Labor Code §§2100–2112 – Warehouse Quota Law

Labor Code §§2100–2112 say that large California warehouse employers must give you a written description of every quota you are held to, cannot set a quota that keeps you from taking meal and rest breaks, using the bathroom or following safety rules, and cannot punish you for missing a quota that breaks those rules or was never disclosed. The sections were added by Assembly Bill 701 and took effect January 1, 2022.

This page goes through the statute section by section: definitions, coverage, each rule, the records you can request, enforcement and deadlines. For step-by-step help with a quota problem at work, see our guide to your rights under AB 701. For pay, heat and break issues beyond quotas, see our warehouse worker rights guide.

What Labor Code 2100–2112 say, in plain English

• You must get a written description of each quota: the number of tasks or items, the time period, and what can happen if you miss it.
• No quota may stop you from taking meal or rest periods, using the bathroom (including reasonable travel time), or following health and safety laws.
• Time you spend complying with safety laws counts as productive time.
• If you think a quota cost you a break or forced you to cut safety corners, you can ask for your quotas and your last 90 days of work speed data.
• Discipline within 90 days of your first data request of the year, or of a quota complaint, is presumed to be retaliation unless the employer proves otherwise.

By the numbers21 calendar days

Who the warehouse quota sections cover

Section 2100 sets the scope. An employer is covered if it directly or indirectly, including through a third-party employer, temporary service or staffing agency, employs or controls the wages, hours or working conditions of “100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state.” Employees of the employer’s commonly controlled group count toward those numbers.

A warehouse distribution center is an establishment classified under these industry codes, whatever it is called:

• NAICS 493110, General Warehousing and Storage
• NAICS 423, Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods
• NAICS 424, Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
• NAICS 454110, Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses

Farm product warehousing and storage (NAICS 493130) is excluded. An employee is a “nonexempt employee who works at a warehouse distribution center,” so hourly pickers, packers, loaders, sorters and similar workers are the core group. Staffing agency workers can count when the warehouse controls their working conditions; see Labor Code §2810.3 for how client employers share liability for supplied workers’ wages.

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Key definitions

Term	What it means
Quota	A work standard requiring a set speed, number of tasks or amount of material handled or produced “within a defined time period,” where missing it can lead to an adverse employment action
Defined time period	Any unit of time equal to or less than your shift, down to hours, minutes and seconds
Employee work speed data	Information the employer collects about your own performance against a quota, such as counts, rates and time spent on or off task. It does not include qualitative reviews, personnel records or pay stubs, except for any work speed data inside them

The rules, section by section

Section	What it says (paraphrased)
§2101	Each employee gets a written description of each quota “upon hire,” including the quantified number of tasks or materials, the defined time period, and any adverse action for missing it.
§2102	No quota may prevent meal or rest periods, “use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time,” or compliance with health and safety laws. No adverse action for missing a quota that does, or one that was not disclosed under §2101.
§2103	Actions taken to comply with health and safety laws are “time on task and productive time.” Meal and rest breaks are not productive time unless you must stay on call.
§2104	Current and former employees can request quota descriptions and the most recent 90 days of their own work speed data; the employer must respond within 21 calendar days.
§2105	Rebuttable presumption of retaliation for adverse action within 90 days of a first yearly request or a quota complaint.
§2106	After a complaint, state and local enforcement agencies can request or subpoena quota records and work speed data.
§2107	The Labor Commissioner enforces the part. If Cal/OSHA or the Division of Workers’ Compensation flags a worksite or employer with an injury rate at least 1.5 times the warehousing industry average, the Commissioner decides whether an investigation is appropriate.
§2108	Current or former employees can sue for an injunction to enforce §§2101–2104 and recover costs and attorney’s fees if they win.
§2109	PAGA claims under this part give the employer the cure rights in §2699.3.
§2110–§2112	Public prosecutors keep their own enforcement power; local ordinances with equal or greater protection still apply; the provisions are severable.

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Your right to quota records: §2104

The right is triggered when “a current or former employee believes that meeting a quota caused a violation” of meal or rest period rights or required them to break health and safety rules. You can then ask for a written description of each quota you were subject to and a copy of the most recent 90 days of your own personal work speed data. A former employee gets the 90 days before separation and is “limited to one request.” The employer must comply “as soon as practicable, but no later than 21 calendar days from the date of the request.” An employer that does not monitor work speed data has no obligation to provide it. The Labor Commissioner’s FAQ adds that if an employer does not provide records after a written request, you can file an individual wage claim; the FAQ ties that claim to the personnel-records statute, Labor Code §1198.5, which carries a $750 penalty.

