California's Freelance Worker Protection Act: Contracts, the 30-Day Rule, and Unpaid Invoices

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

California's Freelance Worker Protection Act covers freelancers hired for listed professional services worth $250 or more. The hiring business must use a written contract and pay on the contract date, or within 30 days after the work is completed if no date is set. A client that is 60 days late on a covered invoice has likely violated it. The freelancer may sue for up to twice the unpaid amount plus attorney fees. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. handles these disputes in Orange County, Los Angeles, and across California.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss an unpaid freelance invoice, or the contracts your business uses with freelancers.

Who and what the Act covers

The Act is in the Business and Professions Code and applies only to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. (Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 18100, 18107.) It was enacted as Senate Bill 988 in the 2023 to 2024 session, and many people still search for it as SB 988.

A "freelance worker" is a person, or an organization of no more than one person, hired as a bona fide independent contractor to provide professional services for $250 or more. The threshold counts a single contract or all contracts with the same hiring party during the preceding 120 days. A "hiring party" is a person or organization in California that retains the freelancer. Government bodies are excluded, and so is an individual hiring services for personal, family, or homestead benefit. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18101, subds. (a), (b).)

The part people miss is the phrase "professional services." It borrows a specific list from the Labor Code. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18101, subd. (c).) The list includes original and creative marketing work, graphic design, grant writing, fine art, photography and videography, freelance writing, editing, translation and illustration, certain content contributors, and several licensed trades. (Lab. Code, § 2778, subd. (b)(2).) Some entries carry their own conditions.

Software development is not named on that list. A developer whose engagement does not fit a listed category may fall outside the Act and has to rely on ordinary contract law.

The written contract requirement

When a hiring party retains a covered freelancer, the contract must be in writing. At a minimum it must include:

The name and mailing address of each party.
An itemized list of the services, with their value and the rate and method of compensation.
The date the hiring party will pay, or the mechanism for determining it.
The date by which the freelancer must submit a list of services rendered so the hiring party can pay on time.

The hiring party must furnish a signed copy, on paper or electronically, and keep the contract for at least four years. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18103, subds. (a), (b).)

A missing contract does not sink the freelancer's claim. The statute leaves oral contract and promissory estoppel claims intact, and it lists what may show that a contract was formed anyway. The list is the hiring party's statements about the rate, an email or text from the freelancer summarizing the rate and the work before starting, and the fact that the work was done. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18103, subd. (c).)

The payment deadline, and what a client cannot demand

The hiring party must pay on or before the date compensation is due under the contract. If the contract does not say when, payment is due no later than 30 days after the freelancer completes the services. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18102, subd. (a).)

The Act also addresses a familiar squeeze. Once the freelancer has started work, the hiring party may not require, as a condition of timely payment, that the freelancer accept less than the contract amount. Nor may it demand more goods, more services, or more intellectual property rights than the contract granted. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18102, subd. (b).)

What a freelancer can recover

An aggrieved freelancer, or a public prosecutor, may bring a civil action. A prevailing plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs, injunctive relief, and other remedies the court finds appropriate. The damages provisions are specific:

If the freelancer asked for a written contract before starting and the hiring party refused, an additional $1,000.
If the hiring party did not pay on time, damages of up to twice the amount that remained unpaid when payment was due.
For any other violation, the court may award damages equal to the value of the contract or the work performed, whichever is greater.

(Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18106.)

Two protections back these up. A waiver of any provision of the Act is void. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18104.) And a hiring party may not discriminate or take adverse action against a freelancer for opposing a violation or asserting rights under the Act. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 18105.)

The fee provision changes the economics. Before 2025, a freelancer chasing a few thousand dollars with no fee clause had little reason to hire a lawyer.

If you are the freelancer with an overdue invoice

Confirm the basics first: your service category, the contract date, and when the work was finished. Then send a written demand that states the amount, the due date, and the statute. A clear demand letter resolves many of these without a filing.

If it does not, choose the forum by the amount. Small claims court is built for smaller invoices, and our pages on small claims and on choosing between small claims, limited, and unlimited civil court explain the tracks.

Who owns the deliverables while the invoice is unpaid is a separate question, answered by copyright law and your contract. See who owns the copyright in contractor work.

If your business hires freelancers

Use a written agreement with the four required terms, send a signed copy, and file it where you can find it four years from now. Pay by the stated date. Once work begins, do not condition on-time payment on a lower price, more work, or more rights.

Watch two related risks. A dispute over late payment is a contract matter, but treating a worker as a freelancer when the law says employee raises misclassification exposure that this Act does not cure. And for larger vendors that are not covered freelancers, the ordinary rules for collecting or disputing invoices apply.

What to bring to the first meeting

The contract, statement of work, or the emails and texts that set the rate.
Invoices and proof of when the work was delivered.
Every message about payment, discounts, or added work.
Any request you made for a written contract, and the response.
For hiring businesses, your template freelancer agreement.

Frequently asked questions

A client has not paid my freelance invoice for 60 days. What does California's Freelance Worker Protection Act let me do?

The Act applies if your work is a covered professional service worth $250 or more and the contract dates from 2025 or later. The client then had to pay by the contract date, or within 30 days after you finished if no date was set. You may sue for damages of up to twice the unpaid amount, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Who is covered by the Freelance Worker Protection Act?

A person or one-person business hired as a bona fide independent contractor by a California hiring party for professional services worth at least $250. "Professional services" means the categories listed in Labor Code section 2778, such as marketing, graphic design, photography, and freelance writing. Work outside that list is governed by ordinary contract law.

Does a business have to give a freelancer a written contract in California?

Yes, for a covered freelancer. Business and Professions Code section 18103 requires a written contract stating the parties' names and addresses, an itemized list of services with the rate, the payment date, and the date for submitting a list of services rendered. The business must provide a signed copy and keep it four years.

My client says it will only pay my invoice on time if I accept a lower fee. Is that allowed in California?

Not for a covered freelancer. Once you have started work, Business and Professions Code section 18102 bars a hiring party from conditioning timely payment on your accepting less than the contract amount, or on providing extra work or extra intellectual property rights. A waiver of that protection is void under the Act.

Does the Freelance Worker Protection Act apply to software developers?

Not by name. The Act covers the professional services listed in Labor Code section 2778, and software development is not on that list. A developer may be covered when the engagement is really one of the listed services, such as graphic design. Otherwise the claim is an ordinary California breach of contract claim.

Talk to a California breach of contract attorney

If a client is sitting on your invoice, or your business wants its freelancer agreements reviewed, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents independent professionals and businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California.

This page provides general information about California law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the contract, the type of work, and the court.