Nanny Labor Laws in California: Overtime, Live-In Pay and Breaks

California nannies are household employees with real wage rights: at least the state minimum wage ($16.90 an hour in 2026, $17.40 from January 1, 2027), paid sick leave, and overtime, which for a nanny who mainly cares for children starts after 9 hours in a day or 45 hours in a week under the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. Nannies who spend more than 20 percent of the week on housework and do not live in get the regular household overtime rules instead: after 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Many nannies are paid a flat daily or weekly amount, often in cash, with no record of hours.

This guide is for nannies, babysitters, live-in nannies and agency-placed nannies. If you care for an elderly or disabled adult, see our caregiver rights guide. If you are paid through In-Home Supportive Services, see our IHSS provider guide.

1. Which wage rules apply to nannies?

Most nannies who work for a family in the family’s home are covered by Wage Order 15, the order for “household occupations.” If a business, not a family, employs you, a different wage order may apply; our wage orders guide explains how to tell. In addition to the wage order, the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (Labor Code 1450 to 1454) covers childcare in a private home and adds overtime for nannies the wage order used to leave out.

• Minimum wage: $16.90 an hour for all hours worked in 2026 (Wage Order 15, section 4), and $17.40 from January 1, 2027. Many cities set a higher rate; see our minimum wage by city page.
• Casual babysitters: An adult who babysits now and then is excluded from the overtime law, but a casual babysitter who is over 18 keeps the right to minimum wage for all hours worked (Labor Code 1451(b)(2)(D)).
• Not covered: the employer’s parent, spouse, child or adopted child, and anyone under 18 hired to babysit the employer’s child in the employer’s home (Wage Order 15, section 1; Labor Code 1451).
• Exempt nannies are rare: Overtime exemptions require executive, administrative or professional duties and a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work: $70,304 a year in 2026 and $72,384 in 2027.

By the numbers9 hours

2. Nanny overtime and the 20 percent test

Nannies who mainly care for the children

The law calls you a “personal attendant” if a private householder employs you to supervise, feed or dress a child, and you do no significant amount of other work. “Significant” means other work, such as cooking for the family, cleaning or laundry, that takes more than 20 percent of your total weekly hours (Labor Code 1451(d)). Babysitters are included. Under Labor Code 1454, a personal attendant cannot be employed more than 9 hours in a workday or 45 hours in a workweek unless paid time and a half for the extra hours.

Nannies who also keep house

If more than 20 percent of your week goes to housework and you don’t live in, Wage Order 15’s regular overtime applies: time and a half after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day (section 3(C)).

💡 Example (hypothetical): A nanny earns $22 an hour and works 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 50 hours. If she mainly cares for the children, the 10th hour each day is overtime: 45 × $22 = $990, plus 5 × $33 = $165, for $1,155 a week. If she also spends more than 20 percent of her week cooking and cleaning, hours 9 and 10 each day are overtime: 40 × $22 = $880, plus 10 × $33 = $330, for $1,210. A flat $22 for all 50 hours pays only $1,100.

A weekly salary does not cancel overtime. For a full-time, non-exempt nanny under Wage Order 15’s regular overtime rules, the regular hourly rate is one-fortieth of the weekly salary (section 3(C)). That section does not apply to a nanny who mainly cares for children, but overtime under Labor Code 1454 is still owed. Our unpaid overtime page explains back-overtime claims.

---

3. Live-in nannies: hours off, days off and room and board

If you are a personal attendant, Wage Order 15’s live-in hour rules do not apply to you (section 1(B)), but the 9-hour and 45-hour overtime rule still does. If you are a live-in nanny who also keeps house, Wage Order 15, section 3, gives you:

• At least 12 consecutive hours free of duty in each 24-hour workday, with a workday that spans no more than 12 hours.
• At least 3 hours off duty within that 12-hour span, not necessarily in a row, scheduled by mutual agreement.
• Time and a half for any work you are required or permitted to do during off-duty hours.
• No more than 5 workdays in a week without a day off of at least 24 consecutive hours, except in an emergency. Work on a 6th or 7th day is paid at time and a half up to 9 hours, and double time after 9.

Room and board can count toward the minimum wage only with a voluntary written agreement, and only up to the Wage Order 15 limits. In 2026, the most a family can credit is $79.46 a week for a room you occupy alone, $65.59 a week for a shared room, and $6.10, $8.42 and $11.28 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lodging must be adequate, decent and sanitary, you cannot be required to share a bed, and nothing can be deducted for meals you did not eat.

