California Labor Laws: Wages, Breaks and Overtime (2026)

California has its own Family Rights Act (CFRA), which runs in tandem with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12-month period. They keep their jobs during this time.

Qualifying reasons include childbirth, adoption, serious health conditions, or caring for an ill family member.

The CFRA applies to employers with 5 or more employees. Federal FMLA only kicks in at 50 or more. Most California construction contractors are covered by CFRA, even small firms with a handful of workers on payroll.

California wage law requires employers to provide paid sick leave under Labor Code §246. Under California paid sick leave rules, employees accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, including field workers and seasonal hires from day one.

Employers must permit unused paid sick leave to carry over to the following year under Labor Code §246. However, they can set a cap on carryover hours, which cannot be lower than 80 hours or ten days.

California labor laws don’t mandate that employers provide paid vacation days.

Employers with 5 or more employees must provide up to 5 days of bereavement leave. Workers must have been employed for at least 30 days. Leave must be taken within 3 months of the death. Days do not need to be consecutive.

California doesn’t mandate any paid or unpaid holiday leave.

Jury duty leave does not need to be paid. Employees must provide reasonable notice. Employers must grant the time off.

Employees may take up to 2 hours to vote. They must give at least 3 days’ notice.

Victims of domestic violence may take time off to protect their health, safety, or welfare. This includes protection for their children. This may include time off to obtain a restraining order or other legal protection.

Employees may use vacation, personal leave, accrued sick leave, or compensatory time for this purpose.

Employers with 25+ workers must also allow leave for medical treatment, shelter support, counseling, or safety planning.

Employers may request proof of the need for leave, especially if the employee was unable to provide prior notice. Acceptable proof includes a police report, court order, or documentation from a doctor or counselor.

Employers must allow leave for volunteer firefighters, reserve peace officers, and emergency rescue personnel. Employers are prohibited from discharging or discriminating against employees for taking this leave.

Employers with 50+ workers must provide up to 14 days of unpaid leave for related training.

Employers with 15+ employees must provide paid and unpaid leave for organ donation. Paid leave is required for bone marrow donation. Sick leave exhaustion does not affect eligibility.

Organ donation leave: up to 60 business days/year. First 30 days are paid. The remaining 30 days are unpaid. For bone marrow donation, employees are entitled to five paid business days of leave.

Employers may require up to 15 days of PTO for organ donation leave. Up to 5 days of PTO may be required for bone marrow donation. Employers must cover the full bone marrow leave and up to 30 days of organ donation leave. This applies even if the employee has no remaining PTO.

Employers may request a written certification from a doctor confirming the employee’s status as an organ or bone marrow donor and the medical necessity for the donation.

California offers two types of school-related leave for employees. The first is leave for disciplinary matters, and the second type is general school involvement leave.

Disciplinary matters: Applies to all employees regardless of employer size. This leave gives parents and guardians unpaid time to attend disciplinary meetings for their child at school. Employers are prohibited from disciplining or discharging employees for taking this leave.

General school involvement leave: Applies to employers with 25+ employees at one location. Employees can take up to 40 hours per year for school enrollment, school activities, or childcare emergencies.

Employers may require employees to use available paid leave for these absences. If no paid leave is available, employees must be allowed to take unpaid time.

Employers must provide leave to employees who serve in the California or U.S. Armed Forces, including active service in the National Guard.

After service, employees return to their original role or a comparable one. Status, pay, and benefits must be equivalent. For one year, the employer may not discharge the employee without cause.

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces reserves, National Guard reserves, or Naval Militia are entitled to 17 days of unpaid leave. Members of the state military reserve are entitled to 15 days of unpaid leave.

Employers with 25+ workers must allow a deployed service member’s spouse up to 10 days of unpaid leave when the service member is on deployment leave.

To qualify, the spouse must work an average of at least 20 hours per week. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against the spouse for requesting or taking this leave.

Employees may take up to 122 days of leave for pregnancy-related disabilities or childbirth complications.

All employers in California with at least 5 employees must offer this leave. Employees are not required to meet any tenure or time-served requirements to be eligible for pregnancy disability leave.

Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks off per 12-month period to bond with a newborn. This covers biological parents and foster parents.

Employees must be allowed to work a reduced or intermittent schedule for this 12-month period, if requested. If the same company employs both parents, that employer must allow each parent to take up to 12 weeks off.

Employers cannot fire, discriminate against, or retaliate against any employee choosing to take crime victim leave.

This leave covers court appearances for proceedings, sentencing, or post-sentencing decisions related to the employee’s victimization.

California law allows employees to take unpaid leave to participate in an adult literacy program. This applies to employers with 25 or more employees.

Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations to assist employees with literacy challenges who request to join such programs.

Employers with 25+ employees must provide reasonable accommodations—including time off—for drug or alcohol rehab programs. Employers should also make an effort to keep this information private.

