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El Código Laboral §203 continúa el salario del empleado como sanción por cada día que los salarios finales queden sin pagar, hasta un máximo de 30 días: 12 días × $240 = $2,880. Un solo día de salario trata la sanción como una cuota fija en vez de diaria. La cifra de $7,200 aplica el límite de 30 días aunque solo corrieron 12. $2,640 cuenta once días y deja fuera el primer día de atraso.

El Labor Code §201.3(b)(1) exige que un empleador de servicios temporales pague semanalmente a sus empleados asignados, con los salarios de la semana calendario anterior en un día de pago designado, sea larga o corta la asignación. (d) es la regla general para todos los demás - el día de pago dos veces al mes del §204 - y es la respuesta tentadora precisamente porque es el valor por defecto que aplica un servicio de nómina. (b) es aún más lento. (a) retiene los salarios hasta el fin de la asignación, lo que en una obra larga puede ser meses y es la práctica que el §201.3 vino a detener. Las asignaciones día a día y del mismo día tienen reglas más rápidas en §201.3(b)(4) y (b)(5).

La Orden Salarial 16 §10 permite que el alojamiento cuente para el salario mínimo solo hasta los montos máximos que fija el IWC, y solo con un acuerdo escrito voluntario firmado por el empleado. No se puede cobrar el valor total de mercado contra el salario. Los créditos por alojamiento no están prohibidos del todo en California. Y la orden no limita el crédito al alojamiento que esté en la obra.

El Código Laboral §246(d) dispone que los días pagados por enfermedad acumulados se transfieren al siguiente año de empleo. Lo que el empleador puede limitar es el USO - 40 horas o cinco días al año, en la misma subdivisión - mientras que el §246(j) permite detener la acumulación total en 80 horas o 10 días. Ningún tope destruye el saldo: las horas por encima del límite anual de uso siguen registradas, y el techo de acumulación solo pausa la acumulación, así que poner el saldo en cero el 1 de enero no está autorizado. La licencia por enfermedad tampoco es vacaciones: la ley no exige pagarla a fin de año ni al terminar el empleo.

La sección 226 requiere que las declaraciones de salarios muestren salarios brutos, total de horas, deducciones, salarios netos, fechas del período de pago, nombre del empleado y solo los últimos cuatro dígitos del SSN (o una identificación de empleado), nombre y dirección del empleador, y tarifas aplicables. Los números completos del Seguro Social NO están permitidos.

El Labor Code §2775 (codificando Dynamex y AB-5) presume el estado de empleado a menos que la entidad contratante pruebe los tres elementos ABC: (A) libertad de control, (B) trabajo fuera del curso usual del negocio de la entidad contratante, y (C) establecimiento independiente en el mismo oficio. Un 'acuerdo de contratista independiente' por escrito NO es uno de los elementos ABC — las etiquetas se ignoran explícitamente; lo que controla es la sustancia. La excepción de subcontratista de construcción en §2781 todavía requiere que el subcontratista tenga licencia y cumpla con criterios adicionales; sin estos, ni siquiera un acuerdo por escrito puede crear el estado de contratista independiente.

El Labor Code §2781 envía un subcontrato de construcción de buena fe a la prueba Borello en lugar de la prueba ABC solo cuando el subcontratista tiene licencia del CSLB, el acuerdo es por escrito y señala pago y alcance, el sub tiene la licencia comercial o registro fiscal requerido, mantiene su propia ubicación de negocio, es libre de contratar y despedir y de contratar con otros, se dedica habitualmente a un negocio independiente de la misma naturaleza, y asume responsabilidad financiera por errores mediante seguro, indemnidad, fianzas o garantías. (a), (b) y (c) son sustitutos de legitimidad empresarial que suenan razonables y no aparecen en la sección: no hay prueba de propiedad inmobiliaria, ni antigüedad mínima, ni número de empleados; un sub licenciado de una sola persona puede calificar y una cuadrilla sin licencia de diez no. Donde no se requiere licencia, aplica el §2776.

