State Labor Guidance
Free state labor-agency opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices, with plain-English summaries, current status, and the official source on every page.
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Uniform-changing time as hours worked, and the effect of a CBA
A law firm asked DLSE whether theme-park employees must be paid for time spent walking to a wardrobe facility, waiting in line, and changing into and out of required uniforms before and after their sh…
Proposed petrochemical staffing-industry training program: trainee exemption
A lawyer for a staffing company asked DLSE to evaluate a proposed unpaid training program for people not yet employed, run by an outside training firm to prepare candidates for petrochemical industry …
Unpaid newspaper interns: the 11-part trainee-exemption test
A journalist asked DLSE whether a weekly newspaper's unpaid "interns" — who fact-check, research, do filing and accounting work, and aren't enrolled in any school program — are lawfully unpaid. DLSE a…
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…
Sleep shifts and hours worked under IWC Order 5: residential care facility
An administrator of a residential care facility for developmentally disabled adults asked whether overnight hours, during which employees on 12-hour shifts are required to be present but are permitted…
Requiring employees to buy excess auto insurance: reimbursement under Labor Code section 2802
An employer planned to require employees who regularly drive personal vehicles for business to carry auto insurance coverage above California's legal minimum. DLSE said Labor Code section 2802 does no…
Overtime exemption: airport shuttle drivers don't qualify as regulated-hours drivers
An attorney asked DLSE to revise a 1997 opinion letter's conclusion that for-hire airport shuttle drivers are not exempt from overtime under Wage Order 9's exemption for drivers whose hours of service…
Administrative exemption: insurance company claims representatives are non-exempt 'production' workers
An attorney asked DLSE whether insurance company claims representatives — who estimate auto damage and injury costs, flag possible fraud, and seek approval above their authorized dollar limits — quali…
Negative-election 401(k) deductions violate Labor Code 221
An employer asked whether it could switch its 401(k) enrollment from an opt-in ("positive election") system to one where employees are automatically enrolled and contributions deducted unless they aff…
"Use it or lose it" vacation policy and vacation pay at termination
An employer asked whether its vacation policy — under which vacation didn't begin accruing until semi-annual target dates, couldn't be carried over past the calendar year, and was paid out only on the…
Child labor: minors under 16 barred from construction work, no volunteer exception
A state assemblymember asked the Department of Industrial Relations to clarify its enforcement of child labor law on construction sites, including whether volunteers, family businesses, or non-profit …
Eggplant cooling and packing on a farm: Wage Order 14 vs. 13
A farm labor association asked whether cooling harvested eggplant in water and wrapping it for cold storage on the grower's farm is "agricultural" work under Wage Order 14 or "preparing products for m…
Bonuses paid in scrip violate Labor Code 212
An employer asked whether it could pay store employees a non-discretionary performance bonus in scrip redeemable only through a single vendor's catalogue, and whether offering a nominal cash value for…
Work recesses under IWC Order 8-80, paragraph 3(E)
A produce-packing employer asked whether releasing employees from duty for unscheduled work recesses (while waiting for delayed produce deliveries) could be unpaid time under paragraph 3(E) of IWC Wag…
Charging job applicants for required training is unlawful; training time is hours worked
A law firm asked whether a telemarketing employer could charge a training fee (waived after five days of employment) to job applicants who had to complete the employer's own training class to be consi…
Outside sales exemption does not cover salespersons based in a model home or trailer
A law firm asked whether real estate salespersons who sell new tract homes while based out of a model home or temporary trailer at the housing site qualify for the outside salesperson exemption from I…
Employee access to personnel files: 'reasonable time' is case-by-case
A state assemblymember asked DLSE to clarify an employer's obligation under Labor Code section 1198.5 to let employees inspect their personnel files. DLSE explained that the statute's "reasonable time…
Piece rate calculation: minimum wage tested each pay period, no averaging across periods
A legal aid attorney raised a possible misunderstanding about how DLSE calculates piece-rate pay against the minimum wage obligation. DLSE clarified its policy: piece-rate earnings can only be credite…
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…
Which wage order (public housekeeping vs. amusement/recreation) covers a private country club
A law firm asked which Industrial Welfare Commission wage order applies to a private country club that operates a restaurant along with golf and tennis facilities. DLSE explained that coverage turns o…