4. Breaks, sick leave and pay records

Breaks. Nannies covered by Wage Order 15’s break sections get a 30-minute meal period after 5 hours of work, a second one after 10 hours, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked or major fraction of 4 hours, with one extra hour of pay for each day a required break is missed (sections 11 and 12). The wage order does not apply these sections to personal attendants, so a nanny who mainly cares for children should get advice on which break rules cover her job.

Paid sick leave. Household employers are not on the list of employers excused from California’s paid sick leave law. You earn at least 1 hour for every 30 hours worked once you have worked 30 days for the same employer within a year, can use it after 90 days, and must be allowed at least 40 hours or 5 days a year, whichever is more (Labor Commissioner FAQ, updated December 31, 2025). Part-time nannies are covered. See our paid sick leave guide.

Pay records. Labor Code 2810.5 generally requires a written notice at hire listing your pay rate, payday, any meal or lodging credit and the workers’ comp carrier. It has no household-employer exception, but it excludes employees exempt from overtime by statute or wage order. The general pay-stub law, Labor Code 226, does not apply to people employed by the owner or occupant of a home (section 226(d)). Wage Order 15, section 7, still requires time records and an itemized statement with each payment showing deductions, pay period dates, your name and the employer’s name, though the order does not apply those record rules to personal attendants.

Payroll taxes. A family that pays $750 or more in cash wages in a calendar quarter must register with the EDD within 15 days and withhold State Disability Insurance. Once cash wages reach $1,000 in a quarter, the family must also pay unemployment insurance tax. For federal Social Security and Medicare, the 2026 threshold is $3,000 in cash wages to one household employee (IRS Topic 756).

---

5. Pay problems we see in this job

Practice	Is it legal?	Law
Flat day or weekly rate with no overtime for long days	No, unless the pay covers overtime for every hour over the limit. Most nannies are not exempt.	Labor Code 1454; Wage Order 15, section 3
Paying only “scheduled” hours when the parents come home late	No. All hours worked must be paid.	Labor Code 1194; Wage Order 15, section 4
Deducting room or meals without a signed agreement	No. Credits need a voluntary written agreement and are capped.	Wage Order 15, section 10
Calling you an independent contractor and paying on a 1099	Usually not. Nannies who work under the family’s direction are generally employees under the ABC test.	Labor Code 2775
No paid sick days, or docking pay when your own child is sick	No. Sick leave covers your own or a family member’s care.	Labor Code 246; 246.5
Holding your last paycheck after you quit or are let go	No. Final pay deadlines apply, with waiting-time penalties.	Labor Code 201–203
Paying an adult babysitter below minimum wage	No, even for casual babysitting.	Labor Code 1451(b)(2)(D)

By the numbers$79.46

6. Injuries, safety and workers’ comp

California workers’ comp law covers a person employed by the owner or occupant of a home whose duties include “the care and supervision of children” (Labor Code 3351(d)). The main exception is a household worker whose work for that employer during the 90 calendar days before the injury was, or was agreed to be, for less than 52 hours or for wages of not more than $100 (Labor Code 3352(a)(8)). California also requires insurance policies that provide comprehensive personal liability coverage to include workers’ comp for these household employees, unless other valid workers’ comp insurance applies or the work is part of the policyholder’s business (Insurance Code 11590 and 11591).

• Tell the family about an injury in writing right away. The Division of Workers’ Compensation warns that you could lose benefits if your employer does not learn of it within 30 days.
• The employer must give or mail you a claim form within one working day after learning of the injury; see our DWC-1 guide. The general deadline to start a case is one year (Labor Code 5405).
• If the family has no coverage, you may still have options; see what to do when your employer has no workers’ comp.

Since July 1, 2025 (SB 1350), businesses that employ household workers, such as an agency that employs and pays nannies, are treated as employers under Cal/OSHA’s safety rules. A family that directly hires someone for ordinary household tasks, including caregiving, falls under an exception, according to Cal/OSHA’s FAQ.

