Guides

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

Mays TeamAugust 17, 2026
The Breaks settings on a Los Angeles location's Labor & compliance card in Mays after choosing California break rules: missed meal and rest breaks tracked as exceptions, and a warning before publishing a shift that can't fit its breaks

Los Angeles sets its own minimum wage and moves it each July: since July 1, 2026 it's $18.42 an hour inside city limits, against California's $16.90 (Los Angeles). California allows no tip credit, so servers get the full rate too. The city also writes its own sick leave rules, more generous than the state's, and a Fair Work Week law that, despite the name, reaches retail stores and not restaurants.

This page puts what a restaurant or café in Los Angeles owes in one place: the city's own rules first, then the California and federal rules that apply in Los Angeles 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.

Updated October 5, 2026: these figures are still current. Los Angeles's minimum wage is $18.42 an hour, and tipped employees get the same through June 30, 2027. It changes on July 1, 2027; the new rate had not been published when we checked (Los Angeles).

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.

Los Angeles pay rules at a glance

As of August 17, 2026:

Rule

Los Angeles

Minimum wage

$18.42 an hour, since July 1, 2026

Tipped employees

The full minimum wage: no tip credit in Los Angeles

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

Los Angeles's law covers retail only, not restaurants; see Scheduling below

Paid sick leave

Los Angeles's own ordinance; see Paid sick leave below

Sources: Los Angeles; DLSE, minimum wage; DLSE, overtime; Los Angeles Fair Work Week FAQs.

Who Los Angeles's rate covers: All employers; employees who perform at least 2 hours of work in a week within City of LA boundaries.

Other Los Angeles rates:

  • Hotel workers (CHMWO: hotels with 60+ guest rooms citywide, or 50+ rooms in the Airport Hospitality Enhancement Zone) - cash wage, plus $4.25/hr health benefit payment (paid as additional wage if no health benefits provided): $25.00 an hour
  • Airport (LAX) service employers incl. concessions, with health benefits (LAAC 10.37.2); health benefit payment of at least $7.65/hr on top: $25.00 an hour

The city's rate stops at the city line. Unincorporated Los Angeles County has its own, $18.47 an hour (LA County), and other cities in the county follow their own ordinances or California's.

Los Angeles vs. California: what the city changes

Where Los Angeles 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

Los Angeles

Minimum wage

$16.90 (DLSE, minimum wage)

$18.42 (Los Angeles)

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) (Los Angeles)

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)

1 hour per 30 hours worked, or at least 48 hours front-loaded per year (Los Angeles)

Fair workweek scheduling

No state law in our data

Its own law, which covers retail only, not restaurants (Los Angeles Fair Work Week FAQs)

Our data has no Los Angeles rule of its own on overtime, breaks, tip pools or food handler training, so the California and federal rules below apply in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles

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 $18.42 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 Los Angeles

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

  • At least $18.42 an hour for every hour worked (Los Angeles). 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 $18.42 an hour, that's $27.63 (DLSE, overtime).

Fast food chains

California's fast food minimum wage, $20.00 an hour, covers limited-service restaurants in national chains of more than 60 establishments (DLSE, fast food FAQ). It's higher than the city's rate, so a covered fast food restaurant in Los Angeles pays it.

Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are the ones that apply in Los Angeles as of August 17, 2026.

A server's week

Sam is a server in Los Angeles. For a 30-hour week you pay him at least 30 × $18.42 = $552.60 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 Los Angeles paid the minimum wage, $18.42 an hour. She works five 9-hour days: 45 hours.


Hours

Rate

Pay

Regular hours

40

$18.42

$736.80

Overtime hours (daily and weekly)

5

$27.63 (1.5 × $18.42)

$138.15

Total

45


$874.95

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 Los Angeles

Los Angeles has a fair workweek law of its own, and it covers retail only, not restaurants (Los Angeles Fair Work Week FAQs):

  • Who it covers: Restaurants are not covered. Only retail businesses (NAICS 44-45) with 300 or more employees worldwide are; it may still reach the staff of a retail business that also serves food.
  • What it requires: LA Fair Work Week Ordinance (LAMC Ch. XVIII Art. 5), enforced by the Office of Wage Standards. Does not apply to restaurants. For covered retailers: good-faith estimate before hire (and within 10 days of a current employee's request); schedules 14 days ahead; right to decline late changes; a clopening with less than 10 hours' rest needs written consent and pays 1.5x for the second shift; extra hours offered to current staff for 72 hours before hiring.

A restaurant or café isn't covered, even a large one.

Los Angeles has a paid sick leave ordinance of its own (Los Angeles):

  • How it's earned: 1 hour per 30 hours worked, or at least 48 hours front-loaded per year.
  • Who it covers: All employers (employers with 25 or fewer employees since July 1, 2017); employees working at least 2 hours/week in the City for the same employer for 30+ days within a year.
  • What else it requires: Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, or the employer front-loads 48 hours. Unused leave carries over, and the balance may be capped at no less than 72 hours; the employer may limit use to 48 hours a year. Leave is usable from the 90th day of employment, isn't paid out at separation, and comes back if the employee is rehired within a year. The Office of Wage Standards says the 2024 state law (SB 616) does not preempt the city ordinance.

California's paid sick leave law applies in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles

These are California's rules, with the federal ones where California sets none, and they apply in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles

  • 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 Los Angeles, 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 Los Angeles gets Los Angeles's $18.42. 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 (Los Angeles). Where Los Angeles's and California's figures differ, it takes the more generous one. If the location's address doesn't name Los Angeles, pick Los Angeles 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.
  • 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.

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 Los Angeles payroll on the right numbers

Give each location its Los Angeles 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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