An employer may require employees to wear a uniform. Who pays for the uniform?

Explanation

Wage Order 16 §9(A) makes the employer provide and maintain any uniform it requires, and Labor Code §2802(a) independently requires reimbursement of the cost, so the trigger is simply whether the employer requires the item. (c) is the real distinction stated backwards: the DLSE treats ordinary basic wardrobe of a generic color and design - plain blue jeans, a plain white shirt - as the worker's own expense, but that is because such clothing is not a uniform, not because street-wearability shifts the cost of one. (a) ignores §2802 altogether. (b) reaches the right result here by the wrong route, and would make the employer pay for clothing it never specified. Requiring a deposit or a payroll deduction for a uniform is an unlawful deduction under Labor Code §221.