PHRca cheat sheet

Daily overtime: hours over 8 in a workday are paid at 1.5x the regular rate; hours over 12 are paid at 2x; weekly overtime is hours over 40 at 1.5x.

Seventh consecutive workday: first 8 hours at 1.5x, hours beyond 8 at 2x, when the employee has worked all seven days in the workweek.

Meal periods: unpaid 30 minutes when the shift exceeds 5 hours; a second unpaid 30 minutes when the shift exceeds 10 hours; missed or on-duty meal premium is one hour at the regular rate.

Rest breaks: paid 10 minutes per 4 hours worked or major fraction thereof, taken in the middle of each work period when practicable.

Final pay timing: involuntary termination requires immediate payment; voluntary quit with at least 72 hours' notice requires payment at the time of quitting; voluntary quit without notice requires payment within 72 hours.

Wage statements: Labor Code 226 requires an itemized statement each pay period showing gross and net wages, hours worked, rates, and deductions.

Exempt salary threshold: at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work; with the 2025 minimum wage of $16.50, the annual threshold is $68,640 ($1,320 weekly).

Leave-law coverage: CFRA applies to employers with 5 or more employees; FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite.

Paid sick leave: accrual of 1 hour per 30 hours worked; employees may use at least 24 hours or 5 days per year, and carryover is generally required.

FMLA eligibility: 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and employment at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

CFRA: 12 weeks of protected leave in a 12-month period for covered employers with 5 or more employees; family member includes child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and parent-in-law.

Pregnancy Disability Leave: up to 4 months (17 1/3 weeks) of protected leave for pregnancy-related disability; employer coverage begins at 5 employees.

Paid Family Leave: up to 8 weeks of wage replacement through EDD for bonding or family care; PFL does not itself provide job protection.

Interactive process: triggered by an employee request for disability accommodation; the employer must engage in a timely good-faith dialogue to identify effective accommodations, with undue hardship as a defense.

Workers' compensation: no-fault system; employer provides the DWC-1 claim form within 1 working day of knowledge, and the insurer accepts or denies the claim within 30 days.

Kin care: employees may use accrued sick leave to care for a family member, under Labor Code 233.

Foreseeable leave notice: employee should give 30 days' notice when the need is foreseeable; employer designation notice is due within 5 business days absent extenuating circumstances.

Regular rate includes hourly base pay, nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions; it excludes discretionary bonuses and expense reimbursements.

Overtime premium formula: regular rate x 1.5 or 2.0 for each overtime hour; meal and rest period premiums are paid at the regular rate.

Reporting time pay: when an employee reports and works less than half the scheduled shift, pay half the shift at the regular rate, with a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours.

Split shift premium: one hour at the state minimum wage in addition to minimum wage for all hours worked when a split shift is scheduled.

Vacation pay: accrued vacation is earned wages; it must be paid at termination, and use-it-or-lose-it forfeiture is prohibited, though a reasonable cap is allowed.

Expense reimbursement: Labor Code 2802 requires reimbursement for necessary business expenses incurred by the employee.

Pay transparency: employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale in job postings; employers with 100 or more employees must file California pay data reports.

Equal Pay Act: prohibits pay differences based on sex for substantially similar work; salary history inquiries are prohibited.

NLRA Section 7 protects employees' rights to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activity for mutual aid, including in nonunion workplaces.

Weingarten rights: a unionized employee may request union representation during an investigatory interview that the employee reasonably believes could lead to discipline.

At-will employment: California presumes at-will status, but it can be rebutted by an implied contract, handbook promises, or oral assurances.

Whistleblower protection: Labor Code 1102.5 prohibits retaliation against employees for reporting suspected legal violations to a government agency or internally.

Grievance procedure: typical steps are informal resolution, written grievance, management hearing, and arbitration; the collective bargaining agreement governs the process.

Just cause discipline: the employer should show evidence, consistency with past practice, and proportionality; progressive discipline is common but not legally mandatory.

California WARN: employers with 75 or more employees must give 60 days' notice for mass layoffs, relocations, or covered terminations.

Collective bargaining: parties must negotiate in good faith over mandatory subjects such as wages, hours, and working conditions; impasse triggers mediation and fact-finding procedures.

Fair Chance Act: make a conditional offer before conducting a criminal background check, perform an individualized assessment, and allow at least 5 business days to respond to an adverse action notice.

Salary history ban: employers may not ask applicants for salary history but may ask for salary expectations and must provide the pay scale upon request.

I-9 deadlines: employee completes Section 1 by the first day of work; employer completes Section 2 within 3 business days of hire.

Credit checks: restricted under ICRAA; generally permissible only for positions with access to $10,000 or more in cash, trade secrets, or fiduciary responsibility.

FEHA job ads: advertisements must not express preferences based on sex, race, age, or other protected characteristics unless a bona fide occupational qualification applies.

New hire reporting: employers must report new hires to the EDD New Employee Registry within 20 days of the start date.

Pre-employment medical exams: allowed only after a conditional offer and must be job-related and consistent with business necessity under FEHA and ADA.

IIPP: every California employer must establish, implement, and maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program covering hazard identification, training, communication, and correction.

Workplace violence prevention: SB 553 requires most employers to adopt a plan, train employees, and maintain a violent incident log beginning July 1, 2024.

OSHA 300 log: covered employers maintain the injury and illness log, post the annual summary from February 1 to April 30, and retain records for 5 years.

Heat illness prevention: outdoor employers must provide water, shade, rest breaks, acclimatization, and emergency procedures.

Workers' compensation: employer provides DWC-1 within 1 working day of knowledge; return-to-work options include modified or alternative duty when medically appropriate.

Emergency action plan: must address evacuation, shelter-in-place, accounting for employees, and training or drills.

Drug testing: most defensible for safety-sensitive positions, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident testing; random testing is limited by privacy and contract considerations.

Repetitive motion injuries: 8 CCR 5110 requires an ergonomic program when a job exposes employees to repetitive motion injuries.

Harassment training: employers with 50 or more employees must provide 2 hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors and 1 hour to nonsupervisory employees every 2 years; new hires within 6 months.

Record retention: payroll records 4 years; I-9 forms 3 years after hire or 1 year after termination, whichever is later; OSHA 300 logs 5 years.

Turnover rate formula: separations during the period divided by average headcount for the period, multiplied by 100.

Cost per hire formula: total recruiting and hiring costs divided by the number of hires made during the period.

CCPA/CPRA: employee personal information is covered; employers must provide notice at collection and limit data use to disclosed purposes.

EEO-1 reporting: employers with 100 or more employees file annually; California pay data reporting applies to employers with 100 or more employees.

FEHA records: employment application and personnel records must be retained for at least 2 years from the date the record was made or the employee separated.

Training needs assessment: compare required competencies with current employee skills to identify gaps and prioritize learning interventions.