La Wage Order 16 §10(A) y el Labor Code §512(a) exigen un período de comida no pagado y fuera de servicio de no menos de 30 minutos cuando el período de trabajo supera las cinco horas, y un segundo período de 30 minutos cuando supera las diez. El primero puede renunciarse por consentimiento mutuo solo si el trabajo total del día no excede seis horas; el segundo solo si el primero no se renunció y el turno no excede doce. (d) y (a) son cifras del período de descanso disfrazadas de comida: 10 minutos por cada 4 horas es la regla de descanso, y ni 20 ni 15 minutos aparecen en la ley de California. (c) es una hora pagada, que algunos convenios colectivos sí conceden, pero un período de comida conforme a la ley es no pagado precisamente porque el empleado queda relevado de toda tarea.

El Labor Code §226.8(b) fija una sanción civil de $5,000 a $15,000 por cada clasificación errónea intencional, y el §226.8(c) la eleva a $10,000 a $25,000 por violación cuando el Comisionado del Trabajo o un tribunal halla un patrón o práctica. El §226.8(d)(1) añade el remedio distintivo: el infractor debe publicar un aviso de la violación de forma destacada en su sitio web público - o, sin sitio web, en un área del lugar de trabajo accesible a todos los empleados y al público - durante un año. (a) y (d) subestiman la sanción en uno o dos órdenes de magnitud. (c) trata los salarios atrasados como toda la exposición, y pasa por alto que la sanción es adicional a ellos. Un licenciatario del CSLB también enfrenta disciplina bajo el B&P §7110.1.

El Labor Code §226.2(a)(1) exige que a los empleados a destajo se les compense por los períodos de descanso y recuperación y por el otro tiempo no productivo - tiempo bajo control del empleador que la tarifa por pieza no paga, como cargar materiales o asistir a una reunión de seguridad - de forma separada y adicional a lo ganado a destajo. El descanso y la recuperación se pagan al mayor entre el salario mínimo aplicable y la tarifa horaria promedio de la semana, según §226.2(a)(3); el otro tiempo no productivo, a no menos del salario mínimo, según §226.2(a)(4). (b) es la idea del promedio que la sección vino a terminar. (c) inventa una tarifa de viaje a medio salario mínimo que ninguna norma de California permite. (d) aplica un doble pago a las comidas, que son no pagadas cuando cumplen la ley.

El Labor Code §226.7(c) debe una hora adicional de pago a la tarifa regular de compensación del empleado por cada día laboral en que ocurre una violación del período de comida, y otra hora aparte por cada día laboral en que ocurre una violación del período de descanso o recuperación: dos horas premium es el máximo diario, una por categoría, sin importar cuántos descansos individuales se perdieron. (d) llega a la misma cifra por el camino equivocado y pagaría dos horas por una sola violación de comida. (a) trata el descanso tardío o recuperado como remedio; no lo es, y el premio se debe aunque el empleado finalmente haya comido. (b) inventa un multiplicador para todo el turno. Ferra sostuvo que la tarifa regular de compensación incluye bonos no discrecionales y otras ganancias, no solo el pago base por hora.

La Wage Order 16 §11(A) exige un período de descanso pagado y libre de tareas de diez minutos netos por cada cuatro horas trabajadas o fracción importante de las mismas, programado en la medida de lo posible a mitad de cada período de trabajo; Brinker leyó 'fracción importante' como más de dos horas dentro de un nuevo bloque de cuatro. (d) acierta aproximadamente el número de descansos en un turno largo y falla en todo lo demás: los descansos son pagados, cuentan como horas trabajadas y no quedan a discreción del empleador. (b) empuja el único descanso al final del turno, lo que anula la regla de la mitad del período. (c) es la creencia de que el trabajo de campo está exento; la Wage Order 16 existe precisamente para cubrirlo, y negar un descanso genera el premio de una hora del §226.7. El §3 permite arreglos alternativos solo mediante un convenio colectivo que califique.

