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← Labor rules, by state and province

California restaurant labor laws

California: overtime after 8h a day or 40h a week, double time after 12h, $16.90 minimum wage, 30-min meal break after 5h, night limits for minors.

The figures ShiftNivo schedules against in California, read from the source linked at the bottom of this page.

Start with California's rules loaded →No credit card. Free during early access.

What the engine does not model here

Checked here, by the date a shift starts on and in the workspace's week: the seventh day of work in a week (time and a half for its first 8 hours, double time after) and the day of rest, unless the week is 30 hours or less with no day over 6; meals over the whole workday, the first waivable up to 6 hours of work and a second owed past 10, waivable up to 12; a break under 30 minutes, which is a paid rest and no meal, priced as time worked; split shifts and a second start of the day under 2 hours, both priced. Not checked: when meals and rest breaks are really taken, and their premiums (that needs punches); reporting-time pay when someone is sent home; whether a gap or an extra shift was the employee's own choice; meal waivers and on-duty meal agreements on file; alternative workweeks; city minimum wages (San Francisco, Los Angeles and others), which apply only once picked under City or county; the fair-workweek ordinances of San Francisco, Berkeley and Emeryville, which reach chains (Los Angeles's covers retail only); and the $20.00 fast-food minimum for chains of more than 60.

Overtime

Daily
after 8h · 1.5×
Weekly
after 40h · 1.5×
Double time
after 12h · 2×
Rest between shifts
No separate rule*
Eating period
30 min after 5h
Minimum wage
$16.90since 2026-01-01
Default time zone
America/Los_Angeles

* “No separate rule” means the engine does not enforce one here. That is not the same as saying the jurisdiction has none.

City and county minimum wages · 14

Some cities and counties in this state set their own minimum wage or tipped wage above the state's, and a restaurant they cover pays the higher one. When you set a location's labor rules, ShiftNivo offers these right after the state. Figures as they stood on October 16, 2026, from each place's own page or its state's; each place changes them on its own dates, most often January 1 or July 1.

  • Berkeley

    Minimum wage
    $19.61since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    For-profit and non-profit employers, for staff who work at least 2 hours a week in Berkeley. Tips never count towards it.

    Workforce Standards and Enforcement - City of Berkeley

  • Emeryville

    Minimum wage
    $20.34since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Small and large businesses alike, for staff who work 2 or more hours in a week in Emeryville. Its Fair Workweek law can also reach a fast-food firm with 56 or more employees, 20 of them in the city; it is not checked here.

    Official Notice: City of Emeryville Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave, effective July 1, 2026

  • Los Angeles (city)

    Minimum wage
    $18.42since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Every employer size, for staff who work 2 or more hours a week in the city. A restaurant in or run by a hotel with 60 or more rooms owes the hotel wage instead: $25.00 from 1 July 2026, plus $4.25 an hour where no health benefits are given.

    July 1, 2026 Minimum Wage Ordinance Wage Rate Increase (City of Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards)

  • Los Angeles County (unincorporated areas)

    Minimum wage
    $18.47since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Only unincorporated county land, such as East Los Angeles or Marina del Rey, for staff who work 2 or more hours a week there. The cities in the county set their own rate or use the state's.

    New Minimum Wage July 1, 2026 (LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs)

  • Mountain View

    Minimum wage
    $19.70since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Adults and minors who work 2 or more hours a week in the city, at every employer size. Tips are not counted.

    City Minimum Wage - Mountain View Economic Development

  • Oakland

    Minimum wage
    $17.34since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Every employer, for staff who work 2 or more hours in a week in Oakland. The state's $17.40 from 1 January 2027 is higher until Oakland publishes its own. A restaurant in a covered hotel owes $18.85 with health benefits, $25.14 without.

    Download Minimum Wage and Hotel Wage Posters (City of Oakland Workplace and Employment Standards)

  • Palo Alto

    Minimum wage
    $18.70since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    $19.25 from January 1, 2027

    Work done inside Palo Alto. No tip credit, as everywhere in California.

    Minimum Wage - City of Palo Alto

  • Richmond

    Minimum wage
    $19.18since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    $19.61 from January 1, 2027

    Every employer, for adults and minors who work 2 or more hours a week in the city; its small-business exemptions ended in 2017. No tip credit, as everywhere in California.

