Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that California’s statewide minimum wage will increase from $16.90 to $17.40 per hour effective January 1, 2027. The new rate, announced on July 31, 2026, reflects the annual inflation-based adjustment required under California law.
The increase will also affect the minimum salary threshold for employees classified as exempt under…
California Labor Code section 2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for necessary expenses incurred in performing their job duties, which may include an employee’s use of their personal vehicle for work purposes, such as for work-related travel or driving between work sites.
When determining how to reimburse an employee for use of their personal vehicle…
In the latest chapter in a decade-long saga to determine if interstate drivers are subject to California’s meal and rest break rules, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles are not subject to the state’s break regulations. In People of the State of California ex rel. Xavier Becerra v. Federal Motor…
At the start of the year, the state minimum wage increased, along with several local jurisdictions. Many other California cities and counties will also increase their minimum wage on July 1.
The following localities will raise their minimum wage on July 1, 2026:
| Locality | Current Minimum Wage | New Minimum Wage |
| Alameda | $17.46 | $17.76 |
California employers in the health care industry should prepare for increased scrutiny of executive compensation as a new statewide initiative heads toward the November 3, 2026, General Election ballot.
The California Secretary of State announced that Initiative 1985, formally titled “Limits Compensation for Health Care Executives, Managers, and Administrators. Initiative Statute,” became eligible for the…
The Los Angeles City Council has approved amendments that would slow the implementation schedule for the City’s Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance and related airport worker wage provisions. The move revises the framework adopted in 2025, which had been set to increase covered hotel and airport worker wages to $30 per hour by 2028. The…
Many cities across California have adopted higher minimum wage and benefit requirements for hotel employers. The City of Los Angeles raised its wages for hotel and airport workers last year in advance of the Olympics. Many of these local ordinances increase in July.
As such, hotel employers should verify they are ready for the requirements…
Employers in the entertainment industry know that payroll compliance can be uniquely complicated. Production schedules change, wrap dates move, and crew members may be hired for short stints across multiple projects.
California has a special final pay statute aimed at this reality: Labor Code section 201.5, which sets rules for when and how final wages…
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has released its Reporting Year (RY) 2025 Pay Data Reporting FAQ and Handbook. The statute remains familiar, but the filing mechanics this cycle are not. CRD’s materials emphasize a prescribed file structure, add required data elements, and signal that conformity to the current-year template will be central to…
California’s annual pay data reporting submission this year is due on May 13, 2026. Each cycle, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) typically releases updated guidance for that year’s reporting in early February.
While we await this annual guidance, CRD has already provided preliminary templates for payroll employee and labor contractor pay data reporting…
