they have been provided.
The health and safety curriculum must also include information on physical and sexual abuse their clients may be experiencing (such as domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder abuse). However, licensees who receive this training, and their employers, will not become mandatory reporters of abuse.50
Workers licensed under the Barbering and Cosmetology Act (BCA) can agree to a percentage or flat-sum commission in addition to a base hourly rate if certain conditions are met:51
Farm labor contractors must be licensed by the state Labor Commissioner, take a written examination, post a wage surety bond based on annual payroll, and pay an annual license fee.
Failure to comply with licensing requirements may result in a penalty of $100 to $500 per farmworker, plus $100 to $500 per day for each calendar day that a violation occurs.52 Violation of farm labor contracts will result in stiff penalties. A violation of farm labor laws is also a misdemeanor punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
Agricultural employees can receive monthly pay if their employers lodge and board them. No two successive paydays can be more than 31 days apart, and the payment must include all wages up to the regular payday. However, farm labor contractors must pay employees’ wages on payroll periods at least once every week on a business day designated in advance by the contractor. Payment on that payday must include all wages earned up to and including the fourth day before the payday.53
Upon request, farm labor contractors must provide growers a detailed payroll record of all wages and hours worked by farmworkers employed by the contractor.54 For more information, see “Farm Labor Contractors” in Form of Wage Payment.
Successor farm labor contractors may be liable for wages or penalties owed by a predecessor farm labor contractor. If they meet certain specified criteria, such as using substantially the same facilities or workforce and offering substantially the same services as the predecessor.55
The DLSE can enforce farm labor contractor requirements and go after violators. There are specific wage and hour reporting requirements, bonding requirements, written examination and licensure requirements, and penalties for violations.
There are also specific provisions aimed at addressing concerns regarding sexual harassment of migrant farm workers. The law, among other things, requires sexual harassment prevention training, places restrictions on the ability to grant a license to a farm labor contractor who has engaged in sexual harassment, and includes a component on sexual harassment prevention in the mandatory written examination process. For more information, see ”Farm Labor Contractors - Harassment Prevention Training Requirements” in Mandatory Harassment Prevention Training.
For more information regarding farm laborer contractor requirements, visit the DLSE website.
Crew members on a licensed commercial passenger fishing boat are subject to the minimum wage.56 At your option, the minimum wage obligation can be satisfied by paying employees according to the following formula:
You must record hours worked in excess of this formula on the employee's pay record as additional hours worked. A crew member on a commercial passenger fishing boat on an overnight trip must receive no less than eight hours of off-duty time during each 24-hour period. For information on overtime requirements for the fishing industry, see “Overtime and Commercial Passenger Fishing Boats” in Overtime Exceptions for Specific Industries.
In California, the mining industry must make a deposit of cash or negotiable securities equal to the wages coming due on the next payday.57 This covers logging camps and all mining and refining industries, unless they have a free and unencumbered title to real property in California with a value at least equal to wages coming due.58 Logging industries and sawmill operators can meet this requirement by posting a bond from a surety organization in California. Cash or securities used to meet wage requirements cannot be mingled with other assets or used to meet other obligations. The petroleum industry is not governed by this law.
Enterprises employing telephone or door-to-door salespeople and having no fixed place of business in California must give security for wage obligations of one payday or one four-week period, whichever is longer.59 This can be a deposit of cash or securities that can be easily sold. It can also take the form of a certificate of deposit payable to the Labor Commissioner or a bond issued by a licensed California surety organization.
Theater, radio and television enterprises must deposit cash or readily marketable securities sufficient to meet obligations on a single payday. This covers most businesses in which people receive payments for performing.60
All deposits must be placed in a bank or trust company located in the county where employment takes place. Failure to make the deposit or otherwise post required security for wages constitutes a misdemeanor.61 You must also conspicuously post notice of the place where required deposits have been made.62 Failure to post a notice is sufficient evidence that an employer has not made required deposits.
Federal and state laws both affect the obligations of private households who have domestic work employees — and also agencies that provide such in-home helpers.
California’s “Domestic Worker Bill of Rights” law provides for specific overtime pay for certain in-home employees.
The federal Department of Labor also has rules relating to overtime exemptions for domestic service employees.
To determine whether a household worker is covered by wage and hour laws, a home employer must first determine whether the worker at issue is categorized as an employee or an independent contractor. If the work involved is legitimately that of an independent contractor, the home employer likely will not have obligations under the laws discussed below. Examples of independent contractors are persons who take care of a lawn using their own tools, hire helpers as necessary and care for a number of other lawns. See Independent Contractor, for more information on determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
If the homeowner exercises control as to what is done and how it is done, the worker will likely be an employee. Common examples of household employees are maids, housekeepers, cooks, babysitters, butlers, caretakers and drivers. If a home employer hires employees, the employer must comply with the following labor laws.
