Which California employment laws should you know before you negotiate an offer or a raise?

These are the rules that matter at the negotiating table. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

1. They cannot ask what you make now

Labor Code 432.3 bars employers from asking about your salary history and from using it to set your pay, even if they find it elsewhere. You can volunteer it, but you do not have to, and you usually should not. Your current pay anchors the offer to your past rather than to the role. More on the salary history ban.

2. You are entitled to the pay scale

The same section requires employers to give applicants the pay scale on reasonable request, and employers with 15 or more employees must include it in every job posting. Since January 1, 2026, SB 642 defines the pay scale as a good-faith estimate of what the employer reasonably expects to pay. That range is your starting point. Here is how to use it when they ask your expectations.

3. You can talk about pay

Labor Code 232 and Labor Code 1197.5 protect your right to disclose your own wages, discuss them with coworkers and ask about theirs to support an equal pay claim. Most private-sector employees have similar protection under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. Knowing what peers earn is the best data you will ever have for a raise. Here is what is protected and how to ask.

4. Most noncompetes are void

Business and Professions Code 16600 voids most agreements that restrain you from working in a lawful profession. Section 16600.5 makes them unenforceable in California no matter where they were signed, and employers cannot require you to sign one. That means a noncompete should never be the reason you turn down a better offer or accept a lower one. Confidentiality and trade secret rules still apply.

5. Other clauses to read before you sign

• Out-of-state law or forum. Under Labor Code 925, an employer generally cannot require a California-based employee to agree to another state’s law or courts as a condition of employment unless you had your own lawyer negotiate the agreement.
• Invention assignment. Labor Code 2870 limits these. Inventions you develop on your own time, without company equipment or trade secrets, that do not relate to the business generally stay yours.
• Commissions. Labor Code 2751 requires commission plans in writing, signed, with the method of calculation. Get the plan before you accept a role where commissions are a big part of pay.

6. What you are owed when you leave

If you are fired, final wages are due immediately under Labor Code 201. If you quit with at least 72 hours’ notice, they are due on your last day. Earned vacation is wages and must be paid out under Labor Code 227.3. Factor unused vacation into your math when you compare an offer to staying. Signing bonus clawbacks are negotiable, so read them.

What should you check before you sign?

• Did you get the pay scale, and does the offer sit where your experience says it should?
• Is anything in the offer letter a noncompete, an out-of-state law clause, or a broad invention assignment?
• Is there a written commission or bonus plan, and does it say how and when you are paid?
• Does a signing bonus have a clawback, and for how long?

How does this add up?

The law already handles the parts of negotiation that used to favor the employer: history, secrecy and lock-in. What is left is preparation. Know the range, know your number, and know what you are signing. The difference compounds; here is how much.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.