California Fast Food Minimum Wage Checker
Find out whether your restaurant has to pay California's fast food minimum wage, and the hourly rate you're owed either way.
California's fast food minimum wage is $20.00 an hour (since April 1, 2024). It applies to limited-service restaurants in national chains with more than 60 locations, including franchises, unless the restaurant is in an exempt setting such as an airport, hotel or stadium. Other restaurant workers get the state minimum ($16.90) or a higher city minimum.
Answer a few questions about the restaurant where you work.
Fast Food Minimum Wage Checker
Your Minimum Hourly Rate
How this is calculated
Coverage. Under Labor Code 1474, a "fast food restaurant" is a limited-service restaurant in California that's part of a national chain of more than 60 establishments sharing a brand. Franchisees are covered the same as brand-owned stores. The Labor Commissioner's FAQ describes the threshold as "at least 60", so a chain of exactly 60 is shown as unclear.
Exemptions. The law doesn't cover restaurants in or operated with these settings: airport, hotel, event center (stadium, arena, concert hall, convention center), theme park, museum, casino or card room, corporate campus cafeteria serving that company's employees, public land under a concession (port, public beach or pier, state or city park, historic district). It also exempts establishments that have run an on-site bakery selling bread as a stand-alone item since September 15, 2023, and restaurants inside a grocery store whose workers are employed by the grocery store.
Rate owed. You're owed the highest of the state minimum ($16.90), your city's minimum if it has one, and, if covered, the fast food minimum ($20.00). The Fast Food Council can raise the fast food rate once a year by no more than the lesser of 3.5% or CPI-W inflation, until its authority ends January 1, 2029.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which restaurants have to pay the fast food minimum wage?
Limited-service restaurants (you order and pay before eating, with little or no table service) that belong to a national chain with more than 60 locations. Restaurants in certain settings are exempt, including those in or run with a airport, hotel, event center (stadium, arena, concert hall, convention center), theme park, museum, casino or card room, corporate campus cafeteria serving that company's employees, public land under a concession (port, public beach or pier, state or city park, historic district), as are some bakeries and restaurants inside grocery stores staffed by the grocery store.
Does the fast food minimum wage apply to franchise locations?
Yes. It applies whether your employer is the national brand or a franchisee, as long as the brand has more than 60 locations nationwide.
Does the fast food minimum wage apply to managers?
Salaried managers are exempt from minimum wage and overtime only if they earn at least twice the applicable minimum wage for full-time work and meet the other exemption tests. The Labor Commissioner puts that at $83,200 a year for fast food managers. A manager paid less is owed at least $20.00 an hour plus overtime.
How is overtime calculated at the fast food minimum wage?
The same way as for other California workers: 1.5 times your regular rate after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day. At $20.00 an hour, time-and-a-half is at least $30.00.
Will the fast food minimum wage go up?
Only if the Fast Food Council votes to raise it. The council can raise it once a year by no more than the lesser of 3.5% or inflation (CPI-W), and its authority ends January 1, 2029. As of our last check, the rate is still $20.00, where it has been since April 1, 2024.
This tool provides general information only and is not legal advice. Whether a restaurant is covered can turn on facts it doesn't ask about. Contact the Labor Commissioner's Office if you think you're being underpaid.