An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 6 – Wage And Hour Laws

C HAPTER 6 – W AGE A ND H OUR L AWS

Section 1 I NTRODUCTION Wage and hour laws are one of the most important – and misunderstood – areas affecting California private schools. The laws in California differ from other states. Moreover, California wage and hour law is typically more restrictive than its federal counterpart. Schools need to proceed with extreme caution! Schools are governed by both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the California Labor Code, and any applicable local city or county ordinance. In addition, eighteen Wage Orders issued by the now-defunded California Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”), 479 formerly part of the California Department of Industrial Relations, still govern the wages, hours, and working conditions of employees in California. Private schools are most commonly covered by the following Wage Orders:  Minimum Wage Order;  IWC Order No. 4-2001 for Professional, Technical, Clerical, Mechanical and similar occupations; IWC Wage Order No. 5-2001 for the Public Housekeeping Industry may also apply to private schools that offer health services (e.g. school nurse) and boarding facilities (e.g. dormitory). All California wage orders may be viewed at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/iwc/wageorderindustries.htm . Both federal and state laws establish the minimum wage, minimum overtime compensation, recordkeeping and posting requirements, and child labor standards. Although the federal and state laws largely overlap in these areas, there are some key differences between federal and state laws. As a general rule, when federal and state law overlap, the law that is more favorable to the employee applies, which is usually California law. For example, the Labor Code sets a higher minimum wage than the FLSA. 480 Some schools may also be subject to a local minimum wage ordinance in their city or county. Consequently, schools must pay employees the higher wage. We will highlight significant differences between federal and state laws in this section.  IWC Order No. 9-2001 for the Transportation Industry; and  IWC Order No. 17-2001 for Miscellaneous Employees.

W HO I S C OVERED B Y W AGE A ND H OUR L AWS ?

Section 2

A. I NTRODUCTION T O C OVERAGE I SSUES State wage laws apply to all employees who work in private industry. Private schools are considered a private industry even if they are a non-profit or religious organization. 481 Thus, before a private school attempts to comply with the wage laws with respect to a particular

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 146