    Minimum Wage Ordinance - City of Richmond

  • San Diego (city)

    Minimum wage
    $17.75since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    $18.35 from January 1, 2027

    Every industry and business, adults and minors, for 2 or more hours of work a week in the city. Tips do not count. Large hotels and some event centers have a hospitality wage of their own, not included here.

    San Diego Minimum Wage Increased to $18.35 in 2027 (San Diego City Attorney, 30 Sep 2026)

  • San Francisco

    Minimum wage
    $19.61since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Every employer, for anyone who works 2 or more hours a week in the city, part-time and temporary staff included. No tip credit.

    Historical San Francisco Minimum Wage Rates (SF Office of Labor Standards Enforcement)

  • San Jose

    Minimum wage
    $18.45since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Every employer, for staff who work 2 or more hours a week in San Jose. Tips do not count.

    Minimum Wage Ordinance - City of San Jose Office of Equality Assurance

  • Santa Monica

    Minimum wage
    $18.47since July 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    The same rate for 26 or more employees and for 25 or fewer. A restaurant on hotel property owes the hotel wage instead, $25.00 from 1 July 2026.

    Minimum Wage - City of Santa Monica

  • Sunnyvale

    Minimum wage
    $19.50since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    No figure announced yet

    Work done in Sunnyvale, at every employer size. It follows Bay Area inflation each January.

    Minimum Wage Increases to $19.50, Jan. 1 (City of Sunnyvale)

  • West Hollywood

    Minimum wage
    $20.25since January 1, 2026
    Tipped cash wage
    No tip credit
    Next change
    $20.94 from January 1, 2027

    Every employer size, for 2 or more hours of work in a week. A restaurant or bar in a hotel, leased or not, owes the hotel rate: $20.87 until 30 June 2027.

    Minimum Wage - City of West Hollywood

Public holidays · 12

A public holiday carries no statutory premium for a private employer under federal law, so these are shown as observed days. Eleven federal holidays are assigned to every state, with a few recognized state holidays added; a state's own full list is not complete here.

  • César Chávez DayMarch 31
  • Christmas DayDecember 25
  • Columbus Daysecond Monday in October
  • Independence DayJuly 4
  • JuneteenthJune 19
  • Labor Dayfirst Monday in September
  • Memorial Daylast Monday in May
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Daythird Monday in January
  • New Year's DayJanuary 1
  • Presidents' Daythird Monday in February
  • Thanksgivingfourth Thursday in November
  • Veterans DayNovember 11

Youth hours

The bands the product checks for California. United States figures come from the Department of Labor — its state table as published on 15 July 2025, or its federal rules — and are corrected from the state's own source where the table is wrong. Permits, supervision and exemptions sit underneath every band, and each one says what is not checked. Confirm with the state before relying on them.

  • Under 14

    Not permitted

    Federal floor. 14 is the minimum age for most non-agricultural work.

  • Ages 14 to 15

    School day
    3h
    Non-school day
    8h
    School week
    18h
    Week
    40h

    Not between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

    June 1 to Labor Day: not after 9 p.m.

    The evening limit moves to 9 p.m. outside the school year. Figures as published by the US Department of Labor on 15 July 2025. Confirm them with your state labor department.

  • Ages 16 to 17

    School day
    4h
    Non-school day
    8h
    Week
    48h

    Not between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

    12:30 a.m. before a non-school day. Figures from California's own Division of Labor Standards Enforcement: the federal table repeats the under-16 row here and is wrong. Confirm them with your state labor department.

Source: dol.gov/agencies/whd/youthrules · dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/child-labor · dir.ca.gov/dlse/minorssummarycharts.pdf

Minors →

What ShiftNivo checks for you here

  • Overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, priced as you build and never counted twice, with a warning four hours before anyone crosses the weekly line.
  • Double time after 12 hours in a day.
  • A shift longer than 5 hours without its 30-minute eating period.
  • Workers under 18: the minimum age, the hours in a day and in a week, and the evening limit, read from a birth date and marked as errors, not warnings.
  • 12 public holidays, each flagged the week before it arrives.
  • Everywhere: double bookings, approved time off, and shifts outside the hours someone said they can work.
Start with California's rules loaded →

Next door

The rules one border over, for a second location or a team that crosses it.

The federal standard: Federal (FLSA) →All 66 jurisdictions →

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