They must provide accommodations as long as it doesn’t create too much difficulty for the company. Employers can still decline to hire or terminate an employee if current substance use prevents job performance.

Under Government Code 12945.6 (SB 848), employees at companies with five or more workers can take five days of leave within three months after:

• a failed adoption,
• a failed surrogacy,
• a miscarriage,
• a stillbirth, or
• an unsuccessful assisted reproduction attempt.

If multiple events occur in one 12-month period, total leave is capped at 20 days.

This leave is unpaid. Employees may use California paid sick leave or other available leave to cover wages.

Effective January 1, 2025, California recasts victim-of-violence protections under FEHA (AB 2499). Leave rights now extend to family members of victims, not just direct victims.

Employees may use paid sick leave for qualifying acts of violence. Employers may not retaliate against employees for taking this leave or for appearing as witnesses in proceedings related to qualifying violent acts.

This covers any qualifying act of violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other violent crimes.

Many California cities set minimum wages above the state rate. The following rates are effective January 1, 2026. The rate that applies is determined by where the worker physically performs work, not where the employer is headquartered. Construction employers with crews across multiple cities must track and apply the correct rate per jobsite.

• West Hollywood: $20.25/hour
• Emeryville: $19.90/hour
• Mountain View: $19.70/hour
• Sunnyvale: $19.50/hour
• Berkeley: $19.18/hour
• Richmond: $19.18/hour
• San Francisco: $19.18/hour
• Belmont: $18.95/hour
• El Cerrito: $18.82/hour
• Cupertino, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Santa Clara: $18.70/hour
• Redwood City: $18.65/hour
• San Mateo (city): $18.60/hour
• Sonoma (city): $18.47/hour (26+ employees); $17.38/hour (25 or fewer)
• San Jose: $18.45/hour
• Santa Rosa: $18.21/hour
• South San Francisco: $18.15/hour
• Pasadena: $18.04/hour
• Los Angeles (city): $17.87/hour
• Santa Monica: $17.81/hour
• Los Angeles County (unincorporated): $17.81/hour
• Hayward: $17.79/hour (26+ employees); $16.90/hour (25 or fewer)
• Fremont: $17.75/hour
• San Diego (city): $17.75/hour
• Novato: $17.73/hour (100+ employees); $17.46/hour (26–99); $16.90/hour (1–25)
• Alameda: $17.46/hour
• Oakland: $17.34/hour

Source: CalChamber HRWatchdog (December 2025). Authoritative rate schedules are also maintained by UC Berkeley Labor Center. For a complete list, check the Pacific Payroll State and Local Minimum Wage guide.

There are no specific occupations or types of work for which employers may pay sub-minimum wages in the state of California.

Employees exempt from California’s minimum wage law include outside salespersons, people who are immediate family members of the employer, and apprentices regularly indentured under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

Exceptions also apply to learners, disabled employees, and nonprofits employing disabled workers.

California at-will employment means employers can terminate employees for any reason (with some exceptions) and without notice. Employees can resign without notice too.

While at-will employment is the general rule, there are exceptions. Employers cannot terminate employees for discriminatory reasons or for violating public policy. It’s crucial to ensure that terminations are not based on factors like race, gender, religion, or other protected characteristics.

California is not a “right-to-work” state. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement must typically pay union dues. This applies even if they choose not to join the union.

You must comply with the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA). Notify candidates in writing and get consent before running a background check. For construction roles involving licensed trades, safety-sensitive work, or access to client property, job-related background screening is standard practice.

Drug testing is allowed but must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. For safety-sensitive construction roles, this standard is generally easy to meet.

California employment law requires equal opportunity for all. Protected categories include age, disability, gender identity, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

This commitment extends to all state departments, which must proactively prevent and address workplace discrimination and harassment. Labor laws in California prohibit discrimination at every stage: hiring, promotion, and termination.

Pay Equity Enforcement Act (SB 642, eff. Jan 1, 2026): Amends LC §1197.5. Clarifies pay scale definitions, extends limitation periods for equal pay claims, and strengthens pay transparency requirements. Employers with 15 or more employees must include pay scale in all job postings.

As of February 1, 2026, all California employers are required to provide a stand-alone written notice to every current employee. The notice must cover workers’ compensation rights, immigration-related protections, union organizing rights, and constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement.

For construction contractors, this means distributing the notice to every field worker, including seasonal and project-based hires. New hires must receive it on their hire date. All employees must receive it annually thereafter.

A template notice is available from the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Penalties: up to $500 per employee; up to $10,000 per employee for emergency contact violations. Emergency contact designations were due by March 30, 2026.

California now bars contracts requiring employees to repay debts, such as training costs, upon termination. See LWDA 2026 worker protections for full details. Limited exceptions apply.

Construction contractors who use training reimbursement clauses in employment agreements should review and update those agreements immediately.