Guides

Emeryville restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

Mays TeamNovember 9, 2026
The Exceptions tab of a two-week pay period in Mays for an Emeryville location: three missed meal breaks and one short one under California's rules, each owed a premium hour at the regular rate

Emeryville's minimum wage is $20.34 an hour since July 1, 2026, the same for small and large businesses, and higher than Oakland's $17.34 or Berkeley's $19.61 next door (Emeryville). California allows no tip credit, so servers start there too. Its Fair Workweek law is narrower than Berkeley's: among restaurants it reaches only fast food, places where customers order and pay before they eat, and not one that serves alcohol with meals. And a hotel or restaurant that adds a service charge must pass all of it to the workers who did the service.

This page puts what a restaurant or café in Emeryville owes in one place: the city's own rules first, then the California and federal rules that apply in Emeryville as everywhere else in the state, two example weeks with the math shown, and what Mays does with each. Every figure links to the official page it comes from.

Checked October 5, 2026: we read every Emeryville figure on this page on its official source that day. Emeryville's minimum wage changes on July 1, 2027; the new rate had not been published when we checked (Emeryville, 2026 notice).

This is general information, not legal advice. Whether a rule applies can depend on your business's size and your own facts; the note at the end says more.

Emeryville pay rules at a glance

As of November 9, 2026:

Rule

Emeryville

Minimum wage

$20.34 an hour, since July 1, 2026

Tipped employees

The full minimum wage: no tip credit in Emeryville

Next change

Changes on July 1, 2027 (new rate not published yet)

Overtime

1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek, and after 8 hours in a day; double time after 12 hours in a day; special rules for the seventh day in a row in a workweek (California and federal law)

Fair workweek scheduling

Emeryville's law covers fast food chains only, not full-service restaurants; see Scheduling below

Paid sick leave

Emeryville's own ordinance; see Paid sick leave below

Sources: Emeryville; DLSE, minimum wage; Emeryville, 2026 notice; DLSE, overtime; Emeryville, Fair Workweek.

Who Emeryville's rate covers: every employer, small or large (the same rate since July 2019), for employees who work at least two hours in a calendar week in Emeryville.

Emeryville vs. California: what the city changes

Where Emeryville sets a rule of its own, it applies on top of California's, and an employer follows whichever gives the employee more. Here are the two side by side:

Rule

California

Emeryville

Minimum wage

$16.90 (DLSE, minimum wage)

$20.34 (Emeryville)

Tipped employees

No tip credit (DLSE, minimum wage)

No tip credit, as statewide

Next change (as of October 5, 2026)

$17.40 on January 1, 2027 (DIR, 2027 minimum wage)

Changes on July 1, 2027 (new rate not published yet) (Emeryville, 2026 notice)

Paid sick leave

1 hour per 30 hours worked (alternative accrual allowed if it yields 24 h by day 120 and 40 h by day 200) (DLSE, paid sick leave)

set by the employer (the notice says "Accrual Methods May Vary"), with at least 72 hours a year at a business with 56 or more employees and 48 at one with 55 or fewer (Emeryville, 2026 notice)

Fair workweek scheduling

No state law in our data

Its own law, which covers fast food chains only, not full-service restaurants (Emeryville, Fair Workweek)

Our data has no Emeryville rule of its own on overtime, breaks, tip pools or food handler training, so the California and federal rules below apply in Emeryville as they do across the state. For California's rules in full, with their own worked examples, see California restaurant pay rules (2026).

What you must pay tipped staff in Emeryville

California doesn't allow a tip credit (DLSE, minimum wage), so servers, bartenders and baristas who get tips must be paid at least the full $20.34 an hour in wages, and their tips are all theirs, on top. There's no tipped cash wage and no weekly tip make-up to calculate.

What you must pay non-tipped staff in Emeryville

Cooks, dishwashers, prep cooks, and cashiers or counter staff who don't get tips are paid like any other hourly employee:

  • At least $20.34 an hour for every hour worked (Emeryville). No tip credit applies.
  • Overtime is at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek or 8 in a day. At $20.34 an hour, that's $30.51 (DLSE, overtime).

Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are the ones that apply in Emeryville as of November 9, 2026.

A server's week

Sam is a server in Emeryville. For a 30-hour week you pay him at least 30 × $20.34 = $610.20 in wages, before tips. His tips are all on top, whatever they come to; there's no make-up to calculate.

A cook's week with overtime

Ana is a line cook in Emeryville paid the minimum wage, $20.34 an hour. She works five 9-hour days: 45 hours.


Hours

Rate

Pay

Regular hours

40

$20.34

$813.60

Overtime hours (daily and weekly)

5

$30.51 (1.5 × $20.34)

$152.55

Total

45


$966.15

California counts overtime by the day too: hours past 8 in a day are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate, and hours past 12 at double time, however short the week (DLSE, overtime). Overtime is counted by the workweek, and hours can't be averaged across two weeks: a long week earns overtime even if the next one is short (US DOL, overtime). Bonuses can change the rate too; see Time clock, breaks and overtime: first-month payroll mistakes to avoid.

