California Wage Order 15: Rights of Nannies, Housekeepers and Caregivers

California Wage Order 15 covers people who work in private homes, such as housekeepers, nannies, cooks, gardeners, caregivers and chauffeurs, and it gives them minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks and special protections for live-in workers. Caregivers who mainly supervise, feed or dress a child, an elderly person or a person with a disability (“personal attendants”) have a separate overtime rule under California’s Domestic Worker Bill of Rights: time and a half after 9 hours in a day or 45 hours in a week.

Domestic workers are often paid a flat daily or weekly rate with no tracking of hours. That can hide a lot of unpaid overtime. A live-in housekeeper who is regularly called to work during her off-duty hours, or a caregiver working 10-hour days, may be owed thousands of dollars a year.

This guide covers who Wage Order 15 protects, the live-in rules, personal attendant overtime, breaks, meals and lodging credits, and how to enforce your rights. See our guide to all 17 California wage orders for the bigger picture.

Who Wage Order 15 covers

Wage Order 15 applies to “household occupations,” which the order defines as all services related to the care of persons or maintenance of a private household or its premises by an employee of a private householder. It lists butlers, chauffeurs, companions, cooks, day workers, gardeners, graduate nurses, grooms, house cleaners, housekeepers, maids, practical nurses, tutors, valets “and other similar occupations.”

The order does not apply when the work is done for a business covered by an industry wage order. The Labor Commissioner says household workers employed by someone other than the private householder are generally covered by a different order. The order also excludes:

• The employer’s parent, spouse, child or legally adopted child
• Anyone under 18 employed as a baby sitter for the employer’s minor child in the employer’s home
• Participants in national service programs such as AmeriCorps
• Employees who meet the executive, administrative or professional exemption tests, including a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, which are excluded from the hours, overtime and break sections

By the numbers9 hours

Personal attendants and the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights

A “personal attendant,” including a baby sitter, is someone employed by a private householder, or by a third-party employer recognized in the health care industry, to work in a private household supervising, feeding or dressing a child or a person who needs supervision because of advanced age, physical disability or mental deficiency. Under Wage Order 15, only a few sections apply to personal attendants: coverage, definitions, minimum wage, meals and lodging, and penalties. That is why personal attendants were historically left out of overtime.

The Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (AB 241, Labor Code sections 1450 to 1455) changed that. Labor Code 1454 says a domestic work employee who is a personal attendant cannot be employed more than 9 hours in a workday or 45 hours in a workweek unless paid 1.5 times the regular rate for the hours over those limits. The current text of the statute on the Legislature’s website contains no expiration date, so this rule remains in effect.

You count as a personal attendant only if other work, such as housekeeping, does not exceed 20 percent of your total weekly hours (Labor Code 1451). The Labor Commissioner also says practical nurses and companions are covered by Order 15 and cannot be treated as personal attendants, and a worker who regularly gives medication or takes temperature, pulse or respiration falls within a nursing classification. If you spend more than 20 percent of your time cooking for the family, cleaning or doing laundry, the regular Wage Order 15 rules below likely apply instead.

The Domestic Worker Bill of Rights does not cover In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers, the employer’s parent, grandparent, spouse, sibling or child, babysitters under 18 caring for the employer’s child, casual babysitters, employees of licensed health facilities, and certain regional center and subsidized child care providers.

💡 Example (hypothetical): Rosa cares for an elderly man in his home for $20 an hour, and almost all of her time is spent helping him eat, dress and move safely. She works 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 50 hours. Her first 9 hours each day are regular time (45 hours), and the 10th hour each day is overtime (5 hours). She is owed 45 × $20 = $900, plus 5 × $30 = $150, for $1,050 a week, not the $1,000 a flat hourly rate would pay.

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Live-in domestic workers: hours and days off

Wage Order 15 has special rules for live-in employees who are not personal attendants:

• You must have at least 12 consecutive hours free of duty in each 24-hour workday, and your workday cannot span more than 12 hours.
• Within that 12-hour span, you must get at least 3 hours off duty. They do not have to be consecutive, and the schedule is set by mutual agreement.
• If you are required or permitted to work during scheduled off-duty hours or during your 12 consecutive off-duty hours, you must be paid 1.5 times your regular rate for that time.
• You cannot be required to work more than 5 days in a workweek without a day off of at least 24 consecutive hours, except in an emergency. Work on a sixth or seventh day is paid at 1.5 times your rate for up to 9 hours and double time over 9 hours.

