State labor lawRead at source, 24 September 2026

California Labor Laws for Employers (2026): Breaks, Overtime, Final Pay and Hiring

California requires a 30-minute meal break before the end of the fifth hour of work and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours, with one extra hour of pay owed for each day a break is missed. Overtime starts after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, with double time after 12. A fired employee must be paid immediately, and one who quits within 72 hours. Every employer must provide at least 40 hours of paid sick leave a year, and employers with 15 or more employees must put a pay scale in every job posting. The statewide minimum wage is $16.90, rising to $17.40 on January 1, 2027.

California employment law at a glance

California labor laws for employers go further than federal law on almost every topic that affects hourly staffing: daily overtime, mandatory meal and rest breaks with a pay premium when they're missed, a same-day final paycheck, paid sick leave, pay ranges in job postings and a ban on conviction questions until after an offer. The Labor Commissioner's Office (DLSE), part of the Department of Industrial Relations, enforces most of the wage and hour rules. Where California and federal law differ, employers follow the rule that's more generous to the employee.

California break laws

Meal periods

Under Lab. Code 512, you can't employ someone for a work period of more than five hours a day without a meal period of at least 30 minutes. If the total workday is no more than six hours, the employer and employee can waive it by mutual consent. A second 30-minute meal period is required for more than 10 hours of work; it can be waived only if the day is no more than 12 hours and the first meal period wasn't waived. A meal period can be unpaid only if the employee is relieved of all duty. See the DLSE meal period FAQ and our meal break laws by state.

Rest periods

The Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders require employers to authorize and permit a net 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction of four hours, in the middle of each work period where practicable. The DLSE treats anything more than two hours as a "major fraction." Rest periods aren't required when total daily work time is less than three and a half hours (DLSE rest period FAQ). In practice: 3½ to 6 hours earns one rest break, more than 6 and up to 10 hours earns two, and more than 10 and up to 14 hours earns three (our reading of the DLSE's two-hour "major fraction" rule).

The premium for a missed break

If you don't provide a required meal or rest period, you owe the employee one additional hour of pay at the regular rate for each workday the break wasn't provided (Lab. Code 226.7). The DLSE's FAQs apply this as one hour per workday for missed rest periods, however many were missed, and one hour per workday for missed meal periods. These premiums are wages, so they belong on the pay stub and in the final paycheck.

Minors and lactation

Minors get the same meal and rest periods as adults, and California caps their hours: a minor 15 or younger can't work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, or before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day), and during the school year 14- and 15-year-olds are limited to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours a week (Lab. Code 1391). For lactation, Lab. Code 1030 requires every employer to provide a reasonable amount of break time each time the employee needs to express milk; time beyond the paid rest periods can be unpaid. The federal PUMP Act applies too.

California overtime laws

California is one of the few states with daily overtime. Under Lab. Code 510, non-exempt employees earn:

• Time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, over 40 in a workweek, and for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day worked in a workweek;
• Double time for hours over 12 in a workday and over 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day.

A properly adopted alternative workweek schedule (for example, four 10-hour days) or a qualifying collective bargaining agreement can change the daily threshold. Under Lab. Code 511, an alternative workweek is adopted only if at least two-thirds of affected employees in a work unit approve it in a secret-ballot election, so it isn't something to set up informally.

Exempt salary threshold. California sets its own salary test for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions: at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work. At $16.90 an hour, that's $16.90 × 2 × 2,080 hours = $70,304 a year in 2026. The Labor Commissioner says the threshold rises to $72,384 on January 1, 2027 (DIR announcement). Duties tests still apply. Our overtime laws by state page shows how daily overtime changes the cost of common shift patterns, and exempt vs. non-exempt covers classification.

Paying employees in California

Minimum wage

The statewide minimum wage is $16.90 an hour from January 1, 2026 (DLSE). The Department of Finance certified an inflation adjustment on July 31, 2026, and the Labor Commissioner has announced $17.40 an hour from January 1, 2027. There is no tip credit. Fast food restaurant employees at chains with at least 60 establishments nationwide have a $20.00 minimum (fast food FAQ), covered health care workers have their own schedule (health care FAQ), and many cities set higher local rates. Local rates and details are on our California minimum wage page.

Paydays and the notice at hire

Most wages are due twice a month under Lab. Code 204: work done from the 1st through the 15th must be paid between the 16th and 26th of that month, and work from the 16th to month-end between the 1st and 10th of the next month. Weekly or biweekly payroll also complies. At hire, the Wage Theft Prevention Act (Lab. Code 2810.5) requires a written notice in the language you normally use with the employee, covering pay rates including overtime rates, allowances, the regular payday and other employer details.

