<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=395330474421690&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
otc-bg

Our best offer of the year is back!

Up to 8 months free on Payroll & All-in-One plan
CLAIM OFFER
wage index / California

Let’s talk wages in California

What is the minimum wage in California?
$16.90

As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in California is $16.90 per hour. Fast food restaurant employees are covered by a separate rate of $20.00 per hour under AB 1228. California does not allow a tip credit — employee tips cannot count toward the minimum wage.

Read more...
What is the average wage in California?
$31.74

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage in California is $31.74. Wages vary by occupation, industry, and location.

Read more...
What is the living wage in California?
$30.48
The estimated living wage in California is $30.48 per hour. A living wage represents the estimated hourly rate needed to cover basic living expenses, including housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and other essential costs.
Read more...
Learn about wages in your city

A guide to hourly labor laws in California

Standard Minimum Wage
$16.90 (Cal. Lab Code § 1182.12) (CA DIR). $20 for fast food restaurant employees (Cal. Lab Code § 1182.12) (CA DIR).
Tipped Minimum Wage
$16.90 (Cal. Lab. Code § 1197) (DoL). Employee tips cannot count toward the minimum wage (Cal. AB 1228) (CA DIR).
Overtime
Non-exempt employees are paid 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked over eight per day or 40 per workweek. Double time is required for hours worked over 12 per day and for hours worked over eight on the seventh consecutive workday. (Cal. Lab. Code § 510).
Meal Breaks
Employees who work more than five hours receive a 30-minute meal break. A second 30-minute break is required after 10 hours. The employee may waive the second break if fewer than 12 total hours are worked and their first meal break was taken (Cal. Lab. Code § 512). Federal law allows unpaid, non-working, bonafide meal breaks over 30 minutes; exceptions may apply (29 C.F.R. § 785.19) (DoL).
Rest Breaks
Employers must provide a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked or major fraction (Cal. Lab. Code § 226.7). Breaks lasting 5–20 minutes must be paid (29 C.F.R. § 785.18).
Wage Deductions
Employers may only make wage deductions that are required by law, such as taxes, or authorized in writing by the employee for specific purposes. Deductions for losses are generally not allowed. Third-party deductions benefitting the employer may not reduce wages below the applicable minimum (29 C.F.R. § 4.168) (29 US Code § 203) (Cal. Lab. Code § 221) (Cal. Lab. Code § 224).
Final Paychecks
Wage Payment Frequency

Twice per month on regularly designated paydays (Cal. Lab. Code § 204).

Paid Sick Leave
One hour for every 30 hours worked; employers may cap sick leave at 80 hours (Cal. Lab. Code § 246).
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Up to eight weeks of wage replacement benefits with any 12-month period when employees take time off to care for a qualifying person or to participate in a qualifying exigency of active duty. This is in addition to FMLA's up to 12 unpaid weeks in one year for eligible employees (FMLA) (Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code § 3301).
Maximum Daily and Weekly Hours for Children Under 16
  • School days: Three hours per day; 18 hours per week. Can only work between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. before a school day and not during school hours.
  • Non-school days: 8 hours per day; 40 hours per week.
  • Hours: Can only work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and until 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day (Cal. Lab. Code § 1391).
Maximum Daily and Weekly Hours for Children 16 and 17
  • School days: 4 hours per day.
  • Non-school days: 8 hours per day; 48 hours per week.
  • Hours: 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. or 12:30 a.m. on non-school days (Cal. Lab. Code § 1391).
FAQs

Got questions? We've got answers.

Still have questions?

Contact Us

What is the difference between gross wages and net wages?

It's important to remember that the Hourly Wage Index data above reflects gross wages, or the amount of money an employee earns before accounting for payroll deductions like taxes, benefits, or wage garnishments. Due to variability in tax rates across locations, slightly lower gross wages in a certain location might result in higher take home pay, or vice versa.

What is a good hourly wage?

It's important to remember that the Hourly Wage Index data above reflects gross wages, or the amount of money an employee earns before accounting for payroll deductions like taxes, benefits, or wage garnishments. Due to variability in tax rates across locations, slightly lower gross wages in a certain location might result in higher take home pay, or vice versa.

Offering competitive pay is one of my top priorities—what other resources do you have that might help?

