Browse All Terms
A
ABC Test
California's default test for whether a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor. The hiring business must show all three: the worker is free from its control, the work falls outside its usual business, and the worker independently operates their own established trade. Failing any one prong generally means the worker is an employee.
Adverse Employment Action
A materially negative change in the terms or conditions of employment, such as termination, demotion, a pay cut, or a significant change in job duties. An adverse action is a required element of most discrimination and retaliation claims under California law.
Alternative Workweek Schedule
A schedule adopted by a two-thirds employee vote, such as four 10-hour days, that lets an employer avoid daily overtime for hours that would otherwise exceed 8 in a day, provided the specific adoption and notice procedures were followed correctly.
Arbitration Agreement
A contract, often signed at hiring, requiring workplace disputes to be resolved by a private arbitrator instead of in court. California law places limits on how these agreements can be presented and enforced against employees.
At-Will Employment
An employment relationship that either the employer or employee can end at any time, for almost any reason, without needing "just cause." The major exception is that the reason cannot be illegal, such as discrimination or retaliation.
Attorney's Fees
Legal costs for representation that, in certain California employment claims, a losing employer may be required to pay on top of any damages awarded to the employee.
B
Back Pay
Wages and benefits an employee would have earned between an unlawful termination or demotion and the resolution of their claim, often awarded as part of a settlement or judgment.
Bereavement Leave
Job-protected leave following the death of a qualifying family member. California requires covered employers to allow up to 5 days, though the leave itself is not always required to be paid.
Burden of Proof
The obligation to prove a disputed fact. In most California employment claims, the employee must first show enough evidence to support the claim, after which the burden can shift to the employer to provide a legitimate explanation.
C
Cal-WARN Act
The California WARN Act, which requires employers with 75 or more employees to give 60 days' written notice before a mass layoff, relocation, or plant closing at a covered facility.
Cal/OSHA
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency that enforces workplace safety standards and investigates safety-related retaliation complaints.
CFRA
The California Family Rights Act, which provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for family and medical reasons.
Civil Rights Department (CRD)
California's state agency responsible for enforcing FEHA, investigating discrimination and harassment complaints, and issuing right-to-sue notices.
Class Action
A lawsuit brought by one or more employees on behalf of a larger group who experienced the same or similar violation, such as a company-wide wage-and-hour policy.
Compensatory Damages
Money awarded to compensate an employee for actual losses caused by an employer's unlawful conduct, including lost wages and, in some cases, emotional distress.
Constructive Discharge
When working conditions become so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel forced to resign, and the resignation is treated as a termination in the eyes of the law.
Contingency Fee
A fee arrangement where an attorney is paid a percentage of any settlement or award, rather than an hourly rate, so the client pays nothing unless the case succeeds.
D
Damages
Money a court or settlement awards to compensate someone for a legal wrong, which in employment cases can include lost wages, emotional distress, and penalties.
Demand Letter
A formal letter, often sent before litigation, describing an employee's claims against an employer and requesting a specific resolution.
Deposition
Sworn out-of-court testimony given during a lawsuit, where a witness answers questions from opposing counsel while a court reporter records the exchange.
De Minimis Time
A narrow doctrine that once let employers round off very small amounts of regularly recurring unpaid work time. California courts have largely rejected it for wage claims, so even a few minutes of work before or after a shift is generally owed if it happens regularly.
Disparate Impact
A neutral-seeming policy or practice that disproportionately harms a protected group, even without any intent to discriminate.
Disparate Treatment
Intentional discrimination, where an employee is treated worse than others specifically because of a protected characteristic.
DLSE
The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, commonly known as the Labor Commissioner's Office, which handles wage claims and enforces California's wage-and-hour laws.
Domestic Worker
An employee, such as a caregiver, housekeeper, or nanny, who performs work in a private home. California's Domestic Worker Bill of Rights extends overtime and other wage protections to many domestic workers who were historically excluded from them.
E
EDD
California's Employment Development Department, which administers unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and paid family leave benefits.
EEOC
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces federal anti-discrimination laws and accepts discrimination charges.
Emotional Distress Damages
Compensation for psychological harm, such as anxiety or humiliation, caused by an employer's unlawful conduct.
Equal Pay Act
California's law requiring equal pay for employees who perform substantially similar work, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, subject to limited exceptions like seniority or merit systems.
Exempt Employee
An employee who, based on job duties and salary level, is not entitled to overtime pay under California and federal wage-and-hour law.
