Chapter 8.35 — MINIMUM WAGE

As used in this chapter, the following capitalized terms are deNned as follows:

"Employee" means any person who:

1. In a particular week performs at least two hours of work within the city for an employer; and

2. QualiNes as an employee entitled to payment of a minimum wage from any employer in accordance with

Sections 1182.12 and 1197 of the California Labor Code and any successor statutes in eQect on and after the

eQective date of this chapter and as from time to time amended.

"Employer" means any person, including corporate oPcers or executives, who directly or indirectly (including

through the services of a temporary service or staPng agency or similar entity), employs or exercises control over

the wages, hours, or working conditions of any employee.

"Learners" means employees who are at least fourteen years of age but not more than seventeen years of age

during their Nrst one hundred sixty hours of employment in occupations in which they have no previous similar or

related experience.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited

liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal

or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign. "Person" includes the city.

(Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

Employees will be entitled to receive the minimum wages speciNed in this chapter for hours of work within the

city, excluding time spent in the city solely for the purposes of traveling through the city from a point of origin

outside the city to a destination outside the city with no employment-related stops in the city other than for

refueling, or for an employee’s personal meals or errands. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

A. EQective January 1, 2020, employers who employ twenty-six or more employees shall pay employees not less

than Nfteen dollars per hour.

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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B. EQective January 1, 2020, employers who employ twenty-Nve or fewer employees shall pay employees not

less than fourteen dollars per hour.

C. EQective January 1, 2021, employers who employ twenty-Nve or fewer employees shall pay employees not

less than Nfteen dollars per hour.

D. Beginning January 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the minimum wage all employers must pay to employees

(except as otherwise provided in this section), regardless of the number of employees each employer employs, will

be adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers ("CPIW") for the San

Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (or its successor index), which is published

by the U.S. Department of Labor. Beginning January 1, 2020, some time in October of each year, the city will

publicize the CPIW or successor index for that year and the adjusted minimum wage that will apply for all

employers pursuant to this section beginning January 1st of the following year.

E. Learners shall be paid not less than eighty-Nve percent of the minimum wage required in accordance with

this section rounded to the nearest Nve cents.

F. In calculating the number of employees an employer employs for purposes of determining the applicable

minimum wage pursuant to this section, the number of employees shall include employees employed by an

employer, including all employees working for the employer on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis.

G. Employers may not deduct any amount from wages due employees pursuant to this section based on any tip

or gratuity, or credit any amount of any tip or gratuity against or as any part of the minimum wages due

employees pursuant to this section.

(Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

Bona Nde collective bargaining agreements may waive all or any portion of the requirements of this chapter, but

only if the waiver is explicitly set forth in the agreement in clear and unambiguous terms. Unilateral

implementation of the terms and conditions of employment by either party to a collective bargaining agreement

may not operate as a waiver of any requirements of this chapter. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

Except for waivers in accordance with Section 8.35.040, waiver of any requirement of this chapter by any

employee shall be deemed contrary to public policy, void and unenforceable. Any attempt by an employer to

cause employees to waive any of their rights under this chapter shall constitute a violation of this chapter subject

to enforcement in accordance with Section 8.35.070. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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Any of following actions taken by an employer concerning an employee may be deemed retaliatory and a violation

of this chapter subject to enforcement in accordance with Section 8.35.070:

A. Discharging, reducing the compensation of, taking adverse action against or otherwise discriminating against

any employee for opposing any practice proscribed by this chapter, for participating in proceedings related to this

chapter, for seeking to enforce his or her rights under this chapter by any lawful means, or for otherwise asserting

rights under this chapter.

B. Funding minimum wages required by this chapter by reducing wages paid to any employee or by increasing

charges to employees for parking, meals, uniforms or other items.

An employer’s taking adverse action against an employee within one hundred twenty days of the employee’s

exercise of rights under this chapter shall raise a rebuttable presumption that the adverse action is retaliatory and

in violation of this chapter. To rebut the presumption, employers must establish that the adverse action occurred

for legitimate business reasons. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

A. Statute of Limitations. The city and any person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter (or the aggrieved

person’s representative) may seek remedies pursuant to this section for a period of three years prior to the date

the claim is Nled with the city or the court.

B. Private Right of Action. The city and any person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter (or the aggrieved

person’s representative), may bring a civil action against any employer for violation(s) of this chapter in a court of

competent jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Successful plaintiQs in actions pursuant to this

subsection shall be entitled to such remedies speciNed in subsection D of this section as the court may order to

enforce this chapter, and to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees, witness fees and costs of litigation.

C. Administrative Enforcement.

1. Reporting Violations. An employee, an employee’s representative, or any other person may report any

suspected violation of this chapter to the city. The city will keep the identity of the person reporting the

violation conNdential to the extent permitted by law, except as necessary to enforce or permit enforcement of

this chapter or other applicable law.

2. Informal Resolution. The city may in the city’s sole discretion seek informal resolution of complaints of

violations of this chapter.

3. Violations a Nuisance. Violations of this chapter are hereby declared to be public nuisances in accordance

with Chapter 1.10, and subject to enforcement in accordance with Chapters 1.10, Code Enforcement

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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Generally, 1.13, Violations Enforced by Civil Action, 1.14 , Administrative Enforcement, and 1.16,

Administrative Citations.

4. Business License Revocation. The city business licenses of employers in violation of this chapter are subject

to suspension or revocation in accordance with Section 6.01.350.

D. Remedies for Violations. In addition to the remedies listed above in this section, remedies available for

violations of this chapter include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Award of any back wages unlawfully withheld, and payment of an additional sum as a civil penalty in the

amount of Nfty dollars for each employee whose rights under this chapter were violated for each day or

portion thereof that the violation occurred or continued.

