California Wage Order 2: Personal Service (Salons, Barbers, Gyms)

California Wage Order 2 (IWC Order No. 2-2001) sets the wage, hour and working-condition rules for the personal service industry: beauty salons, barbershops, nail and skin care, massage, health clubs and gyms, weight-control salons and mortuaries. If you cut hair, do nails, give massages, coach clients at a gym or work at a funeral home, this is probably the order that protects you.

Personal service workers are often paid by commission, by the service or through “booth rental” arrangements, and that is exactly where wage violations hide. Order 2 has a special rule on chair and booth renters, a special rule on which tools you can be asked to bring, and the same overtime, break and reporting-time protections as other industries. Labor Code section 1198 makes those standards binding.

This guide walks through who Order 2 covers, which numbers in it have been updated by later state law, and what each section means for you, based on the official text posted by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) as of October 2026.

Who Wage Order 2 covers

Order 2 defines the personal service industry as any business operated to provide, directly or indirectly, a service used in the care, cleansing or beautification of the body, skin, nails or hair, or in the enhancement of personal appearance or health. The order names beauty salons, schools of beauty culture offering beauty care to the public for a fee, barbershops, bath and massage parlors, physical conditioning, weight-control salons, health clubs and mortuaries.

The Labor Commissioner’s guide, Which IWC Order?, adds examples such as body-building gyms, sun-tanning salons and funeral parlors. The guide also notes that students at beauty schools that serve the public for a fee are exempt.

Because Order 2 is an industry order, it covers everyone a personal service business employs, including front-desk staff, cleaners and assistants, not just the stylists or trainers.

By the numbers$16.90

Which wage order applies to me? Industry vs. occupation

California has 17 wage orders. Most are industry orders; five are occupation orders (Orders 4, 14, 15, 16 and 17). The Labor Commissioner’s rule is to ask first whether your employer’s business is covered by an industry order, and to look to an occupation order only if it is not.

• Main purpose controls. A salon that sells some retail products is still a personal service business.
• Separate operations can differ. A spa run as a separately managed business inside a hotel may fall under a different order than the hotel.
• Same job, different order. A massage therapist employed by a hotel may be covered by Wage Order 5 rather than Order 2, depending on how the business is organized.

The Labor Commissioner’s guide is helpful but not binding on courts, so close cases are worth a legal review.

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Booth renters: when you are really an employee

Order 2 has a definition you will not find in most other orders. “Employee” includes a person who is charged rent, or pays rent, for a chair, booth or space if that person:

1. does not use their own funds to buy the supplies needed for the work;
2. does not keep an appointment book separate from the establishment’s; and
3. does not have a business license where one applies.

In other words, calling you a “renter” does not end the inquiry. If the salon supplies the products, books your clients and you have no license of your own, Order 2 can treat you as an employee. Independent-contractor status in California is also tested under the Labor Code’s ABC test and its exceptions, which can be technical for licensed beauty professionals. See our guide to independent contractor misclassification.

Exemptions

• Executive, administrative and professional employees are exempt from sections 3 through 12 only if they meet the duties tests and earn a monthly salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work: $70,304 a year in 2026 and $72,384 from January 1, 2027. A “salon manager” title alone is not enough.
• Outside salespersons, the employer’s parent, spouse or child, and national service participants are excluded.
• Government employees are covered only by sections 1, 2, 4, 10 and 20.

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Hours, overtime and alternative workweeks

Order 2 tracks Labor Code 510. You earn 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday, over 40 in a workweek, and for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work, and double your regular rate for hours over 12 in a day and over 8 on the seventh consecutive day.

An employer may adopt an alternative workweek of up to 10 hours a day within 40 hours without daily overtime, but only through a two-thirds secret-ballot vote of the affected work unit after written disclosure and a noticed meeting at least 14 days before the vote, with results reported to DIR within 30 days. See alternative workweeks and long shifts.

By the numbersFour hours

Minimum wage, commission pay and reporting time

Section 4 of the 2026 order prints the state minimum wage of $16.90 an hour. DIR updates that figure every year under Labor Code 1182.13 and has announced $17.40 from January 1, 2027. Many cities require more, and the higher local rate controls; see California minimum wage by city.

Order 2 says your employer must pay at least minimum wage for all hours worked in each pay period, whether pay is measured by time, piece or commission. Time you are required to spend waiting for walk-ins, cleaning stations or attending required training is generally hours worked.

