• California Labor Board laws protect California employeeswaiter with plates image by wojan from Fotolia.com
  
  California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) monitors and enforces California labor laws through the DIR’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The division investigates discrimination complaints, adjudicates wage claims and monitors compliance with the orders and statutes of the California Labor Code as set forth by the California legislature. Employees in California can turn to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement if they believe that their employer has not fulfilled employer obligations regarding employees’ rights.
  
  

Minimum Wage

• Employers have an obligation to pay their employees the California minimum wage, according to California’s Minimum Wage Order (see Resources). Employees may not agree to accept less than the California minimum wage: $8.00 per hour as of July 2010. California’s minimum wage laws hold for minor and adult employees. Minimum wages do not include the tips that an employee may earn during a work shift. An employee who has not received appropriate minimum wage should file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
  
  

Mealtime

• According to California labor laws, employees must receive a half-hour meal break per every five hours of work. If the work period does not exceed six hours of work, the employer and the employee may mutually decide to forgo the meal break. If the employee must stay at his work station during his meal break as part of his work schedule, the employer must pay the employee for the meal break..
  
  

Overtime

• Employees must receive overtime pay for overtime work. Employers should calculate overtime pay at one and a half times the employee’s pay rate for any overtime of up to four hours over the employee’s scheduled eight-hour work schedule. Employers must calculate overtime pay at two times the employee’s regular pay rate for any overtime of up to eight hours over the employee’s scheduled eight hour work schedule. The Labor Commissioner’s Office issues “exemptions” for specified workers to whom employers do not need to pay the overtime rate, such as computer or software employees, state employees, outside salespeople, student nurses, cab drivers and others (see Resources). Employers may require their employees to work overtime.
  
  

Holidays

• California employers have no obligation to pay any special premium or overtime for weekend or holiday employment.
  
  

Deductions

• If an applicant must take a medical exam, post a bond, supply photos, purchase a uniform or in any way lay out expenses as a condition of employment, the employer must cover these expenses and may not subsequently deduct these outlays from the employee’s wages. Only in cases when federal or state laws require or empower the employer to deduct wages, such as to cover insurance premiums or benefit plans, and only when such deductions have been agreed upon (for instance as part of a collective bargaining agreement through a union) may the employer make such deductions.