El Labor Code §2750.5 hace de la licencia de contratista un requisito previo para el estatus de contratista independiente en todo trabajo que requiera licencia, de modo que un trabajador sin licencia se presume empleado de la entidad contratante para efectos de compensación laboral, salarios y horas, e impuestos sobre la nómina, cualquiera que sea el acuerdo firmado. (a) es el error de sustituir licencias: un certificado municipal de impuestos comerciales no satisface nada de §2750.5; solo la licencia de clasificación del CSLB lo hace. (d) es la regla por defecto anterior a 1990 que §2750.5 invirtió. (c) lee la ausencia de póliza como ausencia de cobertura; ocurre lo contrario, porque la aseguradora del contratista que lo contrató asume la lesión.

California uses daily overtime under Labor Code §510. Hours worked beyond 8 in a single workday must be paid at 1.5 times the regular rate. Here the first 8 hours are straight time and hours 9 and 10 are time-and-a-half. Daily overtime applies regardless of the weekly total, which is why the '40-hour' answer is wrong. Double time does not start until after 12 hours in a day, so 2 hours of daily OT is only 1.5x, not 2x.

Under Labor Code §510, hours worked beyond 12 in a single workday must be paid at double time (2x). Hours 9 through 12 are paid at 1.5x, and any hours after the 12th are paid at 2x. There is no 2.5x tier in California daily overtime, so hours 13 and 14 are paid at 2x the regular rate.

Labor Code §510 gives California both daily and weekly overtime. No day passed 8 hours, so no daily overtime accrues, but 48 hours worked means 8 hours over the 40-hour weekly line, payable at 1.5x. (a) applies the double-time multiplier, which §510 reserves for hours past 12 in a day or past 8 on the seventh consecutive day. (c) is the common belief that California abolished weekly overtime once it adopted the daily rule; both rules operate. (d) counts the entire sixth day as overtime, which would be correct only if the sixth day were the seventh consecutive day of the workweek. An employer applies whichever rule pays more but may not pyramid the two on the same hours.

Labor Code §510 provides special rules for the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek. The first 8 hours on that day are paid at 1.5x, and any hours beyond 8 on that seventh day are paid at 2x. So the first 8 hours are time-and-a-half and the 9th hour jumps to double time.

Labor Code §515(a) sets a two-part test: a monthly salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time (40-hour) employment, and primary engagement in exempt executive, administrative, or professional duties. (a) gets the money right but the form wrong - an hourly worker is not salaried and cannot be exempt under §515 no matter what the rate is. (b) is the error of applying the federal salary threshold; California's is higher and is tied to its own minimum wage. (d) is the belief that putting someone on salary is itself the exemption, which is the single most common misclassification in construction office staff.

Under Labor Code §1197, the minimum wage set by the Industrial Welfare Commission is the minimum an employer may lawfully pay, and paying less is illegal. An employee cannot waive the right to minimum wage by agreement; Labor Code §1194 makes such agreements void and lets the worker recover the unpaid balance regardless of any 'agreement.' Method of payment (cash or check) is irrelevant to the violation.

When multiple minimum wage laws apply, the employer must pay the highest applicable rate that benefits the employee. Many California cities (for example, several with local wage ordinances) set minimums above the state figure, and state law does not preempt those higher local rates. The federal minimum is the lowest floor and is superseded by both higher state and higher local rates.

Under Labor Code §512, an employee who works more than 5 hours must receive a 30-minute meal period, and that break must start before the end of the fifth hour of work. A 7-hour shift exceeds 5 hours, so one 30-minute meal period is required. A second meal period is required only when a shift exceeds 10 hours. The break is 30 minutes, not 60, and it is generally unpaid and off-duty.