It's important to remember that the Hourly Wage Index data above reflects gross wages, or the amount of money an employee earns before accounting for payroll deductions like taxes, benefits, or wage garnishments. Due to variability in tax rates across locations, slightly lower gross wages in a certain location might result in higher take home pay, or vice versa.

Still have questions?

Contact Us

Learn more about paying, hiring, and retaining the hourly workforce

Franchise HR tech

Automating Your Hiring Process: The Key to Finding Top Talent Faster

Learn More
People management

Employee recognition: 7 ways to show appreciation for deskless workers

Learn More
People management

Show your staff some love with 5 easy Valentine's Day ideas

Learn More

How to improve employee engagement

Learn More
Franchise HR tech

5 hiring metrics you should be tracking

Learn More

Best employee engagement ideas for work

Learn More

We're here to help!

A Workstream hiring specialist can help you identify high impact ways to improve your applicant experience, and even help you determine what is a good hourly wage for your location and business.

Sign up for a free

Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information

Before we discuss the right to limit and the right to opt-out, we must first define personal information and how it relates to sensitive personal information.

Personal information is any data that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked to you or your household. A few examples of personal information include:

  • Name or nickname
  • Email address
  • Purchase history
  • Browsing history
  • Location data
  • Employment data
  • IP address
  • Profiles businesses create about you, including pseudonymous profiles (“user1234”)
  • Sensitive personal information

Sensitive personal information or “SPI” is a subset of personal information, defined as:

  • Identifying information (e.g. social security number, driver’s license)
  • Financial data (e.g. debit or credit card numbers)
  • Precise geolocation (within a radius of 1,850 feet)
  • Demographic or protected-class information (e.g. race/ethnicity, religion, union membership)
  • Biometric and genetic data (e.g. fingerprints, palm scans, facial recognition)
  • Communications and content (e.g. mail, email, text messages)
  • Health and sexual orientation (e.g. vaccine records, health history)

Right to Opt-Out

Californians have the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information. That means you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties (e.g. data brokers, advertisers). You also have the right to opt-out of the sharing of your personal information to prevent the targeting of ads across different businesses, websites, apps, or services.

CCPA-covered businesses must provide a link to allow you to exercise this right. It is usually found at the bottom of a webpage and will say “do not sell or share my personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Sometimes businesses offer privacy choices through a pop-up window or form

To opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information, click on the link or use the toggle provided by the business and follow the directions. Doing this on every website you visit can feel burdensome, but to ease the burden you can automatically select your privacy preferences for every website by using an opt-out preference signal, or OOPS for short.

An OOPS is a user-friendly and straightforward way for consumers to automatically exercise their right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information with the businesses they interact with online. An OOPS, such as the Global Privacy Control. It can either be a setting on your internet browser or a browser extension. With an OOPS, consumers do not have to submit individual requests to opt-out of sale or sharing with each business.

Right to Limit

Californians also have the right to direct businesses to limit the use and disclosure of their sensitive personal information.

Businesses covered under the CCPA must provide a link on their website that allows you to request the limiting of your SPI, if they plan on using it in certain ways. That link will also typically be at the bottom of a webpage and will say: “limit the use of my sensitive personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Once you send this request, the business must stop using your SPI for anything other than to:

  • Provide requested goods or services
  • Ensure security and integrity
  • Prevent fraud
  • Maintain system functionality
  • Comply with legal obligations

Bringing it Together

In summary, the CCPA gives you the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information and gives you additional rights to further limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information.

When you exercise these rights together, you exert greater control in protecting your personal data which is important for your identity, safety, and financial health.

If you are on a business’s website and you can’t find the links to exercise your rights, remember to check their privacy policy. The privacy policy should tell you how you can exercise your rights under the law.

If you find your rights being violated, you can submit a complaint to CalPrivacy.

Next in the LOCKED series, we will explore the right to correct and right to know. Follow us on social media to get live updates or check back in one week for the next post.

Essential

Required to enable basic website functionality. You may not disable essential cookies.

Targeted Advertising

Used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. May also be used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operator’s permission.

Personalization

Allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your general location.

Analytics

Help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues.

Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information

You also have the right to limit how we use sensitive personal information (such as precise geolocation, financial data, etc.).

Your preference has been saved. We will not sell or share your personal information.