California Wage Order 6: Laundry, Dry Cleaning and Linen Supply

California Wage Order 6 (IWC Order No. 6-2001) sets the wage, hour and working-condition rules for the laundry, linen supply, dry cleaning and dyeing industry, including commercial and industrial laundries, dry cleaners, laundromats, carpet and drapery cleaners, and linen and uniform services that do their own laundering. Pressers, folders, washers, counter staff, route drivers and office workers at these businesses are generally covered.

Laundry and dry cleaning work is often hot and fast-paced, which makes the order’s rules on overtime, breaks, reporting-time pay and heat especially important. Labor Code section 1198 makes those standards binding, and missed breaks or unpaid overtime add up over the three years you generally have to bring a wage claim.

This guide explains who Order 6 covers, which numbers later state law has updated, and what each section means for you, based on the official text the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) posts as of October 2026.

Who Wage Order 6 covers

Order 6 defines the industry as any business operated for washing, ironing, cleaning, refreshing, restoring, pressing, dyeing, storing, fumigating, mothproofing, waterproofing or related processes on articles or fabrics of any kind, including clothing, hats, drapery, rugs, curtains, linens, household furnishings, textiles, furs and leather goods. It expressly includes self-service laundries and dry cleaners, and the collection, distribution, storage, sale or resale of those services at retail or wholesale.

The Labor Commissioner’s guide, Which IWC Order?, lists examples and some key dividing lines:

• carpet and drapery cleaning services, including in-home cleaning;
• dry cleaners, laundries, laundromats and dyeing plants;
• diaper services and linen supply if laundering is included;
• uniform rental if laundering or cleaning is included. If the items are laundered elsewhere, the business falls under the mercantile order instead.

By the numbers$16.90

Which wage order applies? 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 first asks whether the employer’s business is covered by an industry order and only then looks to an occupation order. A business is classified by its main purpose, and an industry order covers all of its employees, so a dry cleaner’s bookkeeper or delivery driver is under Order 6.

That also works in reverse. A laundry worker employed by a hospital or hotel is usually covered by Wage Order 5, because the Labor Commissioner treats Order 5 as covering every classification of employee in a hospital, including laundry staff. Separate operations of one company can fall under different orders only if they serve different purposes and are managed separately at all levels. The guide is persuasive, not binding on courts.

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Exemptions

• Executive, administrative and professional employees are exempt from sections 3 through 12 only if they meet the duties tests and earn 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 “store manager” who mostly works the counter or the press may not be exempt; see misclassified exempt employees.
• 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.

Hours, overtime and alternative workweeks

Order 6 tracks Labor Code 510: 1.5 times the 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 over 12 hours a day and over 8 on the seventh consecutive day. A ten-hour alternative workweek is allowed only after a two-thirds secret-ballot vote of the affected work unit, following written disclosure and a meeting at least 14 days before the vote, with results reported to DIR within 30 days. See alternative workweeks and long shifts.

If you ask in writing to make up time lost to a personal obligation in the same week, those makeup hours do not trigger daily overtime unless you exceed 11 hours in a day or 40 in a week. Your employer may tell you about this option but may not encourage or solicit you to use it.

💡 Example: Rosa presses shirts at $18 an hour and works 9 hours a day Monday through Friday, plus 6 hours on Saturday, for 51 hours. Her daily overtime is 1 hour on each weekday (5 hours). By Saturday she has already worked 40 straight-time hours (8 × 5), so all 6 Saturday hours are weekly overtime. She is owed 40 × $18 = $720 plus 11 × $27 = $297, a total of $1,017.

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Meal and rest breaks

A 30-minute meal period is required 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). Unless you are relieved of all duty, the meal period counts as time worked, and an “on duty” meal is allowed only when the nature of the work prevents relief and you agreed in writing. Rest periods are 10 paid minutes per four hours or major fraction.

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), which also covers heat-illness “recovery” cool-down periods required by safety rules. See meal and rest break premiums.

Key fact

Minimum wage, reporting time and split shifts

Section 4 of the 2026 order prints the state minimum wage of $16.90 an hour. DIR updates it every year under Labor Code 1182.13 and has announced $17.40 from January 1, 2027. Many cities require more, and the higher rate controls; see California minimum wage by city. Piece-rate pay for pressing or folding must still equal at least minimum wage for all hours worked.

Reporting-time pay: if you report for a scheduled shift and get 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 threats to people or property, a civil-authority recommendation, a utility failure, or an act of God or other cause outside the employer’s control. Split-shift pay adds one hour at minimum wage when your day is broken by an unpaid gap the employer sets. See split-shift and reporting-time pay, or use our wage and hour calculator.

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Heat, seats, uniforms and other working conditions

Topic	What Order 6 and related law require
Heat and humidity	If the work process creates excessive heat or humidity, the employer must take all feasible means to reduce it to reasonable comfort. Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat illness standard also applies to indoor work areas that reach 82°F.
Seats	Suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits; nearby seats for standing jobs during downtime
Uniforms and tools	Employer provides and maintains required uniforms and tools; only employees earning at least twice minimum wage can be required to supply customary hand tools
Damaged garments and shortages	No deductions for lost or damaged items or cash shortages unless caused by a dishonest or willful act or gross negligence
Change rooms and rest areas	Lockers or equivalent; change rooms when the job requires changing; resting areas separate from toilet rooms
Meals and lodging (2026)	Credits only by voluntary written agreement: breakfast $6.10, lunch $8.42, dinner $11.28; room alone $79.46/week; shared room $65.59/week
Records	Start and end of each work period, meal periods and daily hours; piece rates or incentive formulas given to employees; kept at least three years

Where the Labor Code gives you more than the order, it controls, including the detailed pay-stub requirements of Labor Code 226 and expense reimbursement under Labor Code 2802 (for example, mileage for a route driver using a personal car).

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What to do if your employer is violating Order 6

1. Write down your hours and breaks every day; your employer cannot forbid a personal record (Labor Code 1174).
2. Note heat conditions and any requests for cool-down breaks that were refused.
3. Keep pay stubs, piece-rate sheets and schedules.
4. Request your time and payroll records on reasonable request.
5. Act within three years for most wage claims (Code of Civil Procedure 338).
6. Get advice on a Labor Commissioner claim or a lawsuit. Retaliation for raising pay or safety complaints is illegal.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a uniform rental company covered by Order 6?

Only if it launders or cleans the items. According to the Labor Commissioner’s guide, a rental business that sends laundering elsewhere falls under the mercantile order.

Can my dry cleaner deduct the cost of a ruined garment from my pay?

Not unless the damage was caused by your dishonest or willful act or gross negligence. Ordinary mistakes and normal wear and tear cannot be deducted.

Does Order 6 require air conditioning?

Not in those words. It requires all feasible means to reduce excessive heat or humidity created by the work, and Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat standard adds requirements once indoor work areas reach 82°F.

Is the minimum wage in Order 6 current?

The 2026 posting shows $16.90, matching state law. It becomes $17.40 on January 1, 2027, and higher local rates control.

Which order covers a hotel’s in-house laundry?

Usually Order 5, because an industry order covers every employee of the business. For other industries in this series, see Wage Order 1 (manufacturing) and Wage Order 2 (personal service).

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