Corporate officers and their relatives are covered employees for workers' compensation insurance
An employer contested a civil penalty citation for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance, arguing that the people working at the business were only officers and relatives of the company. DL…
Ambulance crew sleep-period exclusion from hours worked requires at least five uninterrupted hours
The Labor Commissioner corrected an earlier answer to a recurring question under Wage Orders 5-98 and 9-98: for ambulance drivers and attendants on 24-hour shifts who agree in writing to exclude a reg…
DLSE may pursue a group misclassification action without investigating each employee individually
An inquirer asked what DLSE's enforcement policy is when an investigation reveals that an employer has erroneously classified a whole group of similarly situated employees as exempt. DLSE explained th…
Wage order coverage for temporary help agency employees follows the client's industry, not a default order
A law firm asserted that DLSE had historically treated temporary help agency employees as covered by Wage Order 4 regardless of the industry of the business they were assigned to. DLSE found no suppor…
Partners performing work on a public works project must be paid prevailing wages
A law firm asked whether partners who personally perform work on a public works project must be paid prevailing wages. DLSE concluded yes: Labor Code section 1771 and related provisions cover "all wor…
DLSE does not recognize the fluctuating workweek method of overtime pay
A law firm asked whether upcoming 1998 changes eliminating daily overtime in several wage orders would let California employers adopt the federal "fluctuating workweek" method of calculating overtime,…
Golf course restaurant employees are covered by Wage Order 10, not Wage Order 5
A human-resources consultant asked whether upcoming 1998 changes to several wage orders, and a staff member's contrary advice, meant that restaurant employees at a golf course would become covered by …
Distinguishing a licensed practical/vocational nurse from an exempt "personal attendant"
A law firm asked DLSE to clarify the line between the services of a licensed practical (vocational) nurse and those of a "personal attendant" under the wage orders. DLSE explained that a personal atte…
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…
DLSE will not follow the Ninth Circuit's Barner v. City of Novato view that vacation pay isn't salary
A law firm asked whether DLSE would follow the Ninth Circuit's decision in Barner v. City of Novato, which held that the federal salary-basis regulation's terms "amount" and "compensation" mean cash/s…
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…
Reporting time pay: employees sent home for poor performance
An employer asked whether it could pay telephone solicitors only for actual hours worked when it sent them home early because their pledge or conversion rates fell below the "house average." DLSE answ…
Wage Order 5 coverage: when incidental housekeeping services trigger the Public Housekeeping order
An attorney asked DLSE to clarify when Wage Order 5's "Public Housekeeping Industry" definition applies to businesses that only incidentally provide meals, housing, or maintenance services. DLSE answe…
Workers' compensation coverage for out-of-state employer's traveling employees
The Department of Consumer Affairs asked whether a Canadian telecommunications company sending its own Canadian employees to California for temporary disaster-repair work must carry California workers…
Waiting time penalties: collective bargaining agreements cannot opt out of final-pay deadlines
The Screen Actors Guild asked whether its members had a wage claim when a commercial producer paid performers weeks late, given that the union's collective bargaining agreement already set its own lat…
Employee status of unpaid 'promotional extras' in motion picture production
A production-industry correspondent asked whether unpaid "promotional extras" who simply show up for crowd scenes are employees under IWC Order 12-80, which broadly defines "extra player" without usin…
Overtime exemption for 'for hire' motortrucks does not cover airport or hotel shuttles
This letter corrects an error in a July 10, 1996 DLSE opinion letter to the same attorney about overtime exemptions for a portable-toilet company. The earlier letter had suggested Vehicle Code section…
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 …
Professional exemption: physician assistants and nurse practitioners assessed case-by-case, no blanket exemption
An attorney asked DLSE to confirm that physician assistants and nurse practitioners are exempt from minimum wage and overtime under the "learned and artistic" professional exemption if they meet feder…
Learned/artistic professional exemption: truck driving instructors do not qualify as 'teachers'
In a wage-claim dispute, an attorney for a truck driving school argued its state-certified driving instructors were exempt "teachers" or "learned or artistic" professionals under IWC Order 4-89, citin…
Cut flower industry: distinguishing Wage Order 14 field grading from Wage Order 13 final packing
