Lodging will not be credited toward minimum wage unless the accommodation (which cannot require the employee to share a bed) is available for full-time occupancy and is adequate, decent, and sanitary according to usual and customary standards. 48Īny meal not received and any lodging not used may not be deducted from minimum wage. 49 With an employee’s consent, an employer may furnish meals or lodging to an employee as compensation, and that may count that compensation toward satisfaction of California’s minimum wage law. 44Ĭalifornia regulations set limits on the value of a meal (depending on whether it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner) and lodging (depending on whether it is a room or apartment) that may be credited toward an employer’s minimum wage obligation. 45Ī meal will not be credited toward minimum wage unless it is “an adequate, well-balanced serving of a variety of wholesome, nutritious foods.” 46 The meal (whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner) must be consistent with the employee’s work shift. 47 Allowing employers to pay less than minimum wage in any pay period would burden employees by forcing them to wait to receive the full wages they earned. 41 The California Supreme Court has noted that this interpretation is consistent with the purpose of the minimum wage law. A commission in one pay period cannot be used to cover shortfall in an earlier pay period. 40 In some pay periods, the payment of commissions will satisfy the requirement to pay minimum wage in that period-provided, of course, that the commissions at least equal the minimum wage times the number of hours worked in that pay period.īut if the commission earned in a given pay period does not satisfy the minimum wage, the employer will have to pay sufficient wages to make the employee’s hourly wage consistent with California’s minimum wage laws. When a commission has been earned is usually determined by the employment agreement. 38 The timing of when commissions are “earned” can create problems for the minimum wage-employees might go months without having “earned” their commission on a sale.Įmployees must be paid at least the minimum wage in every pay period, even if the commissions they have earned that pay period fall below that amount. 39 With a few exceptions, 36 employees who are paid by commission must be paid at least twice a month. 37 Commissions, however, do not need to be paid until they have been earned. So, in California, for each hour of work that is not compensated by a piece-rate wage (that is, time spent waiting for work), the employee must receive additional compensation of no less than the minimum wage. Most California courts have found that California law does not permit minimum wage compensation for piece-rate workers to be based on “pay averaging.” 33 Instead, they have held that a piece rate compensates the employee for time spent performing a specific task, but not for the other hours an employee is at work. 34Īs such, California law entitles an employee to minimum wage for each hour an employee is required to be at work, even if the employee is paid a higher piece-rate wage for hours that the employee devotes to a specific task. 35 In the example of a technician who is paid a flat rate for repairs, federal law would allow the employer to add up the piece-rate compensation earned during the week, to divide that sum by the number of hours that the employee was required to be at work during the week, and to pay nothing extra if the result equals more than the minimum wage. 32 This is known as pay averaging. That technician is considered to be paid on a piece-rate basis.
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