Los Angeles Minimum Wage 2026: $18.42, Sick Leave & Worker Rights

The minimum wage in the City of Los Angeles is $18.42 an hour, effective July 1, 2026, for every employer regardless of size. That is $1.52 more than California’s 2026 statewide minimum of $16.90, and it applies to anyone who works at least two hours in a week inside city limits. Hotel workers and many LAX airport workers have their own, much higher rates.

The gap adds up: at 40 hours a week, being paid the state rate instead of the city rate costs $60.80 a week, or more than $3,100 a year. Los Angeles also has its own paid sick leave rules, a Fair Work Week law for large retailers, hotel worker protections and an enforcement office.

This guide covers each rule, how it compares to state law, and where to file. To compare other cities, see our California minimum wage by city table.

Los Angeles minimum wage 2026

The Los Angeles Minimum Wage Ordinance (Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 187 and 188) sets one rate for all employers. Here are the recent rates published by the Office of Wage Standards (OWS), next to the state rate:

Effective date	Los Angeles rate	California rate at the time
July 1, 2024	$17.28	$16.00
July 1, 2025	$17.87	$16.50
July 1, 2026	$18.42	$16.90
January 1, 2027	$18.42 (unchanged)	$17.40

Who is covered. You are covered if, in any particular week, you perform at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles and you are entitled to the California minimum wage. Full-time, part-time and temporary workers are all covered, and immigration status does not matter. Workers placed by staffing agencies are covered too.

Check the address. Many “Los Angeles” mailing addresses are in another city or unincorporated county territory, with different rules. OWS has a “Check City Boundaries” tool.

Next increase. The rate changes every July 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners in the Los Angeles area. The City announces the new rate on February 1, so the July 1, 2027 figure is not yet known. California’s minimum rises to $17.40 on January 1, 2027, which is still below the Los Angeles rate, so the city rate continues to control for work inside the city.

Employers must post the City’s wage and sick leave notice and keep payroll records for four years.

By the numbers$18.42

Hotel, airport and other sector wages

Some Los Angeles workers are entitled to a higher hourly minimum than the citywide rate:

• Hotel workers. Under the Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, hotels with 60 or more guest rooms (or 50 or more rooms in the Airport Hospitality Enhancement Zone) must pay $25.00 an hour from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, plus a $4.25 hourly health benefit payment. If the hotel does not provide health benefits, the $4.25 is added to your hourly wage. The City’s wage chart sets $25.50 plus $6.00 for health benefits starting July 1, 2027, and $28.50 starting July 1, 2028. Contractors’ workers at the hotel are covered too.
• LAX airport workers. Under the City’s Living Wage Ordinance, covered airport employees of LAX contractors, lessees and licensees earn $25.00 an hour from July 1, 2026, plus $7.65 an hour for health benefits, or $32.65 an hour if no health benefits are provided.
• Fast food. State law (AB 1228) sets $20.00 an hour for fast food restaurants in national chains with more than 60 establishments nationwide.
• Health care. Many hospital and clinic workers are covered by California’s separate health care minimum wage, which depends on the type of facility.

If more than one rate applies, you are owed the highest.

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Paid sick leave in Los Angeles

The Minimum Wage Ordinance has its own paid sick leave rules, and OWS states that California’s 2024 sick leave expansion (SB 616) did not preempt them. You qualify if you work at least two hours in a particular week in the City for the same employer for 30 days or more within a year.

• Amount: at least 48 hours, either given up front each year or accrued at one hour for every 30 hours worked.
• Carryover: unused hours carry over to the next year; the employer may cap total accrued leave, but not below 72 hours.
• Use: available from your 90th day of employment, for yourself, a family member, or anyone related by blood or affinity. The employer may limit use to 48 hours a year.
• Rehire: if you are rehired within one year, your unused hours must be reinstated. Unused sick leave does not have to be paid out when you leave.

State law (Labor Code 246) still applies on top of the city rules. It guarantees at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave a year, and an accrual cap of at least 80 hours or 10 days. Where one rule gives you more, the more generous rule generally controls. Our California paid sick leave guide explains the state rules in detail.

Fair Work Week for retail workers

The Los Angeles Fair Work Week Ordinance (LAMC Chapter XVIII, Article 5) has been in effect since April 1, 2023. It covers retail businesses with 300 or more employees worldwide (counting staffing-agency workers, subsidiaries and certain franchises), for employees who work at least two hours a week in the City. Covered employers must:

• Give a written good faith estimate of your schedule before you are hired, and within 10 days if a current employee asks.
• Post or send your schedule at least 14 calendar days in advance.
• Pay predictability pay for employer-made changes with less than 14 days’ notice: one hour of pay for adding more than 15 minutes or changing the date, time or location of a shift, and half pay for hours cut (at least 15 minutes) or for on-call shifts where you are not called in.
• Get your written consent before scheduling a “clopening” with less than 10 hours between shifts, and pay time and a half for that second shift.
• Offer additional hours to qualified current employees, with 72 hours’ written notice, before hiring new staff (unless the extra hours would mean overtime).
• Not require you to find a replacement when you miss a shift for a legally protected reason.