Labor Code §512 requires a first 30-minute meal period for shifts over 5 hours and a second 30-minute meal period for shifts over 10 hours. An 11-hour shift exceeds 10 hours, so two meal periods are required. A third meal period is not mandated; the statute tops out at two. The second meal period may be waived by mutual consent only if the shift is no more than 12 hours and the first meal period was not waived.

The Wage Orders require a paid, duty-free 10-minute rest period per 4 hours worked 'or major fraction thereof,' which Brinker read as more than two hours into a new four-hour block. (a) doubles the duration; 20 minutes is the separate heat-illness recovery period, not the rest break. (c) makes the break unpaid and stretches the divisor to 8 - rest periods are counted as hours worked and are paid, which is what separates them from meal periods. (d) collapses rest into a single mid-shift break, which is the meal-period structure, not the rest structure.

Labor Code §226.7(c) fixes the remedy at one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday a compliant meal period was not provided. (a) pays the premium at minimum wage; the statute ties it to the employee's own rate, which for a journeyman is far higher. (b) treats a late meal as a cure - it is not; a meal period pushed past the fifth hour is itself a violation. (d) doubles the premium. One meal violation and one rest violation in the same day can each carry their own hour, for a maximum of two premium hours per day, but a single meal violation carries one.

Under Labor Code §201, when an employer discharges an employee, all earned and unpaid wages are due and payable immediately at the time of termination. This includes accrued, unused vacation, which California treats as earned wages. The 72-hour rule applies to employees who quit without notice, not to discharges.

Under Labor Code §202, an employee who quits without at least 72 hours' notice is entitled to final wages within 72 hours of the last day worked. If the employee gives at least 72 hours' notice, the wages are due on the final day of work. The 'immediate' rule applies to terminations under §201, not voluntary quits without notice.

Labor Code §203 continues the discharged employee's wages as a penalty at the same daily rate until the final wages are paid, capped at 30 calendar days. (a) borrows a treble-damages multiplier from other statutes; §203 is a time-based penalty, not a multiple of the debt. (c) invents a flat sum, so a $600-a-day superintendent and a $150-a-day laborer would recover the same amount - the opposite of how §203 works. (d) substitutes the one-hour figure from the §226.7 meal-and-rest premium, a different remedy for a different violation. The penalty runs only where the failure to pay was willful.

Labor Code §226 lists nine categories required on itemized wage statements, including gross wages, total hours (for non-exempt workers), all deductions, net wages, pay period dates, the employee's name and an ID number or last four SSN digits, the employer's name and address, and all hourly rates with hours at each. It does not require the employee's home address or vehicle information, so the last option is not a required item.

Labor Code §226(a) requires an accurate itemized wage statement semimonthly or at the time of each payment of wages, furnished automatically as a detachable stub or an accurate electronic record. (a) confuses furnishing the statement with the separate §226(b)/(c) duty to produce payroll records for inspection within 21 days of a request. (b) confuses the wage statement with the annual federal W-2. (d) confuses it with the employer's quarterly DE 9/DE 9C payroll tax filing to EDD, which reports to the state, not to the employee.

Labor Code §226(a) requires employers to keep a copy of each itemized wage statement, or the information necessary to reconstruct it, for at least 3 years at the place of employment or a central location. Employees have the right to inspect or copy these records. The 3-year retention aligns with the general statute of limitations for wage claims.

Under Labor Code §226(c) and §1198.5, an employer must permit inspection or provide copies of an employee's payroll and personnel records within 21 calendar days of a written request. Failure to comply can subject the employer to a penalty and possibly a small-claims action. Employers may charge the actual cost of copying but cannot ignore or unreasonably delay the request.

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.

