Caregiver Laws in California: Wages, Breaks, and Employer Taxes

Caregiver laws in California treat almost everyone who provides in-home or facility care as an employee, not a contractor, and that single classification triggers minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave, workers’ compensation, background checks, and payroll taxes. As of January 1, 2026, the statewide minimum is $16.90 per hour, and the rules apply whether the caregiver works for an agency, a licensed facility, or a family that hired them directly.

Employee or Independent Contractor

Classification decides nearly every obligation that follows. California uses the ABC test, adopted by the state Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) and codified through Assembly Bill 5. A worker is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring party proves all three: the worker is free from control over how the work is done, the work falls outside the hirer’s usual business, and the worker runs an independently established operation of the same kind.¹

Most caregivers fail at least one prong. A home care agency’s entire business is caregiving, so its workers automatically fail the “outside the usual course” prong. A family that sets the schedule, assigns tasks, and directs how care is delivered fails the control prong. Calling a caregiver a contractor does not make it so.

California also recognizes a narrower category called “personal attendants”: workers employed by a private household or healthcare-industry employer to supervise, feed, or dress a child or a person needing help due to age, disability, or mental impairment, who spend most of their time on those tasks.² Personal attendants are still employees, but they follow a different overtime schedule than other domestic workers.

Minimum Wage

The statewide minimum is $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, and it applies to every employer regardless of size.³ Many cities and counties set higher local rates, and where a local rate is higher, the local rate governs.

One boundary worth naming: caregivers employed at licensed healthcare facilities such as skilled nursing homes may fall under California’s separate healthcare worker minimum wage, which ranges from roughly $18.63 to $25 per hour depending on facility type, size, and payor mix, phasing in through 2028. Most private household caregivers and home care agency workers are not covered by that wage order, but anyone picking up shifts at a qualifying facility should confirm which rate applies.

Overtime Rules

Overtime depends on whether the caregiver lives in the household and whether they qualify as a personal attendant. Three separate schedules apply.

Non-Live-In Domestic Workers Who Are Not Personal Attendants

Standard California overtime applies: time-and-a-half beyond eight hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time beyond 12 hours in a day. Overtime also kicks in for the first eight hours on the seventh consecutive workday, with double time after that.²

Personal Attendants

Overtime begins after nine hours in a workday or 45 hours in a workweek, rather than the standard eight and 40.² Household employers often miss this because they assume every caregiver hits overtime at the same threshold.

Live-In Domestic Workers

Live-in caregivers who are not personal attendants earn overtime after nine hours in a day. On the sixth and seventh consecutive workday they earn time-and-a-half for the first nine hours and double time beyond.² Living in the employer’s home does not remove the right to overtime. It just moves the trigger point.

Federal law adds a layer. The U.S. Department of Labor narrowed the “companionship services” exemption in 2015, so most home care workers now qualify for federal minimum wage and overtime protections.⁴ Where California rules give more, California rules apply.

Meal and Rest Breaks

Non-exempt caregivers who work more than five hours must get a 30-minute unpaid meal break. Shifts of six hours or less can waive it by agreement. A second 30-minute meal break is required on shifts longer than 10 hours.⁵

During a meal break the caregiver must be entirely relieved of duty. When the work genuinely prevents stepping away, which is common in caregiving because a dependent person cannot be left unsupervised, an on-duty meal period is allowed only with a written agreement the caregiver can revoke at any time. On-duty meals must be paid.⁵

Rest breaks are 10 paid minutes for every four hours worked, taken near the middle of the work period when practical. A missed rest break costs the employer an extra hour of pay at the regular rate.

Paid Sick Leave

California requires most employers, including household employers, to provide at least 40 hours (or five days) of paid sick leave per year.⁶ It covers full-time, part-time, and temporary caregivers who have worked at least 30 days within a year in California and completed a 90-day employment period. A caregiver can use the time for their own illness or to care for a family member.

Workers’ Compensation

Every California employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance, and there is no minimum-employee threshold. Hire one caregiver, buy the policy.⁷

Skipping coverage is a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of at least $10,000, which can climb to double the premium that should have been paid. A second or later conviction raises the minimum fine to $50,000 and up to triple the unpaid premium.⁸

An injured caregiver should report the injury to the employer promptly. If the employer does not learn of the injury within 30 days and that delay prevents a full investigation, the caregiver can lose benefit rights.⁹ Back strains from lifting, slips and falls, and infectious exposure are the common ones. When an employer was illegally uninsured, the caregiver can apply to the state’s Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund.¹⁰

Household Employer Taxes

Families who hire a caregiver directly become household employers, and the tax thresholds are low enough that most arrangements cross them.

