What You Need to Know About Your Rights Under California Employment Laws
If an individual is a California employee, they benefit from some of the most protective employment laws in the country. Here’s everything you need to know about California employment laws.
While federal employment laws set the minimum requirements that an employer must follow, California gives many additional rights and benefits under state law. California employees enjoy a wide variety of rights and benefits when it comes to wages, meal periods and rests breaks, discrimination, and harassment, time off from work, privacy, and other areas concerning employer-employee relations under California employment laws.
California Wage and Hour Laws
Wage and hour laws set the basic standards for pay and time worked—covering issues like minimum wage, tips, overtime, meal and rest breaks, what counts as time worked, when you must be paid, things your employer must pay for, and so on.
Related: California Labor Laws for Remote Workers
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage rights in California depend on the size of the employer company. The current minimum wage is $14.00 for employers with up to 25 employees and $15.00 for employers with 26 or more employees.
Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the laws of some states allow employers to pay tipped employees a lower minimum wage, however, California law does not. In California, tipped employees are entitled to the full minimum wage for every hour worked.
Overtime
In California, eligible employees must receive overtime if they work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. After working 12 hours in a day, California employees must receive double time. If an employee works on a 7th day, that employee is entitled to time and a half for the first 8 hours of work and double time for additional hours.
Breaks
Employees in California are entitled to an unpaid meal break of 30 minutes after 5 hours. The employee cannot work more than 10 hours a day without a second 30-minute break.
California Discrimination and Harassment Laws
Workplace harassment is illegal under both federal and California law and is a form of employment discrimination. Harassment is defined as unwelcomed behavior and policies that are based upon an employee’s race, color, creed religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, sex, national origin, age, or physical or mental disability.
In California, harassing behavior occurs whenever an employee:
- Must work in an offensive environment as a condition of their employment; OR
- The offensive conduct or behavior is strong enough to create a hostile or intimidating work environment.
California law prohibits an employer from discriminating and retaliating against employees in a variety of protected classes. Employers must also provide pregnancy accommodations, religious accommodations, and disability accommodations, provide equal pay, allow wage discussions, and allow employees to access their personnel files.
Related: Employer Retaliation After Resignation in California
California Time Off Laws
Under California law, employees are entitled to certain leaves or time off, including family and medical leave, paid family leave, paid sick leave, domestic violence leave and emergency responder leave.
Family and Medical Leave
The California Family Rights Act requires employers with five or more employees to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period for the employee’s or a covered family member’s serious health condition, for the birth or placement for adoption or foster care of a child, or for a qualifying, emergent call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child or parent in the US Armed Forces.
Related: Maternity Leave Laws in California
Paid Family Leave
California provides paid family leave benefits under a Family Temporary Disability Insurance program. Eligible employees receive partial wage replacement when taking time off to care for a seriously ill family member, to bond with a child within one year of birth or placement for adoption or foster care, or to participate in a qualifying, emergent call to covered active duty of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, or parent who is the US Armed Forces.
Paid Sick Leave
Under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act, eligible employees may take paid sick leave for the following reasons:
- Diagnosis, care, or treatment of the employee’s or a covered family member’s existing health condition
- Preventive care for the employee or a covered family member
- For an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking to obtain legal, medical, or social services
Employees may use up to 3 days of paid sick leave per year.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one would like to learn more about California Employment Laws, get your free consultation with one of our Employment Attorneys in California today!