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.
No documents match your search
Try different keywords or clear a filter.
Multi-purpose firm with distinctly separate units may be classified separately by Wage Order
An attorney asked DLSE to opine on which Wage Order applied to a client's operations, including an air-charter component. DLSE declined to give a fact-specific opinion, since Wage Order applicability …
IRS mileage rate is presumptively reasonable for auto, not truck, reimbursement
Following a phone conversation, an attorney's letter suggested DLSE had said employers reimbursing below the current IRS mileage rate would not violate Labor Code section 2802. DLSE corrected the reco…
Out-of-state garment manufacturer contracting with a California sewing shop must register
A New York attorney asked whether his client, an out-of-state dress manufacturer, needed to register under California's garment registration law when contracting with a California sewing shop to cut a…
IWC Order jurisdiction over federal-base, oil-spill-cleanup, and Navy-vessel workers
An attorney asked DLSE to confirm five categories of employees were not covered by the IWC Orders. DLSE agreed federal-military-base workers are uncovered absent state law reserved in the federal cess…
Outside salesperson exemption under the IWC Orders differs from the federal FLSA test
An attorney asked whether DLSE analyzes the outside-salesperson exemption differently than federal Wage and Hour Division does under the FLSA. DLSE answered yes: federal law uses a "primary duty" test…
Employment-application release-of-liability language cannot waive Labor Code section 1050 protections
A company voluntarily submitted a proposed employment application for DLSE's review. DLSE flagged the application's release-of-liability clause, under which an applicant released all parties from liab…
Golf instructors paid on commission fall under the Recreation Order, not the sales-commission exemption
An attorney representing a golf instruction company argued its commissioned instructors should fall under the occupational Wage Order 4 (to claim its commissioned-sales exemption) rather than the indu…
Piece-rate/commission pay plan with a possible bonus is not a 'regular rate' and must be recomputed for overtime
An attorney submitted a proposed crew-based compensation plan and asked whether its structure satisfied California overtime law. DLSE explained the plan's "possible discretionary bonus" was not truly …
Assistant golf professionals are employees, not independent contractors, while teaching lessons
A law firm asked whether "assistant golf professionals" who spend most of their time in a golf club's pro shop, but occasionally teach paid lessons and receive an IRS 1099 for that portion, are indepe…
Overtime-exempt hours worked in a specifically exempt job don't count toward daily overtime in a mixed workday
A payroll consultant asked whether an employee who works part of a workday in a job covered by a California Wage Order (eligible for daily overtime after eight hours) and then switches to a specifical…
'Cashing in' vested vacation at a discount to current wage rate risks a void wage release
A law firm asked whether an employer, having complied with Labor Code section 227.3 and the Suastez line of cases on vacation, could let employees voluntarily "cash in" vested vacation accrued under a…
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…
Employer must pay for metal-free clothing required to pass a workplace metal detector
An attorney asked whether an employer could require employees to pass through a metal detector at the end of the workday, sending home without pay anyone wearing metal in clothing, zippers, bras, or s…
On-call time, travel time, and vehicle expenses for beeper-dispatched service technicians
An attorney asked whether on-call vending-machine repair technicians who carry a beeper and drive their own cars between calls are owed pay for on-call waiting time, travel time to and between calls, …
Commissioned-salesperson overtime exemption and bona fide draws/guarantees against commission
A law firm asked DLSE to evaluate several sample commission pay plans for auto-dealership service advisors against the IWC Orders 4 and 9 overtime exemption for commissioned employees, including plans…
24-hour ambulance shift overtime exemption: scheduled sleep periods, split shifts, and no waiver by agreement
A law firm representing an ambulance company asked six questions about IWC Order 9-90's provision letting ambulance drivers and attendants work a full 24-hour shift with every hour treated as compensa…
Time spent donning required protective gear is compensable under California's broader 'hours worked' test, unlike the federal Portal-to-Portal Act standard
A meat-packing employer asked whether time its employees spend putting on USDA- and Cal/OSHA-required lab coats, head coverings, gloves, and ear plugs (plus optional comfort items like aprons and boot…
Personal attendant exemption: 'regularly' giving medication is a fact question, not a bright-line rule
A law firm asked DLSE to clarify or modify Interpretive Bulletin 86-1, which excludes from the Wage Order 15 personal attendant exemption any worker who "regularly" gives medication or takes temperatu…
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…
How to calculate overtime premium on mandatory banquet service charges paid as a bonus
A law firm asked DLSE to explain how to calculate overtime premium pay on the share of mandatory banquet service charges a restaurant distributes to workers on top of their regular hourly or salaried …
Executive exemption's 'customarily and regularly' supervision requirement is a fact question, not a fixed percentage
Two attorneys, on opposite sides of the same pending matter, separately asked DLSE to define "customarily and regularly," the standard used to decide whether an employee supervises enough workers to q…
