A California labor law requirements checklist for employers covers nine working areas: mandatory postings, new hire paperwork, wage and overtime rules, meal and rest breaks, payroll records and final pay, workers’ compensation and workplace safety, harassment prevention training, leave entitlements, and payroll tax filings. The state minimum wage is $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, and that single figure sits inside a much larger compliance picture.1Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage Miss one piece and you can face citations, back-pay awards, waiting-time penalties, or in some cases criminal charges. Work through the sections below in order; each one tells you what the law requires and where the penalty lives if you skip it.
Required Workplace Postings
California employers must display a set of notices where employees can read them during the workday. The Department of Industrial Relations maintains the master list, which runs past two dozen state and federal items depending on industry.2Department of Industrial Relations. Workplace Postings The notices that apply to nearly every employer include the state minimum wage notice (Labor Code Section 1183(d)), the payday notice showing regular paydays and the time and place of payment (Section 207), the paid sick leave notice (Section 247), the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission wage order for your industry (Section 1183(d)), the safety and health protection notice (Section 6328), the workers’ compensation notice identifying your carrier (Section 3550), the whistleblower protections notice (Section 1102.8), and the California Civil Rights Department discrimination and harassment poster (Government Code Section 12950).3California Civil Rights Department. California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment A newer annual notice, the California Workplace Know Your Rights notice, must be provided on or before February 1 each year.
Most posters are free to download from the DIR website. Federal postings including the FLSA minimum wage poster, the FMLA notice, and the EEO poster are also required at most worksites and are available from the U.S. Department of Labor. State inspectors cite missing postings routinely.
New Hire Paperwork
Several documents need to be in hand before a new employee starts productive work. Some come from federal law. Others are specific to California and go further than federal rules.
Form I-9 and Form W-4
Every employer completes Form I-9 for each new hire. The employee fills out Section 1 on or before the first day of work. You examine their identity and work-authorization documents and complete Section 2 within three business days of the start date. Keep the completed I-9 for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification You also collect a signed IRS Form W-4 so you can withhold federal income tax at the correct amount. The form is not valid without the employee’s signature, and while an employee should submit a new W-4 when their situation changes, you cannot force them to.5Internal Revenue Service. Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Wage Theft Prevention Notice
Labor Code Section 2810.5 requires you to give every new hire a written notice at the time of hiring that includes the rate of pay and pay basis (hourly, salary, piece rate, commission), any overtime rates, the regular payday, your legal name and physical address, and the name, address, and phone number of your workers’ compensation carrier.6California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2810.5 It must be in the language you normally use to communicate employment information to that employee. Any change to this information triggers an updated notice within seven calendar days.
New Employee Registry Report
You must report every newly hired or rehired employee (after a separation of 60 or more days) to the Employment Development Department’s New Employee Registry within 20 calendar days of the start-of-work date. The report lists the employee’s name, Social Security number, home address, and start date, along with your EDD payroll tax account number and federal EIN.7Employment Development Department. California’s New Employee Registry
Minimum Wage and Overtime
Non-exempt employees must earn at least the state minimum of $16.90 per hour for every hour worked as of 2026. Some cities and counties set higher local minimums, so apply the rate where the work is actually performed. Certain industries have their own schedules, including fast food and healthcare.
Overtime under Labor Code Section 510 kicks in once an employee passes eight hours in a single workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Those hours pay at one and one-half times the regular rate. Hours beyond 12 in one day pay at double the regular rate. A seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek also triggers overtime: time-and-a-half for the first eight hours and double time beyond eight.8California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 510 Daily overtime is one of the biggest departures from federal law, which only looks at the weekly total. A private agreement to skip overtime does not override the statute. Narrow exceptions exist for approved alternative workweek schedules under Sections 511 or 514, which require a formal employee vote or a collective bargaining agreement.
Meal and Rest Breaks
Under Labor Code Section 512, you cannot employ someone for more than five hours without providing a 30-minute meal period. The employee must be relieved of all duties; if they remain on call or working, the meal period does not count.9California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 512 If the total workday will not exceed six hours, both sides can mutually agree to waive it. A second 30-minute meal period is required once the workday goes past ten hours. That second break can be waived by mutual consent only if the total shift will not exceed 12 hours and the first meal period was not waived.
Rest breaks come from the applicable IWC Wage Order. Every employee is entitled to a paid 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked, or major fraction of four hours, scheduled as close to the middle of each work period as practical. Employees working less than three and a half hours in a day are not entitled to a rest break.10Department of Industrial Relations. IWC Wage Order 5-2001
If you fail to provide a required meal or rest period, you owe the employee one additional hour of pay at their regular rate for each workday the break was not provided.11Department of Industrial Relations. Meal Periods FAQ Meal and rest premiums are separate, so a day missing both costs two extra hours of pay. Across even a small workforce, those premiums compound fast in a wage claim.
