The current minimum wage is $13 an hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees, and $14 for employers with 26 or more employees.
Local Minimum Wages:
Alameda: $15.00 on July 1, 2021
Belmont: $15.90
Berkeley: $15.59, adjusted annually on July 1 based on CPI
Cupertino: $15.35, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Daly City: $15.00
Hayward: $15.00
El Cerrito: $15.37, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Emeryville: $16.30, adjusted annually on July 1, based on CPI
Fremont employers with 26 or more employees: $13.50
Fremont employers with 25 or fewer employees: $12.00 (state rate)
Los Altos: $15.40 in 2020, adjusted annually in October based on CPI
Los Angeles employers with 26 or more employees: $14.25
Los Angeles employers with 25 or fewer employees (and certain nonprofits): $13.25
Malibu employers with 26 or more employees: $14.25, $15 on July 1, 2020
Malibu employers with 25 or fewer employees: $13.25, $14.25 on July 1, 2020, adjusted annually thereafter on January 1 based on CPI
Milpitas: $15.00, adjusted annually thereafter on July 1 based on CPI
Mountain View: $16.05, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Novato: $15.00
Oakland: $14.14, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Palo Alto: $15.40, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Pasadena employers with 26 or more employees: $14.25, $15.00 on July 1, 2020
Pasadena employers with 25 or fewer employees: $13.25, $14.25 on July 1, 2020
Petaluma with 26 or more employees: $15.00, Adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Petaluma with 25 or fewer employees: $14.00 in 2020, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Redwood City: $15.38, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Richmond: $15.00, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
San Diego: $14.00, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
San Francisco: $16.07, adjusted annually on July 1 based on CPI
San Jose: $15.25
San Leandro: $15.00
San Mateo: $15.38 in 2020, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Santa Clara: $15.65, adjusted annually on January 1 based on CPI
Santa Monica employers with 26 or more employees:, $15.00
Santa Monica employers with 25 or fewer employees: $14.25
Santa Rosa: $15.20
Sonoma employers with 26 or fewer employees: $13.50
Sonoma employers with 25 or fewer employee: $12.50
South San Francisco: $15.00
Sunnyvale: $16.05
There is no reduced minimum wage rate for tipped employees. They must be paid the standard minimum wage for hours worked.
Tips are considered to be the sole property of the employees. Employers are not allowed to deduct from them in any way, and they must give employees credit card tips no later than the first payday after the customer paid the tip.
Employers are allowed to require tip pooling, which consists of collecting all or part of tips received by employees into a pool and then redistributing them to employees based on a predetermined set of factors.
California state laws and federal labor law require that non-exempt employees be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay (or more, subject to the provisions below) for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act also requires that employees be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
The overtime law says that employers must pay daily overtime when the employee works between 8 and 12 hours in any workday or for the first 8 eight hours of work performed on the 7th consecutive workday in a workweek.
Employers must pay double time if an employee works more than 12 hours in a single workday and for every hour worked beyond the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work in a workweek.
California requires that most exempt white collar employees make double the state minimum wage on a monthly basis. For the 2020 calendar year, the minimum salary for exempt employees of employers with 26 or more employees will be $54,080 per year ($1,040 per week, or $4,506.67 per month). For employers with 25 or fewer employees, it will be $49,920 per year ($960 per week, or $4,160 per month). Municipal minimum wages do not affect these minimums – the calculation is always based on the state rate.The minimum salary for exempt computer professionals in 2020 is $96,968.33 per year or $46.55 per hour if paid on an hourly basis.
The federal overtime rule stipulates that the minimum salary requirement for administrative, professional, and executive exemptions is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year. Workers making at least this salary level may be eligible for overtime based on their job duties.
Employers are required to provide no less than a 30-minute meal break during a shift that is longer than 5 consecutive hours.
The meal break must be counted as hours worked and paid at the regular rate of pay unless the employee is relieved of all duties and is free to leave the premises.
When the work period is six hours or fewer, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee.
When the work period is longer than 10 hours, a second meal period of at least 30 minutes must be provided.
If an employee works a total of 12 hours or fewer, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee only ifthe first meal period was not waived.
If the nature of the work prevents relief from all duties, then the on-duty meal period must be compensated. If an employee is required to eat on the work site, the employer must provide a suitable place to consume a meal, as well as soap and water.
Employees may be required to stay on the employer’s premises to eat if they choose to purchase a discounted meal; the option of leaving the premises must be available if the meal is full price.
For each shift that a meal period is not provided, the employer must pay the employee for one additional hour of work at the employee’s regular rate. Example: An employee generally works from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm with a 30-minute unpaid meal period. If they are prevented from taking lunch and therefore work 8.5 hours, they must be paid for 9.5 hours. This extra hour of pay is considered a penalty rather than wages.
Employees are entitled to one 10-minute rest period during each four-hour shift. A rest period is not required for an employee whose total daily work time is less than 3.5 hours.
Employers should provide a ten-minute break for a shift between 3.5 and 6 hours, a second 10-minute break for a shift lasting between 6 hours and 10 hours, and a third 10-minute break for a shift lasting between 10 and 14 hours.
Rest breaks should be provided as closely as practicable to the middle of the work period.
Employees working in extreme weather conditions must be given a five-minute break in a shaded or otherwise protected area as needed; this is considered a cool-down or recovery period, and must be offered in addition to other meal and rest breaks. This break must be paid.
For each day when an employee is required to work through one or both break periods, or is not provided with cool-down periods, the employer must pay the employee for one additional hour of work. This extra hour of pay is considered a penalty rather than wages.
Employers may require security guards and employees in safety-sensitive positions at petroleum facilities to be on call and onsite during breaks if they fall under collective bargaining agreements, and if they make above the standard minimum wage rate. Security guards must be paid more than $1 above minimum wage, and petroleum facility employees must make 30% more.