Federal

Pay a household caregiver $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026 and you must withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. Employer and employee each owe 6.2 percent for Social Security (on wages up to $184,500) and 1.45 percent for Medicare with no cap.¹¹

Federal unemployment tax is separate. Pay $1,000 or more in cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026 and you owe FUTA of 6.0 percent on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages, usually reduced to an effective 0.6 percent by credit.¹¹

You report these taxes on Schedule H with your Form 1040, and you must issue a W-2 to each caregiver by January 31 of the following year.¹² Federal income tax withholding is optional unless the caregiver requests it; the Social Security and Medicare withholding is not. Wages paid to your spouse, your child under 21, or your parent generally don’t count toward these thresholds.¹¹

California

Pay $750 or more in cash wages in a single calendar quarter and you must register with the Employment Development Department as a household employer. Registration brings state unemployment insurance at 3.4 percent for new employers and State Disability Insurance withholding of 1.2 percent from the caregiver’s wages. SDI funds both disability benefits and Paid Family Leave.¹³

Paying off the books exposes the employer to IRS and EDD penalties and costs the caregiver something less obvious: Social Security credits. For 2026, a worker earns one credit for every $1,890 in reported earnings, up to four per year, but household workers only receive credit for earnings of at least $3,000 from a single employer.¹⁴ Unreported wages never show up in the caregiver’s record, cutting retirement and disability benefits decades later.

Background Checks and I-9

Caregivers employed by licensed home care organizations must clear a background check under the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act, including fingerprinting through the California Department of Justice and screening for disqualifying offenses such as violent crimes and elder abuse.¹⁵ A disqualifying conviction bars agency work unless the California Department of Social Services grants an individual exemption based on evidence of rehabilitation.

Private households are not legally required to run background checks but often should. If you use a third-party screening company, federal law requires a standalone written disclosure, the caregiver’s written permission, and an adverse-action process (including providing the report and a rights notice) before you can decline to hire based on the results.

Household employers must also complete Form I-9 for any caregiver who works on a regular basis for wages. The form is not required for sporadic or intermittent work or when a staffing agency handles verification.¹⁶ Keep the completed I-9 for three years after hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.¹⁷ Federal penalties for knowingly hiring an unauthorized worker run from $250 to $2,000 per worker for a first offense, rising to $3,000 to $10,000 for repeat violations, with separate paperwork fines of $100 to $1,000 per form.¹⁸

Training and Certification

Caregivers working for licensed home care organizations must complete at least five hours of initial training within 30 days of starting: two hours of orientation on agency rules and three hours on safety and infection control.¹⁵ Family members providing informal care are not subject to these rules.

Caregivers in skilled nursing or intermediate care facilities typically need a Certified Nurse Assistant credential. California requires 160 hours of training (at least 60 hours classroom and 100 hours supervised clinical), a competency exam, and a Department of Justice background clearance before the California Department of Public Health issues the certification.¹⁹²⁰

Wage Statements and Recordkeeping

California Labor Code section 226 requires an itemized wage statement with every paycheck showing total hours, pay rates, overtime calculations, and all deductions. Employers keep the records for at least three years and must make them available to the employee on request.²¹

Knowingly failing to provide accurate wage statements carries penalties of up to $4,000 per employee in aggregate: $50 for the first violating pay period, $100 per period after that, plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.²¹

Beyond wage statements, keep employment agreements, tax withholding records, and I-9 forms organized. The EDD and DLSE can audit at any time, and gaps in documentation are typically the employer’s biggest problem when a wage or misclassification dispute lands.

1
Franchise Tax Board. Worker Classification and AB 5 Frequently Asked Questions
2
California Department of Industrial Relations. The Domestic Worker Bill of Rights – Frequently Asked Questions
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Domestic Service Final Rule Frequently Asked Questions
5
California Department of Industrial Relations. Meal Periods
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California Department of Industrial Relations. Paid Sick Leave in California
7
California Department of Industrial Relations. Workers’ Compensation Insurance FAQ
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California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 3700.5
9
California Department of Industrial Relations. DWC – I Was Injured at Work
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Division of Workers’ Compensation. DWC Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund and Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund
11
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide
12
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 756, Employment Taxes for Household Employees
13
California Employment Development Department. Household Employer’s Guide
14
Social Security Administration. Household Workers
15
California Department of Social Services. Laws and Policies
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Domestic Workers
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10.0 Retaining Form I-9
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324a – Unlawful Employment of Aliens
19
California Department of Public Health. Nurse Assistant Training Program Applicants
20
California Department of Public Health. Certified Nurse Assistant
21
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 226 – Wage Statements