Wage Statements, Records, and Final Pay
Every paycheck must come with an accurate itemized wage statement under Labor Code Section 226 showing gross wages, total hours worked, all deductions, net wages, the inclusive dates of the pay period, the employee’s name (only the last four digits of the Social Security number), and your legal name and address. If you pay different hourly rates during the same period, the statement must list each rate and the hours worked at that rate.12California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 226
Keep the statements and all related payroll records for at least three years, stored at the place of employment or at a central California location. An employee injured by a knowing and intentional violation of these requirements can recover actual damages or a statutory penalty of $50 for the first pay period and $100 for each later pay period, up to $4,000, plus attorney’s fees.
Final pay deadlines are strict. When you terminate an employee, all wages owed are due immediately at the time of discharge. An employee who quits without notice must be paid in full within 72 hours. An employee who gives at least 72 hours’ notice must receive final wages on the last day of work.13Department of Industrial Relations. Final Pay A late final paycheck triggers waiting-time penalties of up to 30 days of the employee’s daily pay.
Workers’ Compensation and Workplace Safety
Every California employer, including those with a single part-time employee, must carry workers’ compensation insurance or hold a certificate to self-insure from the Director of Industrial Relations.14California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 3700 There is no small-business or family-business exception. Operating without coverage is a misdemeanor under Section 3700.5, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of at least $10,000 (or double the premium that would have been due, whichever is greater), or both, with a $50,000 minimum fine on a second conviction.15California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 3700.5 An uninsured employer also loses the exclusive-remedy protection, so injured employees can sue in civil court.
Labor Code Section 6401.7 requires every employer to maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program covering hazard identification, accident investigation, employee safety training, and a retaliation-free system for reporting unsafe conditions.16California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 6401.7 The program must now also include a workplace violence prevention plan under Section 6401.9. Cal/OSHA inspectors ask for this document routinely.
Employers with more than 10 employees in most industries must maintain OSHA injury and illness logs on Forms 300, 300A, and 301. The annual Form 300A summary for the prior calendar year must be posted at each worksite from February 1 through April 30 and certified by a company executive even when no recordable injuries occurred.
Harassment Prevention Training
Government Code Section 12950.1 requires every employer with five or more employees to provide interactive sexual harassment prevention training. Supervisors need at least two hours; nonsupervisory employees need at least one hour. Training repeats every two years, and new hires must be trained within six months of hire or promotion into a supervisory role.17California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12950.1 The California Civil Rights Department offers a free online course that satisfies the requirement, so cost is not a defense. Keep completion records; they matter if a harassment complaint later puts your prevention efforts at issue.
Leave Entitlements
Paid Sick Leave
Under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (Labor Code Sections 245–249), employees accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.18California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 245 You can cap total accrual at 80 hours (or ten days) and limit annual use to 40 hours (or five days).19Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions Employees can use the time for their own health needs or to care for a family member. You can also frontload 40 hours at the start of each year to avoid tracking accruals.
California Family Rights Act Leave
Employers with five or more employees are covered by the California Family Rights Act. An eligible employee (12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours worked in the previous year) can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year to bond with a new child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or address their own serious health condition.20California Civil Rights Department. Family Care and Medical Leave Quick Reference Guide CFRA leave runs concurrently with federal FMLA leave when both apply, but CFRA covers much smaller employers (five versus 50 under FMLA) and uses a broader definition of family member.
Pregnancy Accommodation and Leave
California’s pregnancy disability leave law applies to employers with five or more employees and provides up to four months of leave for pregnancy-related disabilities, which stacks on top of CFRA bonding leave. The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which applies at 15 or more employees, additionally requires reasonable accommodations (modified schedules, more frequent breaks, temporary reassignment, telework) for known pregnancy-related limitations unless the accommodation would cause undue hardship.21U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Payroll Taxes
California employers handle several layers of payroll tax on top of wage payments.
- State Disability Insurance: the 2026 employee-paid SDI withholding rate is 1.3 percent on all wages with no taxable wage ceiling. You withhold and remit to the EDD. SDI funds both short-term disability benefits and Paid Family Leave.22Employment Development Department. Contribution Rates, Withholding Schedules, and Meals and Lodging Values
- State Unemployment Insurance: an employer-paid tax at a rate the EDD assigns each year based on your experience rating.
- Employment Training Tax: a small employer-paid contribution funding worker training programs.
- Federal Social Security and Medicare: the employer share is 6.2 percent for Social Security (on wages up to $184,500 in 2026) and 1.45 percent for Medicare on all wages, matched by employee withholding, remitted to the IRS.23Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
File quarterly payroll tax returns with the EDD (Forms DE 9 and DE 9C) and with the IRS (Form 941). Missed deadlines trigger automatic penalties and interest.
Personnel File Access Requests
Current and former employees have the right under Labor Code Section 1198.5 to inspect and receive copies of their personnel records related to performance or any grievance. You must make the records available within 30 calendar days of a written request.24California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1198.5 You can charge the actual cost of reproduction, but you cannot refuse or stall past the deadline. The right survives separation, so purging files too early creates both a compliance gap and a discovery problem if litigation follows.