Pillar guide
Your Rights as a California Employee
The protections California law already gives you at work, in plain English, with what to do when one of them is broken.
Deadlines. Different claims from the same firing carry different clocks, and the shortest live one sets your pace. Full deadline table
Rights Before You Are Hired
Your rights start before the offer does. California limits what an employer may ask and when it may ask it.
- Fair chance hiring rules control when an employer may ask about criminal history and what it must do before withdrawing an offer because of it.
- An employer may not ask about your salary history, and on request it must give you the pay scale for the role under SB 1162.
- A job post may not require a driver’s license unless driving is genuinely part of the job.
- Automated screening is not a black box. The Civil Rights Department’s regulations on automated decision systems reach the software that rejected you. AI hiring discrimination
Rights in Your Paycheck
Most wage claims are arithmetic rather than argument. The figures below move, so check the date on any page that quotes one.
- The California minimum wage is $16.90 for 2026. Some cities and some industries set a higher floor, and the highest applicable rate governs.
- Overtime is owed daily as well as weekly, which is one of the main places California departs from federal law.
- Meal and rest breaks are owed on a schedule, and a missed break carries a premium. Break calculator · Overtime calculator
- Your wage statement must be itemised under Labor Code section 226, so you can check the maths yourself.
- Necessary business expenses must be reimbursed under Labor Code section 2802, which can include costs of working from home. Expense reimbursement
- Equal pay is owed for substantially similar work. Equal pay
Protection From Discrimination and Harassment
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act covers a long list of protected characteristics, and it reaches smaller employers than federal law does.
- FEHA discrimination protections generally apply at five or more employees. Harassment protections apply at one.
- Damages are not capped the way federal damages are.
- An individual harasser can be personally liable, not only the company.
- Claims can be intersectional, meaning a combination of characteristics rather than a single one, under SB 1137.
In practice this looks like a firing, a demotion, a pay gap, punishment through the schedule, or conditions made bad enough that leaving felt like the only option. Discrimination · Harassment
Your Right to Speak Up
Reporting something does not forfeit your job. California protects the act of raising a problem, and the protection does not depend on being right.
- Whistleblower protection under Labor Code section 1102.5.
- Complaints about wages under Labor Code section 98.6.
- Complaints about safety under Labor Code section 6310.
- Discussing your pay with colleagues under Labor Code section 232, and under federal labour law.
- Political activity and affiliation under Labor Code sections 1101 and 1102.
The pattern worth remembering is simple: protected activity, then an adverse action, then timing that connects the two. Retaliation
Leave and Accommodation Rights
Leave rights and job protection are different things, and they come from different places. The California versions usually reach further than the federal ones.
- The California Family Rights Act applies at five or more employees, where the federal FMLA applies at fifty.
- Pregnancy disability leave is its own entitlement and sits alongside baby bonding leave rather than inside it.
- Paid sick leave is a statewide entitlement, and some cities require more.
- Leave for jury service, and for victims of crime or abuse, under AB 2499.
- Disability accommodation, including the employer’s duty to engage in an interactive process rather than simply saying no.
- Lactation accommodation, including a space that is not a bathroom.
Rights That Do Not Depend on Immigration Status
Wage protections, FEHA protections and retaliation protections apply to employees in California regardless of immigration status.
- Using immigration status as a threat in response to a complaint is itself unlawful retaliation.
- SB 294 puts an employee rights notice in writing on an annual basis.
- What you tell a lawyer is confidential, and that does not change with status.
Immigrant employee rights and SB 294 · National origin discrimination
Rights When the Job Ends
At-will employment means an employer does not need a good reason. It does not mean an employer may act for an unlawful one.
- Final pay is due on a statutory timetable, and a late final cheque can carry a penalty. Waiting time calculator · Final paycheck
- Accrued vacation is treated as earned wages and is paid out.
- A severance agreement comes with time to consider it, and you are entitled to take advice before signing. Severance review
- Non-competes are void in nearly all California employment, under Business and Professions Code section 16600, and SB 699 with AB 1076 added employer duties on top.
How to Enforce Any of This
There are three doors, and which one fits depends on the claim rather than on preference.
- The California Civil Rights Department, for discrimination, harassment and related retaliation.
- The Labor Commissioner, for wages, breaks and expenses.
- Court, which some claims require and others allow. Which forum fits your claim
Deadlines decide more cases than arguments do. One event can produce several claims with different clocks, and the shortest live one sets the pace. Full deadline table · Evidence checklist
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my handbook override state law?
No. Statutes set a floor that no handbook can lower.
I am a contractor. Do I get any of this?
Maybe. It depends on the ABC test, and many contractors turn out to be employees.
Which rights apply at a four person company?
Harassment, wage, and retaliation protections are core. FEHA discrimination needs five employees.
Employment Law Resources
- California Civil Rights Department, FEHA protections overview
- California Labor Commissioner, wages, breaks, and reimbursement
- Labor Code section 432.3, salary history ban and pay scale disclosure
- Business and Professions Code section 16600, non competes void
Tell Us What Happened
One business day for a response. You pay nothing unless we win.