2. Award of interest on all due and unpaid wages at the legal rate of interest of ten percent per annum; or,

if award of interest at the rate of ten percent per annum is not legally permitted, award of interest at the

maximum legally permitted rate up to but not exceeding ten percent per annum. Interest shall accrue from

the date that the wages were due and payable as provided in Part 1 of Division 2 of the California Labor Code

(commencing with Section 200) up to and including the date immediately before the date when the wages

were paid in full.

3. Injunctive relief that is within the jurisdiction of the adjudicatory authority presiding over the

proceedings.

4. For employees aggrieved by termination, demotion or other adverse action in retaliation for exercise of

employees’ rights pursuant to this chapter in violation of Section 8.35.060, in addition to the remedies above,

reinstatement and return of the employee to the status quo ante, and an award of treble the wages lost due

to the violation.

E. No Cause of Action against the City. To the maximum extent permitted by law, nothing in this chapter may be

construed to create a cause of action against the city, or a basis for seeking an award of attorney’s fees against the

city pursuant to the private attorney general’s statute in California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1021.5 or on

any other basis arising from or related to an employer’s alleged violation of the requirements of this chapter, and/

or based on or related to the city’s prosecution or enforcement or alleged failure to prosecute or enforce such

alleged violation, and/or based on or related to the city’s implementation or alleged failure to implement the

requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

A. Initial Notice of Employee Rights. Within one week of this chapter taking eQect, each employer shall give written

notice to each employee of employees’ rights pursuant to this chapter. Each employer shall give the same notice

to each new employee within one week of the start of each new employee’s employment. The notice pursuant to

this subsection shall be in each language spoken by more than ten percent of an employer’s employees and shall

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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be posted in a conspicuous place at each workplace or job site where any employee of that employer works. The

city may provide employers sample notices pursuant to this subsection and employers’ use of such sample notices

in accordance with this subsection will satisfy the requirements of this subsection.

B. Annual Notice of Employee Rights. Prior to January 1st of each year, the city may publish and make available to

employers a notice suitable for posting in the workplace informing employees of the applicable minimum wage

rates in eQect pursuant to this chapter beginning January 1st of that year and of employees’ rights pursuant to this

chapter. Any notice pursuant to this subsection will be in English, Spanish and such other languages as provided in

any administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 8.35.130. Each employer shall post any notice

pursuant to this subsection in a conspicuous place at each workplace or job site where any employee of that

employer works.

C. Initial and Annual Notice Regarding Employee Inquiries. Each employer shall provide each employee, upon hiring

and annually, written notice including the employer’s legal name, address, telephone number, and the name and

contact information for an employer representative responsible for inquiries concerning compliance with this

chapter.

D. Employer Records Retention. Each employer shall maintain a record of each employee’s name, his or her hours

worked, and pay rate. Such records shall be retained for at least a three-year period. Each employer shall provide

to each employee or each employee’s representative a copy of the records required to be maintained concerning

that employee pursuant to this subsection upon request during normal business hours. Failure of an employer to

maintain and provide records in accordance with this subsection shall raise a rebuttable presumption that an

employee’s account of how much he or she was paid in any proceeding to enforce the provisions of this chapter is

accurate, which presumption may be rebutted by competent evidence to the contrary.

E. Remedy for Violations of This Section. Employers that violate the requirements of this section shall be subject to

administrative citation in accordance with Section 8.35.070(C)(3) and Chapter 1.16.

F. City Failure to Give Notice. Failure by the city to provide notice as permitted pursuant to this section shall not

create a basis of liability of the city for any reason or purpose, and shall not be a defense to any employer’s alleged

failure to pay minimum wages or to otherwise fully comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum wages employers must pay employees for hours employees

work in the city, and to establish remedies that employees and their representatives and the city may seek for

alleged employer violations of this chapter. This chapter is not intended to create, and may not be construed so as

to create, any city duty to implement or enforce the requirements of this chapter. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed so as to limit an employee’s rights to obtain any other relief

to which he or she may be entitled at law or in equity concerning that employee’s employment. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3,

2019.)

rights under the city’s living wage chapter.

The minimum wage requirements of this chapter are not intended to preempt and may not be construed to

preempt any additional or more generous wage or other employment requirements that apply by regulation,

contract or otherwise to employees working in the city. In particular, this chapter does not amend or otherwise

aQect the city’s living wage requirements codiNed in Chapter 8.36. Employers that are subject to this chapter and

that are also subject to Chapter 8.36 must to the fullest possible extent comply with all applicable requirements in

both this chapter and Chapter 8.36. Nothing in this chapter excuses employers’ full compliance with all applicable

requirements of the city’s living wage requirements in Chapter 8.36, and nothing in Chapter 8.36 excuses full

compliance with all applicable minimum wage requirements of this chapter. To the extent wages employers owe

employees under this chapter and under Chapter 8.36 diQer, employers must pay employees the higher

applicable wage. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

This chapter shall be construed and applied so as to harmonize to the maximum, legally permissible extent with

all applicable federal, state and local law. To the maximum, legally permissible extent, nothing in this chapter shall

be construed or applied so as to create a prohibited conOict with any federal, state or local laws or regulations.

(Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

The city manager is hereby authorized to promulgate regulations consistent with the provisions of this chapter for

the implementation and enforcement of this chapter, and any regulations so promulgated by the city manager

hereunder shall have the force and eQect of law. Employers and employees and other parties may rely on such

regulations to determine their rights and responsibilities under this chapter. (Ord. 2691 NCS §3, 2019.)

The Petaluma Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2916 NCS, passed December 1, 2025.

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