Overtime paid on a voluntary back-to-back shift doesn't offset the next day's regular-shift premium
A law firm asked DLSE whether an employer could count premium pay voluntarily paid for a back-to-back overnight shift toward the overtime owed for the employee's regular shift the next day, given the …
Pre-employment training time is compensable; only narrow skills-testing 'try-out' time is not
California's Employment Development Department asked DLSE about a firm requiring job applicants — including veterans seeking on-the-job training benefits — to complete unpaid "hiring procedure" traini…
IWC Order coverage turns on the employer's primary function, not an affiliate's business
An attorney asked DLSE whether a printing firm's employees were covered by the publishing/newspaper Wage Order (Order 4) because an affiliated company's primary product was a direct-mail advertising c…
Student interns still need a minor work permit even if not legal 'employees' under the wage orders
An employer's attorney asked DLSE to confirm that students in a proposed school-partnered internship program were not "employees" under the wage orders and that the company need not obtain work permit…
A pre-employment 'trainee' screening process must be separate from, and not a condition of, employment screening
A personnel-services firm asked DLSE to confirm its proposed computer- skills training program for unemployed job seekers met the Division's twelve-factor test for a true "trainee" (as opposed to an u…
A vacation-accrual cap that later drops to a lower cap after use is not a valid 'no additional accrual' policy
PayLess Drug Stores' counsel proposed a revised vacation policy allowing vacation to accrue day-by-day and carry over, but capping further accrual at roughly 17.5 days for nine months and then droppin…
Executive exemption: California's 'primarily engaged in' test differs from the federal 'primary duty' test, and simultaneous work counts once
An attorney for retail-service employers asked DLSE to confirm that managers and assistant managers who spend most of a long workday on managerial duties, but also make sales or perform service work f…
Help-wanted ads during a strike must explicitly disclose the labor dispute, Labor Code section 973
DLSE wrote to an employer engaged in an active strike after its newspaper help-wanted advertisement for maintenance mechanics, a position covered by the expired collective bargaining agreement, failed…
A short plant shutdown of 10 days or less with a set return date is not a termination requiring final-wage payment
An attorney asked DLSE how planned short-duration facility shutdowns (about a week each) would affect an employer's final-wage obligations under the Labor Code. DLSE explained its long-standing policy…
A temporary-help firm employing garment workers must register as a garment manufacturer
A Florida-based staffing company asked DLSE why it would need to register as a garment manufacturer if it merely employs and supplies workers to perform garment-industry services for clients. DLSE exp…
DLSE will keep enforcing the Wage Orders' gross-negligence wage deduction, but warns it may be void as against public policy
An employer's HR representative asked DLSE to define "simple" versus "gross" negligence for purposes of deducting the cost of lost or damaged equipment from an employee's final paycheck, and whether s…
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…
On-call beeper time is compensable based on the employer's 'control,' a different and broader test than the federal FLSA standard
A law firm representing a rural hospital asked DLSE to clarify when beeper-based on-call time, where employees must respond within 20 minutes but are not required to stay on the premises, counts as co…
Contractual commission-earning conditions can delay payday timing, but earned commissions are still due at termination
An advertising company's counsel asked DLSE whether its outside sales representatives' commission structure — commissions calculated monthly and treated as unearned until full customer payment is rece…
A mileage reimbursement covers accident/theft losses on a personal vehicle used for work, and an employer can't shift that cost onto the employee
A retail employer asked whether paying managers 25 cents per mile to use their own vehicles on company business satisfied Labor Code §2802, and whether it could also require managers to buy their own …
IWC Wage Order §9's deduction for an unreturned uniform or safety item is likely unenforceable against final wages, despite its plain text
An employer's counsel asked whether it was legal to deduct the cost of an unreturned company-issued safety belt from an employee's wages, since Section 9 of the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orde…
Mixed hourly/piece-rate pay requires a blended regular rate for overtime; a golf instructor's per-lesson fee isn't a true 'commission'
A worker paid a piece-rate for golf lessons and an hourly rate for other time asked DLSE how to calculate the regular rate of pay for overtime purposes. DLSE first clarified that a per-lesson fee base…
A mortgage loan officer can share in a loan's sale gain or loss when that gain/loss is a known part of the commission transaction itself
Counsel for a mortgage lender asked whether it was acceptable under California law for loan officers to share in the gain or loss realized when a closed loan is later sold at a different interest rate…
California overtime law applies to an air charter company despite the federal FLSA's air-carrier exemption; state law isn't preempted
An air charter company operating under an FAA Air Carrier Certificate asked DLSE to confirm its belief that it was exempt from California overtime requirements, apparently based on a misunderstanding …
Employers must pay for mandatory safety-orientation training and certification, for both current employees and job applicants