Final paychecks

If you discharge an employee, all earned wages are due immediately (Lab. Code 201). An employee who quits without notice must be paid within 72 hours; one who gives at least 72 hours' notice is paid on their last day (Lab. Code 202). Vested vacation must be paid out at the final rate, and a policy can't make it forfeitable (Lab. Code 227.3). If you willfully pay late, the employee's daily wage continues as a waiting-time penalty for up to 30 days (Lab. Code 203). See final paycheck laws by state and PTO payout laws by state.

California hiring laws

California regulates the hiring process itself, starting with the job ad. Before the first shift:

• Pay scale in job postings. Employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale in every job posting, including postings made through a third party, which must be given the scale (Lab. Code 432.3). From January 1, 2026, "pay scale" means "a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire." Every employer must give the pay scale to an applicant on reasonable request. See pay transparency laws by state.
• No salary history. No employer may seek an applicant's salary history, including compensation and benefits, or rely on it in deciding whether to hire or what to pay. Asking about pay expectations is allowed (Lab. Code 432.3).
• Fair Chance Act. Employers with five or more employees can't ask about conviction history on an application or consider it until after a conditional offer, and before denying a job because of a conviction must make an individualized assessment and follow a notice process (Gov. Code 12952). Our ban-the-box laws by state page covers what this means for job ad wording.
• Cannabis. You can't discriminate in hiring based on off-duty cannabis use or a test that finds nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites (employees in the building and construction trades are excepted from this part), and you can't ask applicants about prior cannabis use (Gov. Code 12954). See drug testing laws by state.
• E-Verify and Form I-9. E-Verify isn't required, and Lab. Code 2814 makes it unlawful to use it on an applicant who hasn't been offered the job or on existing employees except as federal law requires. Every employer completes Form I-9.
• Non-competes. Noncompete agreements with employees are void and unlawful to include in an employment contract (Bus. & Prof. Code 16600, Bus. & Prof. Code 16600.1, Bus. & Prof. Code 16600.5).
• New-hire reporting. Report new and rehired employees to the EDD's New Employee Registry within 20 calendar days of the start-of-work date; the EDD may charge $24 per unreported employee (EDD). See new hire reporting requirements.
• Minors. Minors under 18 need a permit to work issued by school officials (Educ. Code 49160), which you keep on file (Lab. Code 1299). See child labor laws by state.

Paid leave in California

Paid sick leave applies to employers of every size under Lab. Code 246. Employees accrue at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, or you can use another regular accrual method that gives at least 24 hours by the 120th day and 40 hours by the 200th day, or front-load 40 hours (5 days) at the start of each year. Employees can use sick leave from their 90th day of employment. You may limit use to 40 hours or 5 days a year and cap total accrual at 80 hours or 10 days. Some cities, such as Los Angeles, enforce their own paid sick leave ordinances; where both apply, follow the more generous rule.

Family leave. The California Family Rights Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period, and applies to employers with five or more employees (Gov. Code 12945.2). Eligible employees need more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months. Wage replacement comes separately from the state: Paid Family Leave benefits through the EDD for up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period.

Posters and required notices

California has more required postings than most states, including the statewide minimum wage order and the industry wage order for your business. The DIR lists them on its required postings page. It also lists an annual written workplace rights notice that employers must give employees on or before February 1, 2026 and each year after, with templates from the Labor Commissioner. Our labor law posters by state page links each state's list.

Local ordinances that change the answer

In California, the city often matters as much as the state. Examples from the cities' own enforcement offices:

• Los Angeles: the Office of Wage Standards enforces a city minimum wage of $18.42 from July 1, 2026, paid sick leave, fair chance hiring rules for private employers, and a fair work week ordinance for retail employees (wagesla.lacity.gov).
• San Francisco: the city minimum wage is $19.61 from July 1, 2026 (sf.gov), and the city's Fair Chance Ordinance applies to employers with 5 or more employees (sf.gov).

Many other cities and counties set their own minimum wages; see the local table on our California minimum wage page, and predictive scheduling laws for scheduling ordinances. The DLSE's position is that where a city or county rate is higher than the state's, employees must be paid the local rate, so check the ordinance for each work location.

What this means when you're hiring hourly workers in California

In California, the job ad is itself regulated. If you have 15 or more employees, the pay scale has to be in the posting and has to be a good faith estimate, so a wide range written to be safe is a compliance risk as well as a weak ad. Leave conviction-history and cannabis questions out of any screening form attached to a social job ad. And price shifts with daily overtime and break premiums in mind before you advertise a 10- or 12-hour schedule. In Boostpoint's 2026 benchmark of 891 Meta job campaigns, the median cost per applicant was $13.88, and 70% of the difference between campaigns came from what happened after the click. See California minimum wage, job ad copywriting and frontline recruiting.

Frequently asked questions

Rules read at California Legislative Information, the Department of Industrial Relations, the EDD and the Los Angeles and San Francisco labor standards offices on 24 September 2026. Part of Boostpoint’s state labor law series; see also minimum wage by state.