The Minimum Wage Order (MW-2026), Explained

California’s Minimum Wage Order, MW-2026, is the official notice from the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) that publishes the state minimum wage of $16.90 an hour and sets the maximum meals and lodging credits for 2026, and every employer must post it next to the industry or occupation wage order that covers its workers. It sits alongside the 17 IWC industry and occupation orders and updates the pay numbers in Orders 1 through 16.

This page explains the order itself: what it changes, who it leaves out, how it must be posted, how meals and lodging credits work, and how the separate fast food and health care minimum wages fit in. If you only need the current rate, see our guide to the California minimum wage for 2026 and 2027, and our minimum wage by city page for local rates.

As of October 31, 2026, DIR has not yet published an MW-2027 order. The state minimum wage rises to $17.40 an hour on January 1, 2027 (DIR News Release 2026-66), and Labor Code 1182.13 requires DIR to republish the orders with matching meals and lodging credits.

What the Minimum Wage Order is

California’s detailed pay rules live in wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC); find yours in our guide to California wage orders. Each prints a minimum wage and meals and lodging credits, and the Minimum Wage Order keeps those numbers current. Under Labor Code section 1182.13, DIR must amend and republish the wage orders to match the minimum wage set by statute, raise the meals and lodging credits by the same percentage as the wage, and make no other changes. MW-2026, effective January 1, 2026, says it amends the minimum wage and meals and lodging credits in the prior order (MW-2025) and in the IWC industry and occupation orders: sections 4 and 10 of Orders 1 through 15 and sections 4 and 9 of Order 16. Overtime, meal and rest breaks, reporting time and every other rule stay in your industry order.

MW-2026 section	What it says
1. Applicability	Does not apply to outside salespersons or to the employer’s parent, spouse or children; exceptions in the industry orders may be used where enforceable
2. Minimum Wages	$16.90 an hour for all hours worked from January 1, 2026; separate rates for fast food and health care employers
3. Meals and Lodging	Credits only with a voluntary written agreement, capped at the 2026 amounts
4. Separability	If one part is held invalid, the rest stays in force
5. Amended Provisions	Updates the wage and credits in MW-2025 and in Orders 1–16, with no other changes

By the numbers$16.90

The minimum wage in MW-2026

Section 2 says every employer “shall pay to each employee wages not less than” the posted rate. The order and the industry orders it updates list the recent history:

• $16.90 an hour, effective January 1, 2026
• $16.50 an hour, effective January 1, 2025
• $16.00 an hour, effective January 1, 2024
• $15.50 an hour, effective January 1, 2023

The rate applies to every employer regardless of size and to all hours worked. The industry orders add that you must receive at least the minimum wage for all hours in each pay period “whether the remuneration is measured by time, piece, commission, or otherwise.” Piece-rate and commission workers are covered too.

Who is left out. Section 1 excludes outside salespersons and the employer’s own parent, spouse or children. It also says exceptions in statutes and in the industry orders “may be used where such provisions are enforceable and applicable to the employer.” One example still printed in the industry orders, and listed in the Labor Commissioner’s minimum wage FAQ, is a learner rate: during your first 160 hours of employment in an occupation where you have no previous similar or related experience, an employer may pay not less than 85 percent of the minimum wage, rounded to the nearest nickel. Exceptions like this are narrow; an employer that relies on one has to show it fits.

---

Posting rules: where the order has to be

MW-2026 is headed with a direct instruction: “PLEASE POST NEXT TO YOUR IWC INDUSTRY OR OCCUPATION ORDER.” The rules behind it:

• Labor Code 1182.13 requires every employer subject to an amended, republished order to post a copy and keep it posted “in a conspicuous location frequented by employees during the hours of the workday.”
• The industry orders (section 22 in Order 4, for example) require a copy posted “in an area frequented by employees where it may be easily read during the workday.” If the work location makes that impractical, the employer must keep a copy and make it available to every employee on request.
• Supplements for fast food restaurant employees and covered health care employees carry the same “post next to your industry order” instruction.
• DIR posts MW-2026 in English and Spanish, and says the order may be printed on 8.5″ x 14″ paper and posted.