Before OWS accepts a Fair Work Week complaint, you must give your employer written notice of the violation and 15 calendar days to fix it (OWS publishes a Notice to Cure template).

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Hotel worker protections and job retention

Los Angeles has several ordinances just for hotel workers, on top of the hotel minimum wage:

• Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (effective August 12, 2022). Workers assigned alone to a guest room or restroom must get a personal security device that summons a security guard or trained manager. Room attendants cannot be required to clean more than 3,500 square feet of floor space in an eight-hour day at hotels with 60 or more guest rooms, or 4,000 square feet at hotels with 45 to 60 rooms, unless they are paid double their regular rate for every hour worked that day. Workers may decline workdays longer than 10 hours. Workers can sue to enforce it.
• Hotel Worker Training Ordinance. Since December 1, 2025, covered hotels must give room attendants at least 5.5 hours of training from a City-certified organization, on paid time and at the hotel’s cost.
• Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance (LAMC section 183.00 et seq.). When a hotel with 50 or more rooms changes ownership or operator, the new employer generally must keep eligible workers (employed at least one month before the transfer, not managers or supervisors) for at least 90 days.

Similar 90-day retention rules apply after a change of control at covered grocery stores (LAMC section 181.00 et seq.) and when a new contractor takes over a City service contract, including at LAX.

OWS states that the City’s COVID-era Right of Recall and Worker Retention ordinances no longer apply. If you were laid off, see our Los Angeles layoffs tracker and Los Angeles County layoffs page for WARN notices.

By the numbers$25.00

Freelance worker protections

The Los Angeles Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance (effective July 1, 2023) covers service contracts worth $600 or more. Since January 1, 2025, California’s Freelance Worker Protection Act covers professional services contracts of $250 or more, so OWS now takes complaints on later contracts only if the state law does not cover them. A “freelancer” doing the same work as employees may actually be a misclassified employee entitled to minimum wage and overtime.

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How to file a complaint in Los Angeles

The Office of Wage Standards (Bureau of Contract Administration) enforces the minimum wage, paid sick leave, Fair Work Week, Fair Chance hiring and anti-retaliation rules, and administers the hotel and freelance ordinances.

• Website: wagesla.lacity.gov (online short-form complaint, or the longer MW-4 form by email or mail)
• Phone: 1-844-WAGESLA (1-844-924-3752), Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Email: wagesla@lacity.org; walk-in consultations by appointment only

OWS will not ask about your immigration status. You can also sue in court for unpaid wages and sick pay plus a penalty of up to $120 for each day a violation occurred or continued, with greater relief, including reinstatement, for retaliation.

For state claims such as overtime, meal and rest breaks or final pay, you can file with the California Labor Commissioner (DLSE); claims for unpaid wages generally must be brought within three years (Code of Civil Procedure 338). Discrimination and harassment claims go to the California Civil Rights Department, generally within three years. Compare a Labor Commissioner claim vs. hiring a lawyer, or estimate what you are owed with our wage and hour calculator.

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Example: what an underpayment looks like

💡 Example (hypothetical): Ana works 30 hours a week at a warehouse inside Los Angeles city limits. Since July 1, 2026, her employer has paid her $16.90, the state rate, instead of $18.42. She is short $1.52 an hour, or $45.60 a week (30 × $1.52). After 20 weeks, the unpaid wages total $912.00 (20 × $45.60), before any penalties or interest.

Underpayments like this are often part of a larger wage and hour violation, such as missed overtime or unpaid breaks.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the Los Angeles minimum wage in 2026?

$18.42 an hour, effective July 1, 2026, for all employers in the City of Los Angeles. Covered hotel workers earn $25.00 an hour plus a $4.25 health benefit payment.

When will the Los Angeles minimum wage go up again?

On July 1, 2027. The City announces the new rate each February 1, based on the Los Angeles-area Consumer Price Index.

Does the LA minimum wage apply to small businesses?

Yes. The City’s current wage chart sets one rate for all employers, regardless of the number of employees. Employers with 25 or fewer employees have also had to provide Los Angeles paid sick leave since July 1, 2017.

I live in Los Angeles but work in another city. Which rate applies?

What matters is where you work. If you work at least two hours in a week inside LA city limits, the LA rate applies to those hours. Unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County have their own minimum wage.

Can my employer fire me for filing a complaint?

No. The City’s ordinances and California law both prohibit retaliation. If you were punished after speaking up, read about being fired after complaining.

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