Counsel for a general contractor asked whether workers could be required to complete, on their own time and at their own expense, an 8-hour industry safety orientation program needed to badge into ind…
Whether a voluntarily-departing employee forfeits a bonus tied to a post-fiscal-year vesting date depends on the facts, not a bright-line rule
Counsel asked whether an employee who voluntarily terminates employment after the close of the fiscal year, but before a plan's later vesting date six months out, forfeits an incentive bonus, and whet…
Whether a vocational-training participant is a minimum-wage-exempt 'trainee' turns on how much the on-site placement resembles ordinary job training
Counsel for a nonprofit serving homeless young adults asked DLSE to bless, in advance, a planned vocational program placing participants at "trainer businesses" for hands-on skills training, as exempt…
California has no federal-style 'salary basis test'; DLSE explains at length how its executive/administrative/professional exemption differs from the FLSA's
An attorney asked whether the federal "salary basis test" used to determine FLSA exemption status (and a related federal case, Abshire) affects California's own executive/administrative/professional e…
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…
A garment shop that 'leases' workers from an unregistered, unlicensed staffing firm is itself an unregistered garment manufacturer and needs its own workers' comp coverage
A garment shop asked DLSE about California's workers' compensation coverage requirements after submitting an insurance binder naming a staffing company, Creative Staff Management, Inc., as the employe…
A hospital's 14-day/80-hour overtime schedule under Wage Order 5-89 must be voluntarily agreed to by the employee, unlike its federal FLSA counterpart
Following up on correspondence to a Senior Deputy Labor Commissioner about Section 3(C) of Wage Order 5-89 (the 14-day, 80-hour overtime work-period option for hospitals), DLSE wrote to clarify it did…
DLSE reverses its 1984 policy: the overtime premium on mixed hourly rates must use the weighted average of all rates paid that day, not the rate in effect when overtime began
Prompted by a challenge to its enforcement position, DLSE reevaluated how to calculate the overtime premium when an employee is paid two or more different hourly rates in one day (for example, a lower…
DLSE reverses its 1984 overtime-premium policy for mixed hourly rates, initially describing a daily weighted-average calculation
Responding to the same attorney correspondence addressed three weeks later in DLSE opinion letter 1992.05.14, DLSE announced it was reversing its 1984 enforcement policy of basing the overtime premium…
'Floating' birthday/anniversary holidays that can be taken any time are really vacation days, so unused ones must be paid out under Suastez
An employer's counsel asked DLSE to confirm that employees who worked the days before and after their birthday/anniversary "floating holiday" but never took the day off forfeit the benefit, rather tha…
'Bonus days' awarded for perfect attendance that can be used for any purpose are vacation, so unused days vest under Suastez
An employer's counsel asked DLSE to correct a district office's finding that an employee's unused "bonus days" (four hours awarded for every six weeks of perfect attendance, usable for any purpose up …
Part-time hospital nurses with a schedule distinct from full-time nurses can form a separate 'identifiable work unit' eligible for its own alternative workweek
A hospital's counsel asked DLSE whether full-time and part-time nurses working the same department and shifts, but differing in scheduled hours and benefits, could be treated as separate groups for pu…
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…
Wearing a pager alone does not make a meal period compensable, but responding to a page during the meal period makes the whole period compensable
Labor counsel asked DLSE to clarify its policy on paying employees for time spent wearing a "beeper" or pager, including during meal periods. DLSE explained that simply requiring an employee to wear a…
Temporary registry nurses hired for a hospital's full alternative workweek can be included in it without daily overtime; those hired for less than the full week cannot
Counsel for a health-care employer asked DLSE whether temporary nurses supplied by a staffing registry could be placed into a hospital's existing alternative workweek (such as a 3/12 or 4/10 schedule)…
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…
Truck drivers who split their day between CHP-regulated and unregulated duties: only the unregulated hours count toward daily/weekly overtime
Employer counsel wrote to confirm DLSE's enforcement policy on overtime for truck drivers who spend part of the day performing duties regulated by the California Highway Patrol under Title 13 of the C…
Time worked beyond an adopted alternative-workweek schedule, even below the 10/12-hour straight-time cap, requires premium overtime pay
An employer wrote to DLSE describing conflicting guidance from two district offices about premium pay under an alternative workweek schedule of two ten-hour days and two four-hour days. DLSE confirmed…
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.
- Check the status before relying: Every page shows whether the document is still active or has been superseded, rescinded, or withdrawn, and when that status was last verified.
- Guidance, not law: These documents explain the agency's position but bind no court, and the agency can change its view. The official document linked on every page is the authoritative source.
- Research across states: Compare how different states treat the same question, from overtime and travel time to tips and independent-contractor status.