California minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in California is $16.90 an hour. It went up from $16.50 on January 1, 2026.

Minimum wage

$16.90

For a 40-hour week

$676.00

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 1182.12; Minimum Wage Order MW-2026 ($16.90 effective January 1, 2026, all employer sizes) Read the rule

California does not let employers count your tips toward the minimum wage. You are owed the full $16.90 an hour before tips, and every tip you receive is on top of that.

Tips can count toward the wage

No

Tipped cash wage

$16.90

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 351 (tips are the sole property of the employee; an employer may not use an employee's tips as a credit toward its obligation to pay the minimum wage) Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.
• Hours past 8 in a single workday are overtime too, at 1.5 times your regular rate, even if the week is under 40.
• Hours past 12 in a workday are paid at double time.
• Working all seven days of a workweek triggers extra overtime on the seventh day.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$25.35

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 510; IWC Wage Orders section 3 (1.5x over 8 hours in a workday and over 40 in a workweek; 2x over 12 in a workday; seventh consecutive day: first 8 hours at 1.5x, over 8 at 2x) Read the rule

Meal break

30 minutes when you work more than 5 hours

Rest break

10 paid minutes for every 4 hours

Extra pay for a missed break

Yes

When a required break is not provided, California owes you extra pay: 1 hour at your regular rate. It should show up on your paycheck.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 512 and 226.7; IWC Wage Orders sections 11 and 12 (30-minute meal period for work periods over 5 hours, second after 10; 10 minutes net paid rest per 4 hours or major fraction; one additional hour of pay at the regular rate per workday for each type of break not provided) Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what California allows:

Required uniforms

Not allowed

Register or cash shortages

Not allowed

Broken dishes or equipment

Not allowed

Card processing fee on card tips

Not allowed

Customers who walk out

Not allowed

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 221, 224, 351, 2802; IWC Wage Orders sections 8 and 9; Kerr's Catering v. DIR (1962) (cash shortages, breakage and customer walkouts are the employer's cost of doing business and may be deducted only on a showing of a dishonest or willful act or gross negligence; required uniforms are furnished by the employer; credit card processing fees may not be deducted from tips) Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

Not applicable

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

Yes

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in California.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 351 (owners, managers and supervisors may not take any part of a tip pool even if they provide direct table service; mandatory pooling among employees in the chain of service is permitted) Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 350 and 351 (a mandatory service charge may or may not be a gratuity depending on whether customers perceive and intend it as a tip; courts look at customer perception, how the charge is described and industry custom) Read the rule

California requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

40 hours

Source: Cal. Lab. Code 245-249 (Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act as amended by SB 616 effective January 1, 2024): 1 hour per 30 hours worked; use may be limited to 40 hours or 5 days per year; accrual may be capped at 80 hours or 10 days Read the rule

Some parts of California law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for California can be off if any of these apply to you:

• If you work in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego or another California city with its own minimum wage, your rate is higher than the state rate this check used and the result understates what you are owed.
• If you work at a fast food chain with 60 or more locations nationwide, your minimum wage is $20.00, not the state rate this check used. Health care workers also have a separate, higher schedule.
• If you worked more than 12 hours in a day or all seven days of a workweek, California owes extra pay (double time and seventh-day premiums) that this check does not calculate.
• If your employer can show that a cash shortage, breakage or walkout was caused by your dishonest or willful act or gross negligence, that deduction may be lawful. This check flags all of them.
• If you missed more than one meal break or more than one rest break on the same day, the premium is one hour per day for each type, so the break amount here is overstated if you counted each missed break.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

California Labor Commissioner's Office (Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Department of Industrial Relations)

Phone

833-526-4636

Wage claims can be filed online (cadir.my.site.com/oc), by mail, or at a district office. Filing deadlines run one to four years depending on the violation. The office handles wages, meal and rest break premiums, tips, deductions and retaliation.

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.