A carpenter must buy specialized safety boots and use his personal cell phone for job scheduling required by the employer. Under California law, who bears these costs?
Explanation
Labor Code §2802(a) makes the employer indemnify the employee for all necessary expenditures incurred in direct consequence of the discharge of their duties - required specialty safety gear and a reasonable percentage of a personal cell phone bill used for work both qualify. (a) is the 'personal item' defense, which fails once the employer requires the item for the job. (b) is wrong in the other direction: a collective bargaining agreement cannot waive §2802, because Labor Code §2804 voids any contract waiving it. (d) splits a cost the statute assigns entirely to the employer.
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