Following a site tour of Half Moon Bay flower farms, the California Floral Council asked DLSE to clarify when packing flowers at the growing location falls under agricultural Wage Order 14 versus pack…
Requiring an employee to apply for a corporate credit card does not violate Labor Code 450
An employee asked whether his employer could require him, as part of his travel-heavy job, to apply for a corporate American Express card based on his personal credit in order to access negotiated ven…
Labor Code 450: employer cannot require a sales employee to buy a branded truck from chosen vendors
An attorney asked whether Labor Code section 450's ban on compelling employees to patronize third persons applies only to specifically named vendors, or more broadly, and what happens if the employer …
Entertainment-industry student intern program does not qualify for the trainee exemption
An attorney asked DLSE to confirm that a studio's unpaid college-student intern program, in which students earned course credit for routine studio tasks, did not create an employment relationship unde…
Waiting-time penalty willfulness and attorneys' fees on appeal from a Labor Commissioner award
In consolidated wage claims, the trial court awarded unpaid wages but denied waiting-time penalties and attorneys' fees after the employer appealed a Labor Commissioner award, arguing nonpayment was n…
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…
Temporary-placement-agency workers: final pay timing and wage deductions for employee fault
An attorney for a temporary placement agency asked DLSE to confirm that Labor Code sections 201 and 202's final-pay deadlines applied only when a worker was permanently taken off the agency's payroll …
Meal-period compensation for on-premises health care workers after the 1993 hours-worked change
A member of the public asked DLSE whether a hospital must pay a respiratory therapist for meal periods spent on the premises without being allowed to leave. DLSE explained that under Bono Enterprises …
Overtime exemption for two-axle trucks: scope of the DOT/CHP/PUC hours-of-service carve-out
An attorney representing a portable-toilet waste-hauling company asked whether its two-axle tank-truck drivers were exempt from overtime under IWC Order 9-90's carve-out for drivers whose hours are re…
Wages due at temporary layoff: a return date must fall within the pay period
An industry trade association asked DLSE whether contractual recall rights (whether from a collective bargaining agreement or an employee handbook) mean a "temporary layoff" is not a termination requi…
Trucking company's mechanics and office staff are not covered by the agricultural wage order
An attorney for a licensed trucking company that mainly hauls tomatoes during harvest season asked DLSE to determine that the company's helpers, yard workers and other support staff were covered by IW…
Bono Enterprises meal-period rule does not require pay for on-premises health care meal breaks
A law firm asked the Labor Commissioner to confirm that, in the health care industry specifically, an employer need not pay for a meal period merely because the employee must stay on the premises, so …
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…
Rest-period 'net' 10 minutes applies across all Wage Orders; walking time to rest areas is fact-driven, not automatically de minimis
Following up on an earlier letter about a client whose employees clock in and out around rest and meal periods, a law clerk asked whether that analysis of rest-period timing applied under all of the W…
Labor Commissioner will not entertain a wage claim duplicating an issue already in court
An attorney challenged DLSE's practice of refusing to let a worker pursue a wage claim before the Labor Commissioner on the same issues already raised in a court action, arguing that Labor Code sectio…
Employer generally need not pay the cost of licensure training
An attorney asked whether an employer must pay for a class an employee needed to complete to keep her job, where the position had come to require an insurance-sales license. DLSE explained that Labor …
Personal-attendant exemption is fact-intensive, not opinable on hypothetical duty splits
An attorney asked DLSE to confirm, based on hypothetical percentage breakdowns of duties, that two categories of in-home care workers ("CNA/Companions" and "Sitter/Companions") qualified for the Wage …
Safeway's manufacturing division is a separate business unit under Wage Order 1
Safeway's counsel asked whether its Manufacturing Division (bakery, meat, ice cream, dairy, and grocery products for sale in Safeway's own stores) was a separate and distinct business unit from its Re…
Purported waiver of meal- and rest-period standards is void
An attorney asked DLSE to evaluate a required new-hire agreement under which employees consented to on-duty, paid meal periods and to a ten-minute rest period only every four hours (rather than every …
How this guidance is useful
- See how the agency reads the law: An opinion letter shows how a state labor agency actually applied wage-and-hour law to a real employer's or worker's situation.
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