Labor Code §2775(b)(1) presumes employee status unless the hiring entity proves all three prongs: (A) freedom from the hirer's control and direction, (B) work outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and (C) customary engagement in an independently established trade of the same nature. (d) is prong A. (a) is a factor under the older Borello multi-factor test, which still governs some relationships but is not a prong of the ABC test. (b) and (c) are the paperwork fallacies: how the worker files taxes and what the parties call the arrangement do not decide status, which is why a signed contractor agreement is no defense. For construction subcontractors, §2781 supplies a separate route that turns partly on the sub holding its own contractor license.

Prong B of the ABC test (Labor Code §2775) requires that the worker perform work outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business. For example, a plumbing company that hires an outside accountant may satisfy prong B because accounting is outside plumbing; but a plumbing company hiring a plumber to do plumbing work cannot satisfy prong B. Where the work is performed and how pay is structured are not part of prong B.

Misclassifying employees as independent contractors exposes the contractor to EDD assessments for back payroll taxes and contributions, Labor Code liability for unpaid overtime and minimum wage, and civil penalties under §226.8 of $5,000 to $15,000 per willful violation. (a) understates it: CSLB discipline under B&P §7110 is possible but is not the main exposure, and it does not displace the tax and wage liability. (c) inverts the remedy - misclassification does not extinguish the workers' claims, it is the reason they have them. (d) is the 'it's my business, I choose' belief; classification is decided by the ABC test in §2775, not by the parties.

Labor Code §226.8(b) sets a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $15,000 for each willful misclassification violation. (b) is the §226.8(c) tier, which applies only where the Labor Commissioner or a court finds the employer engaged in a pattern or practice of misclassification - the right numbers attached to the wrong subdivision. (c) is a plausible lowball drawn from ordinary Labor Code penalty ranges. (d) reads the top of the range as a fixed amount; both tiers are ranges, and the penalty is assessed per violation, on top of the back wages and taxes owed.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, hears wage claims administratively under Labor Code §98 - the 'Berman hearing' - at no cost to the worker and with no lawyer required. (a) is the licensing regulator; CSLB can discipline a license for failing to pay wages but cannot award the worker the money. (c) collects payroll taxes and pays unemployment and disability benefits; an unpaid worker who goes to EDD gets a tax investigation, not a wage award. (d) is Cal/OSHA, which enforces workplace safety, not payment.

A DLSE wage-claim hearing before a deputy labor commissioner is commonly called a 'Berman hearing,' named after the legislator who authored the enabling statute (Labor Code §98). It is an informal administrative proceeding to decide unpaid-wage disputes. A Skelly hearing involves public-employee discipline, and Pitchess and Marsden are criminal-procedure motions, none of which relate to wage claims.

Labor Code §1194(a) lets an employee who prevails on a minimum wage or overtime claim recover the unpaid balance plus interest, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs of suit. The fee shift runs one way, which is what makes small wage claims worth bringing. (a) imports a punitive multiplier the section does not contain. (c) is the American rule, which would apply in an ordinary contract suit but is displaced here by §1194. (d) is the belief that the wages are the whole remedy - it would leave a worker owed $900 paying a lawyer several times that to collect it.

A claim for unpaid wages or overtime founded on a statutory liability (such as the Labor Code) generally has a 3-year statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure §338. If the claim is also pursued as an unfair business practice, the reach can extend to 4 years, and a written-contract wage theory can be 4 years, but the baseline statutory period for overtime is 3 years.

Since 2023-09-01, CCP §706.050 limits an ordinary-debt earnings withholding order to the lesser of 20% of the employee's weekly disposable earnings or 40% of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage (96 hours biweekly, 104 semimonthly, 208 monthly). (a) is the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act formula - 25% and 30 times the federal minimum wage - which California employers may not use, because the state formula protects more of the wage. (b) keeps the federal 25% with the new California multiplier, and (c) keeps California's 20% but reverts to the federal wage base. Child support withholding is governed separately and runs much higher.