F
FEHA
The Fair Employment and Housing Act, California's primary state law prohibiting employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on protected characteristics.
Final Paycheck
Wages owed at the end of employment. If you're fired, California law requires immediate payment; if you quit with at least 72 hours' notice, it's due on your last day, and without notice, within 72 hours. Late final paychecks can trigger waiting-time penalties.
FMLA
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons.
Front Pay
Money awarded to compensate for future lost earnings when reinstatement to a former job is not a practical remedy.
G
Good Faith and Fair Dealing
An implied legal duty in employment relationships not to act in ways that unfairly deprive an employee of the benefits of their job, sometimes raised alongside breach of contract claims.
H
Hostile Work Environment
A form of harassment where unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic is severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive or intimidating workplace.
I
Implied Contract
An employment agreement inferred from an employer's conduct, policies, or statements, such as a handbook promising termination only for cause, even without a signed written contract.
Independent Contractor
A worker who is not an employee and is not entitled to the same wage, overtime, and benefit protections. California uses the ABC test to determine whether a worker has been correctly classified.
Interactive Process
The required, good-faith conversation between an employer and an employee about possible reasonable accommodations for a disability.
Itemized Wage Statement
The detailed pay stub California law requires with every paycheck, showing gross wages, hours worked, deductions, pay period dates, and the employer's legal name and address. Missing or inaccurate information can entitle an employee to a separate statutory penalty.
J
Joint Employer
A situation where two or more businesses, such as a staffing agency and the company where an employee actually works, may share legal responsibility for that employee under wage-and-hour law.
L
Labor Code Section 2802
California's business expense reimbursement statute, which generally requires employers to reimburse employees for necessary expenses incurred doing their job, including tools and equipment the employer requires.
Labor Commissioner
The head of California's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and shorthand for the office itself, which handles wage claims and workplace retaliation complaints.
Live-In Employee
A caregiver or domestic worker who resides in the home where they work. Live-in employees are entitled to overtime and other wage protections, though certain rules around hours worked and sleep time can differ from live-out employees.
M
Meal and Rest Breaks
California generally requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 5 hours and paid 10-minute rest breaks for every 4 hours worked, with premium pay owed when breaks are missed.
Mediation
A voluntary process where a neutral third party helps both sides in a dispute try to reach a settlement without going to trial.
Minimum Wage
The lowest hourly rate an employer may pay, set by California law and, in some cities, by local ordinances that exceed the state rate.
Misclassification
Incorrectly labeling a worker as an independent contractor or as exempt from overtime, which can deny that worker wages, benefits, and protections they are legally owed.
N
Non-Compete Agreement
A contract restricting where or for whom an employee can work after leaving a job. California law voids nearly all non-compete agreements against employees, including many signed outside the state.
Non-Disparagement Clause
A contract provision restricting negative statements about a former employer, limited under California's Silenced No More Act when it would prevent discussing unlawful workplace conduct.
Non-Exempt Employee
An employee entitled to overtime pay and meal and rest breaks under California wage-and-hour law, typically paid hourly rather than a fixed salary.
O
On-Duty Meal Period
A paid meal break taken while still working, allowed only when the nature of the job truly prevents an employee from being relieved of all duty and both sides agree to it in writing. It can be revoked by the employee at any time.
Overtime
Extra pay owed for hours worked beyond the standard threshold. California generally requires 1.5 times the regular rate after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day.
P
PAGA
The Private Attorneys General Act, which lets an employee sue as a representative of the state to recover civil penalties for Labor Code violations affecting a group of employees.
Pay Transparency
California requirements, including under SB 1162, that certain employers disclose pay scales in job postings and provide pay data reports.
Personal Attendant
A California wage order classification for someone whose work is primarily supervising, feeding, or dressing a child or person who needs care due to age, illness, or disability. Personal attendants have different overtime rules than most caregivers, so correct classification matters.
Piece-Rate Pay
A pay structure, common in auto repair and other trades, where employees are paid a set amount per job or task rather than by the hour. California requires piece-rate pay to average out to at least minimum wage for every hour worked, with rest and recovery time paid separately.
Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
Job-protected leave for the period an employee is actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, separate from and stackable with CFRA baby-bonding leave.
Preponderance of the Evidence
The standard of proof in most civil employment cases, meaning a claim is more likely true than not, a lower bar than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard used in criminal cases.