By the numbers90 days

Exceptions and limits

• The law regulates quotas; it does not ban them.
• Smaller operations under both headcount thresholds, farm product warehouses and exempt employees are outside these sections.
• Meal and rest breaks are not counted as productive time unless you are kept on call, but a quota still cannot be set so high that you have to skip them to meet it.
• When a §2108 lawsuit involves a quota that kept workers from complying with Standards Board safety regulations, the court’s order is limited to suspending the quota and any adverse action that came from enforcing it.

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Penalties and remedies

• Labor Commissioner enforcement. Under §2107(d), the Commissioner uses the procedures in Labor Code §§98, 98.3, 98.7, 98.74 and 1197.1. In a successful Commissioner action, the court may grant an injunction and must award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
• Your own injunction case. Section 2108 lets you ask a court to order compliance with §§2101–2104 and to recover costs and attorney’s fees if you win.
• PAGA. Section 2109 allows PAGA claims, subject to the employer’s cure rights under Labor Code §2699.3.
• Break premiums. Separately from these sections, a missed rest period owes one additional hour of pay at your regular rate for that workday under Labor Code §226.7.
• Retaliation. Firing, write-ups or cut hours after a request or complaint can support a retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner; see Labor Code §98.7.

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Deadlines

What	Time limit	Source
Employer answers your quota and data request	No later than 21 calendar days	Lab. Code §2104(b)
Work speed data you can request	Most recent 90 days (former employees: 90 days before separation)	Lab. Code §2104(a)
Retaliation presumption window	90 days after your first request of the calendar year or a quota complaint	Lab. Code §2105
Retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner	1 year after the retaliation (can be extended for good cause)	Lab. Code §98.7(a)
Lawsuit on a liability created by statute, such as break premiums	Generally 3 years	Code Civ. Proc. §338(a)

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Related sections

Section	How it connects
Lab. Code §226.7	Premium pay for missed meal and rest breaks
Lab. Code §98.6	General ban on retaliation for exercising Labor Code rights; see our §98.6 explainer
Lab. Code §6310 and §6311	Protection for safety complaints and for refusing hazardous work
Lab. Code §2810.3	Client employer liability for wages of staffing agency workers
Lab. Code §1198.5	Your right to your personnel file; see our §1198.5 explainer

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How it plays out

💡 Example: Kim, a hypothetical picker at a covered distribution center, has a written quota of 200 items per hour over an 8-hour paid shift, or 1,600 items. She takes her two paid 10-minute rest breaks, which leaves 460 minutes on task. At 200 items per hour she can pick 460 ÷ 60 × 200 = about 1,533 items, roughly 67 short, before counting any bathroom trips. If she is written up for missing 1,600, the quota did not allow for her rest periods, and §2102 bars that discipline. If she had asked for her work speed data first, discipline within 90 days would also be presumed retaliatory under §2105.

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What to do

Keep the written quota description you were given, or note that you never got one. If a quota pushed you to skip breaks or safety steps, make a written request for your quotas and last 90 days of data and keep a dated copy. Write down missed breaks and any warnings tied to rate. Then talk to a lawyer about break premiums, a Labor Commissioner complaint, or a court case.

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Frequently asked questions

How many workers does a warehouse need for these sections to apply?

The employer must employ or control 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center, or 1,000 or more at one or more centers in California. Staffing agency workers and employees of a commonly controlled group can count.

Does my quota have to be in writing?

Yes. Section 2101 requires a written description of each quota on hire, and §2102 bars adverse action for missing a quota that was not disclosed that way.

Is bathroom time protected?

Yes. A quota cannot prevent “use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom facilities.”

Can I request my data after I quit or was fired?

Yes. A former employee can request the quotas and the 90 days of personal work speed data before separation, but only once.

Do the sections cover drivers or office staff?

They cover nonexempt employees who work at a warehouse distribution center. Exempt employees are excluded. Whether a particular driver counts depends on where and how they work, so ask a lawyer about your situation.

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Sources

• Labor Code §2100 (California.Public.Law mirror; links to §§2101–2112)
• Labor Code Part 8.6, §§2100–2112 (Justia, 2025 code)
• Labor Commissioner: FAQ on Warehouse Quotas (AB 701)
• Labor Commissioner: Rest periods FAQ
• Labor Code §98.7 (California.Public.Law mirror)
• Code of Civil Procedure §338 (California.Public.Law mirror)

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