A missing or outdated poster does not lower what you are owed; the law sets your pay, not the poster.

Meals and lodging credits for 2026

An employer may count meals or lodging it provides toward part of the minimum wage, but only within strict limits. MW-2026 section 3 says credits are not allowed “without a voluntary written agreement between the employer and the employee,” and caps them at these 2026 amounts:

Item (2026)	Maximum credit
Room occupied alone	$79.46 a week
Room shared	$65.59 a week
Apartment	Two-thirds of the ordinary rental value, up to $954.43 a month
Apartment for a couple who both work for the employer	Two-thirds of the ordinary rental value, up to $1,411.85 a month
Breakfast	$6.10
Lunch	$8.42
Dinner	$11.28

The industry orders add more conditions. A “meal” means “an adequate, well-balanced serving of a variety of wholesome, nutritious foods.” Lodging must be adequate, decent and sanitary, and you cannot be required to share a bed. Meals credited against the minimum wage “must be bona fide meals consistent with the employee’s work shift,” and no deduction may be made for meals not received or lodging not used.

💡 Example: Rosa works 40 hours a week at a mountain resort in a city with no local minimum wage and lives in a room by herself on site. At $16.90 an hour, her minimum pay is $676.00 for the week. If she signed a voluntary written agreement, the employer may credit up to $79.46 for the room, so she must still receive at least $596.54 in wages. If the agreement also covers breakfast and lunch and she actually eats both on all 5 workdays, the employer may credit another $72.60 (5 x $6.10 plus 5 x $8.42), leaving at least $523.94. Without a written agreement, no credit is allowed and the full $676.00 is owed.

Because Labor Code 1182.13 ties the credits to the minimum wage percentage, the 2027 caps will be higher than the 2026 figures above. They will appear in MW-2027 once DIR publishes it; until then, don’t rely on estimates.

---

Separate minimum wages: fast food and health care

MW-2026 section 2 notes two groups with their own higher minimum wage, each set out in a supplement to the order.

Fast food restaurant employees. Under Labor Code section 1474 and the sections after it (AB 1228), covered fast food employees must be paid at least $20.00 an hour, effective April 1, 2024; that is the rate in DIR’s supplement and FAQ as of October 31, 2026. According to the Labor Commissioner’s FAQ, a covered restaurant is a limited-service restaurant (you order and pay before eating) that is part of a national chain with at least 60 establishments and earns more than half its gross revenue from food and drinks for immediate consumption. Franchisees are covered. Some bakeries, grocery-store restaurants, and restaurants at airports, hotels, large event centers and similar venues are excluded. The Fast Food Council can raise the rate, but each yearly increase is capped at the lesser of 3.5 percent or the change in the consumer price index. See our restaurant worker rights guide.

Covered health care employees. Under Labor Code section 1182.14 (SB 525, as amended), DIR’s health care supplement sets these rates for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027:

Covered health care facility	Minimum wage from July 1, 2026
Large health systems and facilities with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees, dialysis clinics, and facilities run by counties of more than 5 million people	$25.00
Facilities run by counties of 250,000 to 5 million people, and all other covered health care facilities	$23.00
Intermittent clinics, community clinics, rural health clinics and urgent care clinics associated with them (unless granted a waiver to postpone the increase)	$22.00
Hospitals with a high governmental payor mix, independent hospitals with an elevated governmental payor mix, rural independent health care facilities, and facilities run by counties under 250,000 people	$19.28

Coverage reaches well beyond nurses: the Labor Commissioner’s FAQ includes janitorial, food service, security, clerical and gift shop work at a covered facility. Facilities owned or operated by the State of California are not covered; the University of California and health care districts are. Full details are in our SB 525 health care minimum wage guide.

By the numbers$79.46

Local minimum wages can be higher

MW-2026 does not mention city or county rates, but they still apply. Labor Code section 1197 makes the minimum wage the rate fixed “by any applicable state or local law,” and makes paying less unlawful. DIR’s 2027 release says the same thing in plain terms: where a local rate is higher, the employer must pay the higher local rate. A city or county cannot set a higher wage only for fast food workers, but a general local minimum wage that is higher than $20.00 applies to them too. Current local rates are on our minimum wage by city page.