Scheduling rules in Emeryville

Emeryville has a fair workweek law of its own, and it covers fast food chains only, not full-service restaurants (Emeryville, Fair Workweek):

  • Who it covers: fast food firms with 56 or more employees worldwide and 20 or more in Emeryville, and retail firms with 56 or more worldwide, franchisees of a network with more than 12 locations included; a fast food restaurant is one where customers order and pay before eating, so a sit-down restaurant where guests pay after eating, or any place that serves alcohol with meals, is not covered.
  • What it requires: a written good-faith estimate of the schedule before work starts; schedules posted two weeks ahead, with the right to decline hours added with less than 14 days' notice; time and a half for hours between a closing and an opening shift less than 11 hours apart, which the worker may decline; and extra hours offered first to qualified part-timers already on staff, up to 35 hours a week, in blocks of at least 4 hours.
  • Advance notice: post schedules at least 14 days ahead.
  • Pay for changes: Changes with less than 14 days' but more than 24 hours' notice: 1 hour of pay. Less than 24 hours' notice: cuts or cancellations pay the lesser of the shift's scheduled hours or 4 hours; other changes pay 1 hour. Exceptions: events outside the employer's control, changes the worker initiates (leaving a shift early included), mutual shift swaps, overtime pay that exceeds the predictability pay, and a grace period of 10 minutes or less.
  • Rest between shifts: the law protects the worker who closes and then opens less than 11 hours later (a "clopening"); what it takes, consent or extra pay, is in "What it requires" above.

A full-service restaurant or café that isn't part of such a chain isn't covered.

In plain terms, a counter-service restaurant is covered when its company has 56 or more employees worldwide and 20 or more in Emeryville, and a franchisee is covered when its network has more than 12 locations (Emeryville Ord. 16-007). A sit-down restaurant where guests pay after eating isn't covered, and neither is any restaurant that serves alcohol with meals.

Emeryville has a paid sick leave ordinance of its own (Emeryville, 2026 notice):

  • How it's earned: set by the employer (the notice says "Accrual Methods May Vary"), with at least 72 hours a year at a business with 56 or more employees and 48 at one with 55 or fewer.
  • Who it covers: every employer, for full-time, part-time and temporary employees who work at least two hours in a calendar week in Emeryville; small businesses have 55 or fewer employees, large ones 56 or more.
  • What else it requires: at least 48 hours of paid sick leave a year at a small business and 72 hours at a large one; unused leave carries over, capped at that amount unless the employer sets a higher cap or none. It also covers a person the employee designates and the care of a service dog, and the employer must invite each employee to name that person within 30 days of starting to accrue leave.

California's paid sick leave law applies in Emeryville too (DLSE, paid sick leave): Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act. Since January 1, 2024, employers must allow use of at least 40 hours or 5 days per year (whichever is more). Employer may cap total accrual at 80 hours / 10 days; carryover required under accrual plans. Up-front (frontload) plans must grant the full 40 h / 5 days at the start of each year. Local ordinances (SF, LA, Oakland, etc.) may require more. For each term, how fast leave is earned, how much can be used, how much carries over and how soon a new hire can use it, follow whichever of the two is more generous.

Tip pools, overtime and breaks in Emeryville

These are California's rules, with the federal ones where California sets none, and they apply in Emeryville as they do across the state:

  • Tip pools: California allows mandatory tip pools that are "fair and reasonable" among staff in the "chain of service". Owners, managers and supervisors can never share, even if they serve tables. Employers may not deduct card-processing fees from tips, must pay card tips by the next regular payday, and cannot take a tip credit (DLSE, tips). Under federal law, the business, its managers and supervisors never keep employees' tips, and with a tip credit a pool you require can include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips (US DOL, tips).
  • Service charges: A mandatory "service charge" may or may not be a gratuity; it depends on whether customers perceive and intend it as one (DLSE, tips).
  • Overtime: 1.5x for hours over 8 and up to 12 in a workday, over 40 in a workweek, and the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday. 2x for hours over 12 in a workday and over 8 on the 7th consecutive workday. Overtime is owed whether or not it was authorized. Alternative workweek schedules adopted under the Labor Code have different rules (DLSE, overtime).
  • Meal breaks: 30-minute meal period when the work period is more than 5 hours, provided no later than the end of the 5th hour; a second 30-minute meal period when working more than 10 hours, no later than the end of the 10th hour. First meal may be waived by mutual consent only if the whole workday is 6 hours or less; second may be waived only if total hours are 12 or less and the first was not waived. Unpaid only if the employee is relieved of all duty and free to leave the premises; an on-duty (paid) meal period is allowed only when the nature of the work objectively prevents relief and there is a written agreement the employee can revoke in writing at any time. Missed, late or short meal period = 1 additional hour of pay at the regular rate per workday. Restaurants are covered by IWC Wage Order 5 (public housekeeping). All employer sizes (DLSE, meal periods).
  • Rest breaks: Net 10-minute paid rest period per 4 hours worked "or major fraction thereof" (DLSE treats more than 2 hours as a major fraction), as near the middle of each work period as practicable. Not required when total daily work time is under 3.5 hours. So: 1 break for 3.5 to 6 hours, 2 for more than 6 up to 10, 3 for more than 10 up to 14. Rest time counts as hours worked. Missed rest period(s) = 1 additional hour of pay at the regular rate per workday (one premium per day for rest, separate from the meal premium). Employees cannot trade rest breaks to leave early (DLSE, rest periods).
  • Minors' breaks: No separate California rule for minors; the adult rules above apply to them too (IWC Wage Order 5).