Protected Activity
Conduct legally shielded from retaliation, such as reporting discrimination, filing a wage claim, requesting an accommodation, or participating in a workplace investigation.
Protected Class
A group of people sharing a characteristic, such as race, sex, age, disability, or religion, that employment discrimination laws specifically prohibit treating unfavorably.
Public Policy Exception
A limit on at-will employment holding that a termination violates the law when it substantially conflicts with a well-established public policy, even without a written contract.
Punitive Damages
Money awarded, in limited circumstances, to punish an employer for particularly harmful conduct and deter similar conduct in the future, separate from compensating the employee's actual losses.
Q
Quid Pro Quo Harassment
A form of sexual harassment where a job benefit, such as a promotion or continued employment, is conditioned on submitting to unwelcome sexual advances.
R
Reasonable Accommodation
A change to the job or work environment that allows an employee with a disability to perform their job, which FEHA requires unless it would create an undue hardship for the employer.
Reasonable Person Standard
A legal test asking how an objectively reasonable person, not the specific individual involved, would perceive a situation, often used to evaluate harassment and constructive discharge claims.
Release of Claims
A provision, common in severance agreements, where an employee agrees to give up the right to sue over certain claims in exchange for compensation.
Reporting Time Pay
Extra pay owed when an employee shows up for a scheduled shift ready to work but is sent home early or not put to work at all, generally half the scheduled shift (at least 2 hours, up to 4) at the regular rate.
Reproductive Loss Leave
Up to 5 days of leave following a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or unsuccessful assisted reproduction, generally to be taken within 3 months of the event.
Retaliation
An adverse action taken against an employee because they engaged in a legally protected activity, such as reporting discrimination or filing a wage claim.
Right of Publicity
A person's legal right to control the commercial use of their own name, voice, image, and likeness. In California this right survives even after a job ends, and increasingly covers AI-generated "digital replicas" that mimic a real performer without consent.
Right-to-Sue Notice
A letter from a government agency, such as California's Civil Rights Department or the EEOC, that allows an employee to file a lawsuit after an administrative complaint.
Rounding Policy
An employer practice of rounding punch-in and punch-out times to the nearest 5, 10, or 15 minutes. It's only lawful if it's neutral on its face and doesn't, over time, systematically shortchange employees' actual hours worked.
S
Salary History Ban
A California law prohibiting most employers from asking job applicants about their prior salary history.
Settlement Agreement
A binding agreement resolving a dispute, typically involving a payment to the employee in exchange for ending or releasing certain legal claims.
Severance Agreement
An agreement offered when employment ends, typically providing pay or benefits in exchange for the employee releasing certain legal claims against the employer.
Statute of Limitations
The legal deadline for filing a claim. Deadlines vary by claim type in California, so it's worth confirming the specific deadline that applies rather than assuming one timeframe covers every situation.
Suffered or Permitted to Work
California's broad legal test for what counts as compensable "hours worked": any time an employer knows or should know an employee is working, whether or not it was formally scheduled or approved in advance.
T
Tameny Claim
A common law claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, named after the 1980 California Supreme Court case Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co.
Tip Pooling
An arrangement where tips are combined and shared among employees who provide direct table service. Under Labor Code Section 351, tips belong entirely to employees; owners, managers, and supervisors cannot take a share of a tip pool even if they occasionally perform service work.
U
Undue Hardship
A significant difficulty or expense that would justify an employer denying a requested disability accommodation, evaluated based on factors like cost and the employer's size and resources.
Unemployment Insurance
Temporary partial wage replacement for eligible workers who lose their job through no fault of their own, administered in California by the EDD.
W
Wage Order
A regulation issued by California's Industrial Welfare Commission setting minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest break, and other requirements for specific industries or occupations.
Wage Statement Penalty
A separate statutory penalty an employer can owe for issuing inaccurate or incomplete itemized wage statements, on top of whatever unpaid wages the statement failed to reflect correctly.
Waiting-Time Penalty
A penalty of up to 30 days of wages that an employer may owe for willfully failing to pay an employee's final wages on time after separation.
Whistleblower
An employee who reports, or refuses to participate in, conduct they reasonably believe violates a law or regulation, and who is protected from retaliation for doing so under Labor Code Section 1102.5.
Workers' Compensation
A no-fault insurance system providing medical care and partial wage replacement for employees injured on the job, generally in exchange for giving up the right to sue the employer directly for the injury.
Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy
A termination that violates a clear public policy reflected in a statute or constitutional provision, such as firing someone for refusing to break the law.
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