---

Where the statewide rate comes from: Labor Code §1182.12

The order publishes a rate set by statute. Labor Code section 1182.12, as amended by SB 3 in 2016, raised the state minimum wage in steps to $15.00 an hour (scheduled for 2022 for employers with 26 or more employees and 2023 for smaller employers; under the statute’s early-indexing rule, all employers moved to $15.50 on January 1, 2023). Now the Director of Finance recalculates it on or before August 1 each year, raising it by the lesser of 3.5 percent or the change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), comparing the average for the most recent July–June period with the one before, rounded to the nearest ten cents. The new rate takes effect the following January 1. If the index falls, the rate stays the same; it does not go down.

For 2027, the Department of Finance certified the increase on July 31, 2026, producing the $17.40 rate (current statewide figures are in our 2026 and 2027 minimum wage guide). The same figure drives the exempt salary floor: twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, or $70,304 a year in 2026 and $72,384 from January 1, 2027. See our Labor Code §1182.12 explainer.

---

If you are paid less than the order requires

• You can recover the difference. Labor Code 1194 lets you sue for the unpaid balance of the minimum wage plus interest, attorney’s fees and costs, and Labor Code 1194.2 adds liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages. See our Labor Code §1194 explainer.
• Civil penalties apply. Under Labor Code 1197.1, an employer is subject to a civil penalty of $100 per underpaid employee for each underpaid pay period for an initial intentional violation, and $250 per underpaid employee for each underpaid pay period for each subsequent violation. The penalty is on top of the unpaid wages, liquidated damages and any applicable Labor Code 203 penalties, which go to the employee.
• Improper credits count. A credit taken without a written agreement, above the cap, or for meals you never received is an underpayment.
• Watch the deadline. Most minimum wage claims must be brought within three years.
• Retaliation is illegal. Your employer cannot punish you for asking about or claiming the minimum wage; see Labor Code §98.6.

Keep your pay stubs, any meals or lodging agreement you signed, and your own record of hours. Our wage and hour calculator estimates what is owed, and Labor Commissioner claim vs. lawyer compares your options.

---

Frequently asked questions

What is MW-2026?

California’s Minimum Wage Order for 2026, issued by DIR under Labor Code section 1182.13. It publishes the $16.90 state minimum wage and the 2026 meals and lodging credits for IWC Orders 1 through 16.

Is there an MW-2027 order yet?

Not as of October 31, 2026. DIR’s wage order page lists MW-2026 as the current order. The $17.40 rate for 2027 is already set; check DIR’s wage order page for the 2027 order and its new meals and lodging credits.

Where does my employer have to post the Minimum Wage Order?

Next to the industry or occupation wage order that covers your workplace, in an area employees frequent where it can be easily read during the workday. If that is impractical, your employer must keep a copy and give it to you on request.

Can my employer pay me less because it gives me meals or housing?

Only with a voluntary written agreement and only up to the 2026 caps, such as $79.46 a week for a room occupied alone. Nothing can be credited for meals you did not receive.

Does the Minimum Wage Order apply to fast food and hospital workers?

Yes, but supplements set higher rates: $20.00 an hour for covered fast food employees and $19.28 to $25.00 for covered health care employees from July 1, 2026. A higher local rate also controls.

---

Sources

• DIR, California Minimum Wage Order MW-2026
• DIR, Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders (index)
• IWC Order No. 4-2001 (sections 4, 10 and 22 as an example of the industry orders)
• DIR, Supplement for Fast Food Restaurant Employees
• Labor Commissioner, Fast Food Minimum Wage FAQ
• DIR, Supplement for Covered Health Care Employees (July 2026–June 2027)
• Labor Commissioner, Health Care Worker Minimum Wage FAQ
• Labor Commissioner, Minimum Wage FAQ
• DIR News Release 2026-66 (August 13, 2026): $17.40 minimum wage for 2027
• Labor Code section 1182.12
• Labor Code section 1182.13
• Labor Code section 1182.14
• Labor Code section 1197
• Labor Code section 1197.1

---