Services performed by employees of a private householder that are related to the care of persons or the maintenance of a private household or its premises are considered household occupations under Wage Order 15. These occupations can include, butlers, companions, cooks, house cleaners, maids, practical nurses and valets.
Household occupations under Wage Order 15 are generally subject to minimum wage and overtime.
Under the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, overtime is due if the employee is a “domestic work employee who is a personal attendant.”
Under California’s Domestic Worker Bill of Rights a “domestic work employee who is a personal attendant” will be eligible for overtime at one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay if the employee works more than nine hours in any workday or more than 45 hours in the workweek.63 (Note that this rule differs from California’s normal overtime rule which requires nonexempt employees to be paid overtime for work in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek.)
The overtime provision applies only if a worker qualifies as both a “domestic work employee” and a “personal attendant.”
“Domestic work employee” is defined as “an individual who performs domestic work and includes live-in domestic work employees and personal attendants.”64
Excluded from the definition of domestic work employee are:65
A “personal attendant” is defined as any person who is employed by a private householder or by any third-party employer recognized in the health care industry to work in a private household to “supervise, feed, or dress a child, or a person who by reason of advanced age, physical disability, or mental deficiency needs supervision.”66
Workers qualify as a personal attendant when they spend at least 80 percent of total weekly work in the household on such tasks.67
If the employee meets both the domestic worker and personal attendant definitions, the employee will be entitled to overtime. If the employee doesn’t meet the specified definitions of domestic worker and personal attendant found in the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, the employee may remain exempt from overtime under the personal attendant exemption found in Wage Order 15.
Under federal regulations, direct care workers employed by agencies and other third-party employers are entitled to receive at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay.
More information on federal minimum wage and overtime for these workers can be found on this DOL Home Care webpage.
California already extends minimum wage coverage to companions, as defined by the FLSA, and has provisions extending overtime to certain categories of workers providing in-home care. However, there may be instances where the federal provisions provide more protection and therefore apply.
Domestic service employees generally are covered by California workers’ compensation laws, unless those employees are casual workers employed less than 52 hours and earning less than $100 during a 90-day calendar period before the injury that is allegedly subject to workers’ compensation.68 For more information, see Workers’ Compensation.
Household employees also may be subject to the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which makes it unlawful for a person to hire an individual who is not lawfully admitted to work in the United States and who fails to comply with the employment verification procedures set forth in that law.69 For further important information concerning employer requirements under this law, consult I-9: Verifying Eligibility.
Ambulance drivers and attendants who are scheduled for 24-hour shifts can agree, in writing, to exclude from their daily hours worked no more than three meal periods of not more than one hour each. They can also exclude a regularly scheduled uninterrupted sleeping period of not more than eight hours. If they agree to this arrangement, daily overtime provisions do not apply. The employer must provide adequate sleeping and eating facilities.70
The Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act created special requirements for “emergency ambulance employee[s]” who work for private ambulance companies.71 Emergency ambulance employees covered by the law include emergency medical technicians (EMTs), dispatchers, paramedics, or other licensed or certified ambulance transport personnel who contribute to the delivery of ambulance services.
The Act allows emergency ambulance employees to remain on call throughout the duration of their shifts, including during paid meal and rest breaks. For more information about meal and rest break rules for these employees, see “Meal and Rest Break Exceptions for Ambulance Companies” in Meal and Rest Break Exceptions.
The Act also has certain training, mental health services, and health insurance requirements.
Emergency ambulance employees must receive employer-paid training annually on:72
The training must be provided free of charge to emergency ambulance employees, who must be paid at their regular hourly rate of pay while participating in the required training. The training must be “generally comparable in content, scope, and quality to courses offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Management Institute and/or National Training and Education Division.”
In addition, every emergency ambulance employee must receive employer-paid mental health and wellness education within 30 days of being hired, and annually each calendar year after that.73 Emergency ambulance employees are also entitled to employer-paid mental health services through an employee assistance program (EAP), which must provide up to 10 mental health treatments per issue per calendar year. An "issue" means "episodes of mental health conditions such as stress, depression, grief, loss, relationship struggles, substance abuse, parenting challenges, and other mental health conditions as described within the EAP." Any emergency ambulance employee "that qualifies or is eligible to receive employer-provided health insurance shall have access to health insurance plans that offer long-term mental health treatment services."
