Under California wage deduction law, your employer can take only three kinds of money out of your paycheck: withholdings required by law, amounts you authorized in writing, and garnishments ordered by a court. Everything else is off-limits, even if you signed something saying otherwise. Labor Code Section 221 flatly prohibits an employer from taking back wages already paid, and you have three years to file a wage claim with the state if something was deducted that shouldn’t have been.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 221 – Payment of Wages
What Your Employer Must Withhold
Some deductions appear on every paycheck because federal and state law require them. You don’t get to opt out, and your employer doesn’t get to skip them.
Federal income tax comes out based on the W-4 you filled out — your filing status, credits, and any extra withholding you asked for.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate California state income tax is withheld on the same paycheck. Social Security takes 6.2% of your gross wages up to $184,500 in 2026, then stops for the rest of the year.3Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Medicare takes 1.45% of all wages with no cap, and once your earnings pass $200,000 in a calendar year, your employer withholds an additional 0.9% on the amount above that threshold.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
California also withholds State Disability Insurance, which funds short-term disability benefits and Paid Family Leave. The 2026 SDI rate is 1.3% of all wages, with no earnings ceiling, so the deduction continues on every dollar you earn.5Employment Development Department. Contribution Rates, Withholding Schedules, and Meals and Lodging Values
What You Can Authorize in Writing
Anything beyond the mandatory withholdings needs your express, written permission before it comes out of your check. Labor Code Section 224 allows voluntary deductions for things like insurance premiums and benefit contributions, but it also draws a line: an authorized deduction cannot operate as a way to funnel your standard wages back to the employer.6California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 224
Typical voluntary deductions include health, dental, and vision premiums, 401(k) or other retirement contributions, and union dues under a collective bargaining agreement. Repayment of a loan or wage advance from your employer qualifies too, as long as you signed the repayment agreement before the deductions began.
Two limits matter here. Even with a signed loan agreement, your employer cannot sweep the entire remaining balance out of your final paycheck when you leave; California treats that as an end-run around wage protections. And for most voluntary deductions you can revoke your authorization at any time by giving written notice. Retirement plan elections may follow the plan’s own timing rules, but the general principle is that you control what leaves your check beyond what the law requires.
What Your Employer Cannot Deduct, Even With Your Signature
This is where California goes further than many employers assume. Labor Code Section 221 makes it illegal to collect back any portion of wages already paid, and the state reads that protection broadly. The practical result: ordinary costs of running a business cannot be pushed onto you, and signing a form doesn’t make it legal.7Department of Industrial Relations. Deductions From Wages
Cash Shortages, Breakage, and Lost Property
A cash register coming up short, broken equipment, lost company property, a damaged company vehicle, a customer walking out on a tab — none of those can be deducted from your pay when the loss came from an ordinary accident or simple carelessness. A deduction is permitted only if the employer can actually prove the loss resulted from a dishonest or willful act, or gross negligence. The state labor agency has made clear that a bare accusation isn’t enough.7Department of Industrial Relations. Deductions From Wages
Uniforms, Tools, and Job Expenses
If your employer requires a uniform or specific tools to do the job, the employer pays. Deducting the cost from your wages is unlawful even if you agreed in writing. “Uniform” is read broadly — it covers any distinctive clothing or accessories your employer dictates, not just logo apparel.
Labor Code Section 2802 goes further and requires reimbursement for all necessary expenses you incur as a direct consequence of your job: mileage for work driving, cell phone use when you use a personal phone for work, and other out-of-pocket costs your duties require. If you have to fight for reimbursement, you can also recover interest and attorney’s fees.8California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2802
Overpayments the Employer Made by Mistake
If your employer accidentally paid you too much in a past period, they cannot simply dock a current paycheck to recover it. California courts have treated that kind of self-help deduction as unlawful. The employer’s option is to ask for repayment or pursue collection — not to shrink your next check on their own.7Department of Industrial Relations. Deductions From Wages
Garnishments and Support Orders
When a court or government agency issues a withholding order, your employer has to comply. These aren’t employer deductions in the usual sense; the money goes to a third party to satisfy a legal obligation. Your employer can charge you $1.50 per payment to process each garnishment.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 706.034
Child and spousal support orders carry the highest priority of any garnishment, and federal law allows a larger share of your pay to be taken for support than for ordinary debts.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
For most other debts — credit card judgments, personal loans, medical bills — California applies its own formula under Code of Civil Procedure Section 706.050, and it’s more protective than the federal default. The maximum your employer can withhold is the lesser of 20% of your disposable earnings for the pay period, or 40% of the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage.11California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 706.050 With California’s 2026 minimum wage at $16.90 per hour, that 48-times figure works out to $811.20 per week. If you work in a city with a higher local minimum wage, the local rate applies and shrinks the garnishable amount further.12Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
Tax levies from the IRS and California’s Franchise Tax Board follow their own rules. They generally take priority over judgment-creditor garnishments but yield to existing child support orders.
Reading Your Pay Stub
California requires an itemized pay stub with every paycheck. Labor Code Section 226 lists what has to appear: gross wages earned, total hours worked, all deductions, net wages, the pay period dates, and your employer’s name and address.13California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 226 Voluntary deductions you authorized in writing can be grouped into one line, but every mandatory withholding and every garnishment should be visible on its own.
If the deductions aren’t itemized, or the numbers don’t reconcile with your gross pay, that’s a signal to dig in. Ask your employer in writing for an explanation and keep the response. Save your pay stubs, your written authorizations, and any emails or texts about deductions. Those records are what a wage claim rises or falls on.
Filing a Wage Claim and What You Can Recover
Illegal deductions carry civil penalties under Labor Code Section 225.5: $100 per employee for a first violation, and $200 per employee plus 25% of the amount illegally withheld for subsequent or willful violations.14California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 225.5 If the bad deduction shows up on your final paycheck after you quit or are terminated, and the employer willfully withheld what you were owed, you may also collect waiting time penalties — your daily rate of pay for each day the wages stay unpaid, up to 30 days.15California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 203
File through the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, also called the Labor Commissioner’s Office. You can submit the claim online or by mail. The deadline is three years from the date of the unlawful deduction. The process usually begins with a settlement conference between you and your employer; if that doesn’t resolve the dispute, it moves to a hearing where a state hearing officer reviews the evidence and issues a decision.16Department of Industrial Relations. How to File a Wage Claim