Other rules that affect pay in Emeryville

  • Reporting-time pay: If an employee reports but is not put to work, or gets less than half the usual or scheduled day's work, pay half the scheduled day: at least 2 and at most 4 hours at the regular rate (never below minimum wage). If an employee is called back a second time in one workday and gets less than 2 hours, pay 2 hours. Exceptions: threats to employees or property, civil-authority recommendation, utility failure, or an Act of God or other cause outside the employer's control. It also does not apply to paid standby or to regularly scheduled shifts under 2 hours. Reporting can happen by phoning in before a shift (Ward v. Tilly's) (DLSE, reporting time pay).
  • Split shifts and spread of hours: A split shift is a schedule interrupted by unpaid, non-working periods set by the employer, other than bona fide rest or meal periods. Each workday with one earns an extra hour of pay at the minimum wage (the state or local rate, whichever is higher), except for employees who live at the place of employment. Pay above the minimum wage counts toward it, so the employer owes only what the day's pay falls short of the minimum wage for every hour worked plus that extra hour. Picking up an extra shift voluntarily doesn't count (DLSE, split shifts).
  • Food handler training: Every food employee needs approved food-safety training. Who: food handlers at food facilities, within 30 days of hire; card valid 3 years (Health & Safety Code § 113948).

How Mays handles this

Mays runs the schedule, time clock, tip pool and payroll export for each location. For a restaurant in Emeryville, that means:

  • The minimum wage for the address. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays reads each location's minimum wage from its address: a location whose city is Emeryville gets Emeryville's $20.34. It warns you when a position's default wage, someone's hourly wage or a punch is below it, and never blocks the save. The rate for July 1, 2027 isn't published yet; once Mays has it, admins get a reminder 30 and 7 days before.
  • Paid sick leave per location. With Labor law compliance on, the Sick category under Scheduling → Settings → Time off & PTO accrual shows the paid sick leave law at each location's address, and Apply these rules fills in its figures, starting with at least one hour for every 30 worked (DLSE, paid sick leave). Mays has California's figures, not Emeryville's own, so check the city's against the ordinance above and raise any that fall short. If the location's address doesn't name Emeryville, pick Emeryville under Where this location is. Everyone who works hours earns it from approved punches, managers included, and a figure Mays doesn't have is left open for you to fill in from the official page.
  • Emeryville's scheduling law is yours to track. Mays doesn't check how far ahead a schedule is posted, doesn't compute pay for changes after it's posted, and doesn't warn about a closing shift followed too soon by an opening one. If your restaurant is covered, keep those records yourself.
  • Overtime by the address. Staff clock in on their phone, a shared kiosk or an NFC tag, and timesheets run by pay period. Overtime is counted by the workweek, and with Labor law compliance on, by any daily, double-time and seventh-day rule California sets too, which Mays reads from the location's address; the schedule's labor cost, the reports and the pay summary all include it.
  • Reporting-time pay. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays applies California's rule at each location from its address and records it when a punch is clocked out, each in its own column of the pay summary and the payroll export.
  • A tip pool per location. Split pooled tips by hours worked, equally or by FTAR score, and choose which positions receive. Leave managers and admins out of the pool is on by default, so leave it on. California doesn't allow taking card processing fees out of tips, so leave Deduct the card processing fee from card tips off: with Labor law compliance on, the card warns you if it's on. Each person's share appears in the Tip Payouts report and the payroll export.
  • Food handler cards. Turn on Labor law compliance and keep each person's card in Mays with its expiry date and a photo. Each location shows who has no card by the 30-day deadline after their hire date and whose card is about to expire, and Mays reminds the employee and their managers before a card expires.
  • The city's service-charge rule is yours to apply. With Labor law compliance on, the tip pool card's notes on service charges say that Mays doesn't track city and county ordinances, so pass Emeryville service charges to the workers who did the service yourself.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from these official pages, as they read on the date shown.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and coverage rules (your business's size, whether federal law covers you) decide which of them apply. Check the pages above, and ask an employment lawyer or accountant about your situation.

Run Emeryville payroll on the right numbers

Give each location its Emeryville address, turn on Labor law compliance so the minimum wage, overtime and sick leave rules follow it, and let the time clock do the counting. Then payroll is an export, not an evening.

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