California Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from California's labor agency, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Reducing exempt employees' work schedule and salary to avoid layoffs
A law firm asked whether an employer could cut exempt employees' workweek from five days to four with a corresponding pay reduction, as a temporary alternative to layoffs during the 2009 recession. DL…
Credit available against prevailing wages for apprenticeship training trust payments
A public works contractor asked whether it could credit its full $0.60/hour training trust contribution — more than the $0.45/hour specified in the prevailing wage determination — against its prevaili…
Wage deduction authorization for overpayments due to payroll practice
A law firm asked whether an employee's electronic timesheet reporting unpaid time off, submitted after a biweekly advance payment, counts as authorization to deduct the resulting overpayment from the …
Money Network Checks as a means of payment of wages
A law firm asked whether "Money Network Checks" — un-denominated checks that employees authorize and cash at designated ACE Cash Express or Wal-Mart locations, drawn on funds held in trust at a bank —…
Payroll/debit cards as a means of payment of wages
Two payroll-card providers asked whether their payroll debit card programs, which let employees access direct-deposited wages through a bank-issued card, comply with Labor Code sections 212 and 213 go…
Electronic delivery of itemized wage statements
An employer asked whether it could deliver legally required itemized wage statements electronically instead of on paper. DLSE concluded electronic wage statements satisfy Labor Code section 226(a)'s "…
Resident employees at 24-hour care facilities: sleep time and lodging charges
A residential care facility asked the DLSE whether "resident employees" who live on-site but aren't required to stay there must be paid for sleep time, and how much the facility may charge them for ro…
Pay tied to collecting patient bills isn't a valid exempt salary
A psychological treatment center paid its licensed psychologists and assistants a percentage of collections received from patients or insurers, often months after services were rendered, and asked whe…
Payroll payment by cash-dispensing machine
A union attorney asked whether it was legal for an employer to pay "day laborers" through a leased cash-dispensing machine (CDM) that charged a $1 fee and paid out only in bills, rather than by a stan…
Negative election to participate in 401(k) plans
A benefits attorney asked DLSE to reconsider its 1998 opinion that "negative election" 401(k) enrollment (automatically deducting a contribution unless the employee opts out) violates California law, …
Tardiness
A manufacturing employer's counsel described a proposed plan to refuse to let late-arriving employees clock in until the top of the next hour, so they'd be paid for less than eight hours. DLSE pointed…
Alternative workweek: reduction of pay not allowed
A dialysis-clinic worker wrote to DLSE's public info line after her hourly rate was cut twice as her employer moved her from an 8-hour training schedule to 10-hour and then 12-hour shifts, each time l…
Semimonthly pay periods for nonexempt salaried employees
An employer paid non-exempt salaried employees semimonthly and listed a flat 86.67 "averaged" hours per pay period on wage statements rather than the actual, varying hours worked. DLSE held this viola…
Disciplinary deductions from an exempt employee's salary
An attorney e-mailed DLSE's Info Web Site asking whether an employer may dock a full week's pay from an exempt employee for disciplinary reasons, or deduct a lesser amount such as one or two days' pay…
Salary basis requirements for exempt employees under Labor Code §515
Responding to an inquiry from the Chairman of the Industrial Welfare Commission, Labor Commissioner Arthur Lujan set out DLSE's enforcement position on the "monthly salary" requirement for exempt stat…
Electronic pay statements and direct deposit: employer must furnish a hard copy
A payroll-services attorney asked DLSE about a proposed "paperless" payroll system letting employees view pay statements and direct-deposit confirmations securely online instead of on paper. DLSE said…
Electronic (phone/computer) authorization for payroll deductions can satisfy Labor Code 224
An employer asked whether authorizing payroll deductions (for benefits elections) by telephone or computer transmission, rather than a signed paper form, satisfies Labor Code section 224's requirement…
ATM/draft-based payroll delivery service for over-the-road truck drivers satisfies Labor Code 212
A law firm described a client's proposed payroll delivery service for over-the-road truck drivers, letting drivers access all or part of their wages while on the road through direct deposit, ATM withd…
Follow-up on the remuneration test: hourly overtime pay to exempt employees, per Boykin v. Boeing
This is DLSE's follow-up to its April 28, 1997 letter to the same attorney on the "remuneration" requirement for the administrative, executive, and professional exemptions. That earlier letter had rel…