Every employer in the car wash and polishing industry must register annually with the Labor Commissioner.74 Registration cannot be completed until all of the following conditions are satisfied:75
The law exempts an employer from the bond requirement if it has a collective bargaining agreement in place that expressly provides for wages, hours of work, working conditions, and an expeditious process to resolve disputes concerning nonpayment of wages.
The application for registration requires extensive information on the company’s ownership, and financial and legal history.76 Proof of registration is an official DLSE registration form, which must be posted where it can be read by the employees during the workday.
The penalty for failure to register is $100 for each day of unregistered operation to a maximum of $10,000.77
Every car wash employer must keep accurate records for three years showing all of the following:78
Detailed information on registration requirements for this industry can be found at the Department of Industrial Relations’ website.
Certain employers with warehouse distribution centers have obligations with respect to the use of work quotas.79
Covered employers are those who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary service, or staffing agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the states.
A “warehouse distribution center” is an establishment defined by any of the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes:
“Warehouse distribution center” does not include NAICS Code 493130, Farm Product Warehousing and Storage.
Covered employers must provide each nonexempt employee working at a warehouse distribution center, upon hire, with a written description of each quota to which they are subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or materials to be produced or handled, within the defined time period, and any potential adverse employment actions that may result from failure to meet quotas.
Employees cannot be required to meet quotas that prevent compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel to and from bathroom facilities, or health and safety laws.Lab. 80 Employers cannot take adverse employment action against an employee for failure to meet a quota that doesn't allow a worker to comply with meal and rest periods, or occupational health and safety laws, or a quota that has not been disclosed to them.
If employees feel that meeting a quota caused a violation of their right to a meal or rest period or required them to violate any occupational health and safety laws, they can request a written description of each quota that applies to them and the last 90 days of their personal work speed data, which the employer must produce as soon as practicable but no later than 21 days from the date of the request.81
The law creates a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if the employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days of the employee's first request in a calendar year about a quota or their personal work speed data or an employee's complaint about a quota.82
Beginning in 2024, California created new standards for the fast food industry.83
California created the Fast Food Council within the Department of Industrial Relations. The Council is composed of 11 members appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Rules Committee. This unelected council will work to establish minimum wages, working hours and other working conditions for fast food restaurants.
The minimum wage for covered businesses was increased to $20.00 per hour effective April 1, 2024. The Council may increase the minimum wage on an annual basis. Annual increases cannot exceed the lesser of 3.5 percent or the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index.
This minimum wage rate is higher than the state's general minimum wage rate and also impacts the salary threshold for exempt employees. Exempt employees of covered employers must be paid a minimum salary of no less than two times the fast food minimum wage of $20.00 per hour.84 For more information, see Determining Exempt or Nonexempt Employee Status.
The law applies to limited-service fast food restaurants that are part of a national fast food chain consisting of more than 60 establishments nationally that:
The law doesn't apply to an establishment that operated, on September 15, 2023, a bakery that produces for sale on the establishment's premises bread, so long as it continues to operate such a bakery. This exemption applies only where the establishment produces for sale bread as a stand-alone menu item and does not apply if the bread is available for sale solely as part of another menu item.
The law doesn’t apply to a wide array of restaurants that operate in conjunction with larger enterprises, including a restaurant that is:
The law prohibits retaliation and discrimination against employees for participation in or testimony to any proceeding convened by the Fast Food Council
California has minimum wage standards for covered health care facility workers.
They're are multiple minimum wage schedules for certain health care employees depending on the nature of the employer.85
The law applies to the following health care facilities:86
The law’s definition of covered health facilities above applies to nearly every type of health care facility, but it doesn’t cover:
The law also covers nearly all health care employees. Covered employees are those that provide care, health care services, or services supporting the provision of healthcare, which includes, but is not limited to, employees performing work as a nurse, physician, caregiver, medical resident, intern or fellow, patient care technician, janitor, housekeeping staff person, groundskeeper, guard, clerical worker, nonmanagerial administrative worker, food service worker, gift shop worker, technical and ancillary services worker, medical coding and medical billing personnel, scheduler, call center and warehouse worker, and laundry worker, regardless of formal job title.87
Covered health care employees will include a contracted or subcontracted employee if the following apply:
If the contracted or subcontracted employee meets the above requirements, they must be paid the applicable minimum wage for all hours worked providing patient care, health care services or services supporting the provision of health care.