Labor Code §2929(b) forbids discharging an employee because wages have been garnished for the payment of one judgment, or because garnishment has merely been threatened, and voids any contract term giving less protection; the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. §1674(a), is to the same effect. (a) concedes the discharge rule but substitutes a pay cut, which is a retaliatory reduction in wages and no safer than firing. (b) is the pre-1970 common-law position. (d) invents a dollar threshold; the protection turns on the number of separate indebtednesses, not the size of the debt, and it is garnishments for multiple separate judgments that put the protection at risk.

Child support income withholding follows the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act ceilings at 15 U.S.C. §1673(b): 50% of disposable earnings if the employee supports another spouse or child, 60% if not, and an extra 5 points in either case when payments are more than 12 weeks in arrears. This employee supports no other family and is not in arrears, so the ceiling is 60%. (a) is the figure for an employee who does support another family. (c) is 60% plus the arrears add-on, which the facts exclude. (b) is the federal ordinary-debt cap, and California's own ordinary-debt cap under CCP §706.050 is lower still at 20% - child support is deliberately allowed to reach much further into the cheque.

California employers report every new or rehired employee to the EDD New Employee Registry within 20 days of the start-of-work date, on Form DE 34 or electronically through e-Services for Business. (d) is the federal floor many other states use, and it is what a multi-state payroll service will often default to - earlier than California requires, but not California's rule. (b) borrows the 30-day rhythm of monthly payroll reporting. (a) is simply the outer edge of what feels reasonable. The start-of-work date, not the hire date or the first payday, starts the clock.

The DE 34 (Report of New Employee(s)) is the EDD form used to satisfy California's new-hire reporting requirement. The W-4 and DE 4 are tax-withholding certificates that determine payroll withholding, and the I-9 verifies work authorization; none of those satisfy the separate new-hire reporting obligation to the EDD's New Employee Registry.

Form I-9 exists to document that the employer examined acceptable documents and verified the new employee's identity and authorization to work in the United States, as 8 U.S.C. §1324a(b) requires of every U.S. employer. (a) is the job of the DE 34 new-hire report, which does feed child-support enforcement - a genuinely adjacent form completed at the same moment in onboarding. (b) is the federal W-4 and California DE 4. (d) happens through the employer's EDD payroll tax registration, not through any form the employee signs. All four documents cross the new hire's desk in the same week, which is why they are easy to confuse.

The employee completes Section 1 no later than the first day of employment; the employer completes Section 2 by examining the documents by the end of the third business day after the employee begins work for pay. (a) is not merely early, it is unlawful - demanding work-authorization documents before an offer invites a citizenship-status discrimination claim under 8 U.S.C. §1324b. (b) borrows the 20-day deadline of the California DE 34 new-hire report. (d) borrows the 30-day rhythm of benefits enrollment. Three business days is a much shorter fuse than any of them, which is why I-9 Section 2 is the onboarding step most often missed on a fast-moving crew.

E-Verify is a voluntary federal internet system that compares the data on a completed Form I-9 against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records. California does not require it: Labor Code §2814, added by AB 622, makes it unlawful for an employer to use E-Verify on an existing employee or an applicant who has not been offered a job, except where federal law or a federal funding condition compels it, with penalties up to $10,000 per violation. (a) confuses it with EDD e-Services for Business, which is the state payroll portal. (b) confuses it with a DIR or DOL payroll audit. (d) invents a licensing step; California licenses the contractor, not the foreman.

In California, Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax is an employer-paid payroll tax; it is not withheld from employee wages. By contrast, State Disability Insurance (SDI) is withheld from the employee's pay, and personal income tax is withheld from wages. Social Security (FICA) is split between employer and employee. The Employment Training Tax (ETT) is also employer-paid.

State Disability Insurance (SDI), which funds California's disability and paid family leave benefits, is deducted from the employee's wages. UI and ETT are employer-paid, and FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) is entirely an employer obligation. Knowing which taxes are employer-paid versus employee-withheld is essential for correct payroll administration.