💡 Example (hypothetical): Ana is a live-in housekeeper paid $18 an hour. Twice a week, the family asks her to watch the house for an hour during her overnight off-duty time. Those 2 hours must be paid at $27 an hour, or $54 a week, on top of her regular pay.

Overtime for non-live-in household workers

If you do not live in, Wage Order 15 uses the standard California rule: 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 8 in a day, over 40 in a week, and for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day; double time for hours over 12 in a day and over 8 on the seventh consecutive day. If you are paid a weekly salary but are not exempt, your hourly rate for overtime is one-fortieth of the weekly salary.

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Meal and rest breaks, reporting time and split shifts

Household employees covered by the order’s break sections get a 30-minute meal period when they work more than 5 hours, a second one after 10 hours, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked or major fraction of 4 hours. An on-duty meal period requires a written agreement you can revoke at any time. If a required break is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of pay at your regular rate for each workday. See our guide to meal and rest break premiums.

Reporting time pay applies if you are sent home after showing up for a scheduled shift (half the scheduled day, 2 to 4 hours). A split shift earns one extra hour at minimum wage, but not if you live at the place of employment. Our split-shift and reporting time guide explains both.

Key fact

Meals, lodging, uniforms and deductions

Room and board can count toward the minimum wage only with a voluntary written agreement, and only up to these 2026 limits in Wage Order 15:

Item	Maximum credit (2026)
Room occupied alone	$79.46 per week
Room shared	$65.59 per week
Apartment	Two-thirds of ordinary rental value, up to $954.43 per month
Breakfast / lunch / dinner	$6.10 / $8.42 / $11.28

Lodging must be adequate, decent and sanitary, and you cannot be required to share a bed. If you must live in the home as a condition of the job, the employer cannot charge rent above these values. No deduction can be made for meals you did not eat. Required uniforms must be provided and maintained by the employer, and the employer cannot deduct for breakage or loss unless it was caused by a dishonest or willful act or gross negligence.

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Minimum wage and records

Domestic workers, including personal attendants, are owed at least the minimum wage: $16.90 an hour in 2026 and $17.40 on January 1, 2027, or a higher local rate (see our minimum wage by city page). The employer must keep time records and give you an itemized statement with each payment showing deductions, pay period dates, your name and the employer’s name, and keep records for three years.

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How to enforce your rights as a domestic worker

1. Keep your own log of hours, days off, off-duty interruptions and the share of time spent on housework versus care.
2. Save texts and messages about your schedule and pay. In household jobs, these are often the best evidence.
3. Do not sign a statement that you are a “contractor” or “personal attendant” without understanding what it means.
4. File a wage claim or speak with a lawyer. The Labor Commissioner handles wage claims, and a lawsuit can recover unpaid overtime with interest, attorney’s fees and costs (Labor Code 1194). Our page on wage claims vs. hiring a lawyer compares the routes.
5. Act within 3 years for most unpaid wage claims (4 with an unfair competition claim).

Retaliation for complaining about pay is illegal (Labor Code 98.6), and immigration status does not matter for state wage claims (Labor Code 1171.5).

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Frequently asked questions

Do nannies get overtime in California?

Yes. A nanny who mainly supervises, feeds and dresses children is usually a personal attendant entitled to overtime after 9 hours a day or 45 hours a week. A nanny who also spends more than 20 percent of the week on housework is generally covered by Wage Order 15’s regular overtime rules.

Are live-in housekeepers paid for being on call at night?

A live-in employee must get 12 consecutive hours off duty each workday. If the employer requires or permits work during that time, it must be paid at time and a half.

Can my employer deduct rent from my pay?

Only with a voluntary written agreement, and only up to the limits in the order. For a room occupied alone, the 2026 maximum credit is $79.46 a week.

Does Wage Order 15 cover IHSS caregivers?

IHSS providers are excluded from the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights overtime rule. Their pay is governed by separate rules, so they should get advice specific to that program.

Is a teenage babysitter covered?

No. Wage Order 15 does not apply to someone under 18 employed as a baby sitter for the employer’s minor child in the employer’s home.

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