Covered health employees do not include the following:
Covered health care facility employers will be subject to one of the following wage schedules, based on facility types.
Covered Health Care Facilities |
Minimum Wage Rate Schedule |
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All other covered health care facilities not identified above. |
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The Director of Finance will on or before August 1 of the following year and each year afterward, calculate an adjusted minimum wage, increasing the minimum wage by either 3.5 percent or the rate of change in the averages for the U.S. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, whichever is lower.
Employers in the health care industry should review the law carefully to ensure compliance with the correct wage rates for both hourly and exempt employees and consult their legal counsel with any questions.
1. 41 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.
2. 40 U.S.C. 3142
3. Lab. Code sec. 1771
4. Lab. Code sec. 1771.4
5. Lab. Code sec. 1776
6. Lab. Code sec. 1812
7. Lab. Code sec. 1815
8. Lab. Code sec. 1720.4
9. Lab. Code secs. 1775, 1813
10. Lab. Code sec. 1775
11. Lab. Code sec. 1777
12. Lab. Code sec. 1782
13. Lab. Code sec. 1776
14. Lab. Code sec. 1771.2
15. Lab. Code sec. 1736
16. Lab. Code sec. 220
17. Lab. Code secs. 250, 251
18. Lab. Code secs. 253, 255
19. Lab. Code sec. 1182.4
20. Health and Safety Code sec. 18897
21. Lab. Code sec. 2810.3
22. Lab. Code sec. 2810
23. Castillo v. Toll Bros., Inc., 197 Cal. App. 4th 1172 (2011)
24. Lab. Code sec. 2810(d)
25. Lab. Code sec. 2810(e)(2)
26. Lab. Code sec. 273
27. Lab. Code sec. 218.8
28. Bus. & Prof. Code sec. 7036
29. Lab. Code sec. 2671
30. Lab. Code sec. 2675
31. Lab. Code sec. 2675(a)(4)
32. Lab. Code sec. 2676.5
33. Lab. Code sec. 2671.
34. Lab. Code sec. 2673.2
35. Lab. Code sec. 2673.1(a)
36. Lab. Code sec. 2673.1(l)(m)
37. Lab. Code sec. 2677
38. Lab. Code sec. 2673.1
39. Lab. Code sec. 2680(a)
40. Lab. Code sec. 2673
41. Lab. Code sec. 2678
42. Lab. Code sec. 2676.55
43. Lab. Code sec. 1420
44. Lab. Code sec. 1421
45. Lab. Code secs. 1423-1429
46. CCR secs. 13820-13822
47. Lab. Code sec. 1432
48. Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7353.4
49. Bus. and Prof. Code secs. 7312-7314.3, 7337, 7347
50. Bus.and Prof. Code sec. 7389
51. Lab. Code sec. 204.11
52. Lab. Code sec. 1683
53. Lab. Code sec. 205
54. Lab. Code sec. 1695.55
55. Lab. Code sec. 1698.9
56. IWC Wage Order 10
57. Lab. Code sec. 270
58. Lab. Code sec. 270.5
59. Lab. Code sec. 270.6
60. Lab. Code sec. 271
61. Lab. Code secs. 270, 271
62. Lab. Code sec. 272
63. Lab. Code sec. 1454
64. Lab. Code sec. 1451(b)(1)
65. Lab. Code sec. 1451(b)(2)
66. Lab. Code sec. 1451(d)
67. Lab. Code sec. 1451(d)
68. Lab. Code sec. 3352(a)
69. 8 U.S.C. 1324a et seq.
70. 223. IWC Wage Orders 5, 9; DLSE Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual sec. 46.3.4; Monzon v. Schaefer Ambulance Service, 224 Cal. App. 3d 16 (1990); DLSE Opinion Letter 1998.05.29
71. Lab. Code sec. 2054
72. Lab. Code sec. 883
73. Lab. Code sec. 884
74. Lab. Code secs. 2050-2067
75. Lab, Code sec. 2055
76. Lab. Code sec. 2061
77. Lab. Code sec. 2064
78. Lab. Code sec. 2052
79. Lab. Code secs. 2100-2112
80. Lab. Code sec. 2102
81. Lab. Code sec. 2104]
82. Lab. Code sec. 2105
83. Lab. Code secs. 1474-1476
84. Lab. Code sec. 1475(d)(2)(D)
85. Lab. Code sec. 1182.14
86. Lab. Code sec. 1182.14(b)(3)(A)
87. Lab. Code sec. 1182.14(b), 1182.15(b)
88. Lab. Code sec. 1182.14(g)