---

7. Retaliation, discrimination and immigration threats

Protected activity	Protection	Law
Complaining about unpaid wages or overtime	No firing, threats or punishment for a wage complaint or claim	Labor Code 98.6
Reporting what you reasonably believe is a violation of law	Whistleblower protection	Labor Code 1102.5
Using or asking to use paid sick days	No denial, firing or threats	Labor Code 246.5
Talking about your pay	Protected	Labor Code 232
Harassment, including sexual harassment	FEHA’s harassment rules cover employers with one or more employees	Gov. Code 12940(j)
Discrimination (race, national origin, pregnancy, disability and more)	FEHA’s discrimination rules apply to employers who regularly employ five or more people	Gov. Code 12926(d)
Asserting your rights when you are undocumented	Threatening to contact immigration or file a false report to punish you is illegal; immigration status is irrelevant to state wage claims	Labor Code 1019; 1171.5

So a family with one nanny may fall outside FEHA’s discrimination rules, but not its harassment rules. See our workplace immigration rights guide for more.

---

8. What you can recover and deadlines

You can seek unpaid wages and overtime with interest, attorney’s fees and costs (Labor Code 1194); break premiums where the wage order’s break rules apply; waiting-time penalties for late final pay; and lost pay and damages for retaliation or harassment.

Deadlines: generally 3 years for unpaid wage claims, or 4 years with an unfair competition claim; 1 year to file a retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 98.7); 3 years to file a FEHA complaint with the Civil Rights Department; and for workers’ comp, 30 days to report the injury and generally 1 year to file. Our page on a Labor Commissioner claim vs. hiring a lawyer compares your options.

---

9. What to do now

1. Write down your hours every day, including late pickups, nights and weekends, and roughly how much time goes to housework versus childcare.
2. Save texts, messages and pay records, including photos of checks and payment app transfers. In household jobs, these are often the strongest evidence.
3. Ask in writing for your pay records; see our guide to requesting personnel and payroll records.
4. Estimate what you may be owed with our wage and hour calculator.
5. Get a free case review before you sign anything that calls you a contractor or releases claims.

---

Frequently asked questions

Do nannies get overtime in California?

Yes. A nanny who mainly supervises, feeds and dresses children gets time and a half after 9 hours a day or 45 hours a week. A nanny who spends more than 20 percent of the week on housework generally gets overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Can a family pay a nanny a flat weekly salary?

Yes, but the salary does not replace overtime for a non-exempt nanny. For a full-time nanny under Wage Order 15’s regular overtime rules, one-fortieth of the weekly salary is the regular hourly rate.

Are babysitters covered by California labor law?

Adult babysitters must get at least minimum wage, even for occasional work. Casual babysitters are excluded from the overtime law, and a person under 18 hired to babysit the employer’s child in the employer’s home is excluded from Wage Order 15.

Does a live-in nanny get paid for nights?

A live-in nanny who also keeps house must get 12 consecutive hours off duty in each 24-hour workday, and any work during that time is paid at time and a half. A live-in nanny who mainly cares for the children is owed overtime after 9 hours in a workday or 45 in a week.

---

Laws this guide relies on

Law	What it does	Link
Wage Order 15	Household minimum wage, live-in hours, overtime, breaks, meals and lodging	Wage Order 15 guide
Labor Code 1450–1454	Domestic Worker Bill of Rights: overtime after 9/45 for personal attendants	Labor Commissioner
Labor Code 246, 246.5	Paid sick leave and protection for using it	Labor Code §246 explainer
Labor Code 2810.5	Written wage notice at hire	Labor Code §2810.5 explainer
Labor Code 226(d)	Household carve-out from the pay-stub statute	Pay stub guide
Labor Code 3351(d), 3352(a)(8)	Workers’ comp for household employees and the 52-hour / $100 exception	leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Labor Code 98.6, 1102.5, 1019, 1171.5	Retaliation and immigration-related protections	Labor Code §98.6 explainer

Related job guides: caregivers, IHSS providers, ABA behavior technicians, private and charter school teachers and classified school staff.

---

Sources

• IWC Wage Order 15 (Form 1115, Rev. 11/2025): dir.ca.gov
• Labor Commissioner, Domestic Worker Bill of Rights: dir.ca.gov
• Labor Commissioner, Paid Sick Leave FAQ: dir.ca.gov
• DIR News Release 2026-66 (2027 minimum wage): dir.ca.gov
• Cal/OSHA, SB 1350 domestic service FAQ: dir.ca.gov
• Division of Workers’ Compensation, injured worker FAQ: dir.ca.gov
• EDD, Household Employer: edd.ca.gov
• IRS Topic No. 756, household employees: irs.gov
• Labor Code, Government Code and Insurance Code text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

---