Fremont California Minimum Wage: Who Qualifies and Annual Updates

The minimum wage in Fremont, California is $17.75 per hour through June 30, 2026, and rises to $18.05 per hour on July 1, 2026.¹ Both rates are higher than California’s statewide floor of $16.90 per hour, and because the local rate is higher, it is the rate your employer owes you for hours worked inside the city.²

Who Gets the Fremont Rate

The ordinance covers any employee who works at least two hours inside Fremont’s city limits during a single calendar week. Where the employer is based doesn’t matter, and neither does full-time or part-time status. Cross that two-hour line in a week, and your employer owes you the Fremont rate for those hours.³

Employer size no longer changes the rate. The small-business phase-in ended on July 1, 2022, and every covered employer now pays the same figure.³

There is one meaningful carve-out. Employees of nonprofit corporations are exempt from the Fremont local minimum wage, a choice the city made to preserve nonprofit service levels.¹ Nonprofit employees still get California’s $16.90 statewide minimum, just not the higher city rate.

When a Higher Industry Rate Applies Instead

Two California industry minimums already sit above Fremont’s local rate, and workers in those fields are entitled to the higher figure.

Fast food employees at restaurants covered by the state Fast Food Council earn at least $20.00 per hour.⁴ That $20.00 statewide rate beats Fremont’s $18.05 even after the 2026 bump, so a Fremont fast food worker should be paid at least $20.00.

Covered healthcare workers earn between $18.63 and $24.00 per hour depending on facility type, with scheduled increases climbing toward $25.00 over the next several years.⁵ Which figure applies depends on the facility category, so healthcare workers should check where their workplace falls before assuming the Fremont rate is what they’re owed.

Tips and Overtime

California does not allow a tip credit. Your employer must pay the full Fremont minimum wage in cash wages, and tips belong entirely to you on top of that.⁶ If you’ve worked in a state that lets restaurants pay a lower tipped wage, forget it here.

Overtime is calculated off your regular rate, which for a minimum-wage worker means the Fremont rate. You earn 1.5 times that rate after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day. At the $18.05 rate starting July 1, 2026, daily overtime is $27.08 per hour and double time is $36.10.

Paid sick leave in California is at least 40 hours a year, accruing at one hour for every 30 hours worked under the most common method, and it’s paid at your regular rate.⁷

If You’re Being Underpaid

You have two places to go. You can file a complaint with the City of Fremont, which enforces the local ordinance, or a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office. The Labor Commissioner accepts claims online, by mail, or in person.⁸

When the city confirms a violation, it can issue an administrative citation of up to $50 per day for each affected employee, issue a compliance order, or go to court for an injunction and damages. An employee who sues and wins gets back wages, a $50 civil penalty per day per violation, interest, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The city can also suspend or revoke the employer’s business permits until the problem is fixed.³

State-law penalties stack on top of the local ones. Under California Labor Code section 1197.1, an intentional first violation carries a $100 civil penalty per underpaid employee per pay period, and repeat violations rise to $250 per employee per pay period, both on top of back wages and liquidated damages.⁹

One practical note: employers are required to keep payroll records for at least four years, and if they can’t produce those records during an investigation, the city can presume a violation occurred.¹ Missing records tend to help the worker, not the employer.

Retaliation Is Illegal

Your employer cannot fire, demote, or punish you for filing a wage claim, threatening to file one, or even talking to coworkers about unpaid wages. California Labor Code section 98.6 gives you one year to file a retaliation complaint, and a court can award up to $10,000 per violation on top of other remedies.¹⁰

Federal law adds a second layer. Section 15(a)(3) of the Fair Labor Standards Act protects workers who complain about wage violations, and oral complaints to your own employer count. Remedies include reinstatement, back pay, and an equal amount in liquidated damages.¹¹

How the Rate Changes Each Year

Fremont’s minimum wage adjusts every July 1 based on the percentage change in the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The annual increase is capped at 5 percent, and if the CPI is flat or drops, the rate holds steady rather than falling.³ The city announces the next rate by April 1, giving employers about three months to update payroll before the change takes effect.¹

1
City of Fremont. Minimum Wage
2
Labor Commissioner’s Office. Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
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City of Fremont. Fremont Municipal Code 5.30 – Minimum Wage
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Labor Commissioner’s Office. Fast Food Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
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Labor Commissioner’s Office. Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
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California Department of Industrial Relations. Tips and Gratuities
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Labor Commissioner’s Office. California Paid Sick Leave Frequently Asked Questions
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Labor Commissioner’s Office. How to File a Wage Claim
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California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1197.1
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Labor Commissioner’s Office. Laws that Prohibit Retaliation and Discrimination
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U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act