Salary basis: DLSE revises its 'remuneration' test for the administrative/executive/professional exemptions
An employment attorney asked DLSE eleven detailed questions about how the "remuneration" requirement in the IWC Wage Orders' administrative, executive, and professional exemptions should be construed.…
Expense reimbursement by mandatory direct deposit may not be compelled
A national payroll company asked whether it could require its California employees, as a condition of employment, to receive business expense reimbursements only through direct deposit rather than by …
Direct deposit of wages must be to an in-state financial institution
An attorney asked DLSE to confirm that direct deposit of employee wages complies with California wage payment law, and whether wages could instead be deposited into an out-of-state financial instituti…
Electronic (paperless) time recording is lawful if retrievable and printable on request
An attorney asked whether an employer's proposed phone-based, paperless time-recording system, which posted printouts for four days before recycling them and relying solely on the computer database, c…
Paying exempt employees extra for hours beyond 10 in a day doesn't jeopardize their exempt status
A company's chief operations officer asked whether paying exempt employees for hours worked in excess of 10 in a day would jeopardize their exempt status under the California Industrial Welfare Commis…
Electronic PayTM card deposits can satisfy California wage-payment law, with a caveat on out-of-state bank records
Counsel for a payment-services firm asked whether Citibank's voluntary PayTM electronic debit-card program — used to pay employees who lack bank accounts, with pay deposited to a card accessible at AT…
Employer may not deduct the cost of reissuing a lost or stolen payroll check from wages
A law firm asked whether an employer may charge an employee for the cost of replacing a lost or stolen payroll check, arguing a lost check differs from the cash-loss scenarios addressed in prior Labor…
A flat 1/24th-of-annual-salary payday schedule doesn't satisfy Labor Code section 204's pay-period timing rules
A law firm asked whether an employer could pay both exempt and non-exempt salaried employees exactly 1/24th of their annual salary on the 15th and last day of each month, regardless of the actual numb…
Direct-deposit wages must still be available to the employee within the Labor Code's payday deadlines, and termination always cancels the authorization
An employer using a direct-deposit payroll system asked whether an intervening bank holiday that delays funds reaching an employee's account past Labor Code §204's seven-day payday deadline is excused…
Absent a specific agreement stating a different number of hours, the workday defaults to eight hours for reporting-time-pay purposes
An employer's counsel asked whether a company that does not schedule daily hours of work could pay only the two-hour minimum reporting-time pay under Wage Order 7-80 rather than more. DLSE explained t…
An 'explicit wage agreement' must specifically fix daily/weekly hours and the true regular rate; California, unlike federal law, does not permit a fluctuating workweek
An employer representative wrote to DLSE tracing the caselaw on "explicit wage agreements" that set the regular rate of pay as an hourly wage, for dairy workers under Wage Order 14-80. DLSE agreed wit…
48-hour weekend 'on duty' shifts for non-resident workers get no overtime exemption, and lump-sum weekend pay doesn't satisfy the hourly-rate requirement
A retirement facility's counsel asked what overtime rules apply to two weekend-only workers who would be "on duty" from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, a total of 48 hours, and whether they coul…
A foreseeable mechanical breakdown is not 'a cause not within the employer's control' excusing reporting-time pay
A citrus packing plant that suffers mechanical breakdowns shutting down its wholly mechanical operation asked whether Wage Order 5(C)(3)'s exception to reporting-time pay -- for interruptions "caused …
Payday timing for unscheduled overtime and commissions under semi-monthly pay periods (Labor Code § 204)
A corporate personnel officer asked DLSE to clarify Labor Code § 204's timely-payment rules for wages earned in excess of an employee's normal work period, and for commissions, under a semi-monthly pa…
Electronic payroll deposit requires voluntary employee authorization
An employer's personnel director asked whether the company could establish an automatic electronic payroll deposit system. DLSE confirmed that Labor Code Section 213 permits automatic deposit into an …
Quarterly incentive bonus payments must still meet Labor Code Section 204's payday timing
An attorney asked DLSE to review a client's "Quality Incentive Bonus Plan" against Labor Code Sections 204 (payday timing) and 210 (penalties for late wages). DLSE confirmed that paying the bonus quar…
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These are official interpretive documents from California's labor agency: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.