Reporting-time pay applies when you report for a scheduled shift and are given less than half of it: you are owed half the scheduled day, at least two and no more than four hours, at your regular rate. The exceptions are limited to threats to people or property, a recommendation by civil authorities, a utility failure, or an act of God or other cause outside the employer’s control. A slow day is generally not one of them.

💡 Example: Dana, a salon assistant earning $18 an hour, is scheduled for an 8-hour shift. After one hour the owner sends her home because the book is empty. Half her scheduled day is 4 hours, so she is owed 4 × $18 = $72 for the day, not the $18 she earned for the hour she worked.

Split-shift pay: if your day is broken by an unpaid, non-working gap set by the employer (other than a real meal or rest break), Order 2 requires one hour’s pay at minimum wage in addition to the minimum wage for that day. See split-shift and reporting-time pay.

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Meal and rest breaks

You must be given a 30-minute meal period for a work period of more than five hours (waivable by mutual consent only if six hours or less completes the day) and a second one after 10 hours (waivable only if you work 12 hours or less and did not waive the first). An “on duty” meal is allowed only when the nature of the work prevents relief and you agreed in writing; it counts as time worked, and you can revoke the agreement in writing at any time.

Rest periods are 10 paid minutes for every four hours worked or major fraction, and none is required for a day under three and a half hours. Back-to-back clients are not an excuse. For each workday a meal or rest period is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of pay at your regular rate of compensation (Labor Code 226.7). See meal and rest break premiums.

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Tools, uniforms, deductions and other conditions

Topic	What Order 2 says
Tools	Employer provides and maintains required tools. Exception: employees in beauty salons, beauty schools and barbershops may be required to furnish their own manicure implements, curling irons, rollers, clips, haircutting scissors, combs, blowers, razors and eyebrow tweezers. Employees earning at least twice minimum wage may be required to supply customary hand tools.
Uniforms	A required uniform (apparel of distinctive design or color) must be provided and maintained by the employer
Shortages and breakage	No deductions unless caused by a dishonest or willful act or gross negligence
Meals and lodging credits (2026)	Only with a voluntary written agreement: breakfast $6.10, lunch $8.42, dinner $11.28; room alone $79.46/week; shared room $65.59/week
Seats, rest areas, temperature	Suitable seats when the work permits; resting facilities apart from toilet rooms; reasonable temperatures
Records	Time records of each work period, meals and split-shift intervals, kept at least three years and open to you on request

The tool list is narrow. Products, color, chemicals and shampoo are not on it, and Labor Code 2802 separately requires reimbursement of necessary work expenses. See our guide to expense reimbursement. Where the Labor Code gives you more than the order, such as the detailed pay-stub requirements of Labor Code 226, the Labor Code controls.

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What to do if your salon, gym or spa is violating Order 2

1. Write down your hours and services each day, including time waiting for clients. Your employer cannot forbid you from keeping your own record (Labor Code 1174).
2. Keep copies of any booth-rental agreement, commission plan, pay stubs and texts about schedules.
3. Request your time and payroll records.
4. Estimate what you are owed with our wage and hour calculator.
5. Act within the deadline. Most wage claims must be brought within three years (Code of Civil Procedure 338).
6. Talk to a lawyer about a Labor Commissioner claim or a lawsuit.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Wage Order 2 cover gym trainers and front-desk staff?

Generally yes. Order 2 names health clubs and physical conditioning, and an industry order covers all of the business’s employees, including front-desk and cleaning staff.

Can a salon make me pay for my own scissors and combs?

Yes, for the specific items the order lists, in beauty salons, beauty schools and barbershops. Other required tools and supplies must be provided by the employer, and necessary expenses must be reimbursed.

I pay booth rent. Am I protected by Order 2?

Possibly. If you do not buy your own supplies, do not keep a separate appointment book and lack a business license where one applies, Order 2 treats you as an employee. The ABC test may also apply.

Is the minimum wage in Order 2 current?

The 2026 posting shows $16.90, matching state law. It becomes $17.40 on January 1, 2027, and a higher city rate controls.

Are commission-only stylists owed overtime?

Unless an exemption applies, yes. Order 2 has no special commission exemption like the one in Wage Order 4, so the regular overtime rules apply.

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