Requirements of employers under the labour code

Abstract

This article provides guidance to employers and managers regarding their obligations under the California State Labour Code. Federal labour laws will be discussed as these two bodies of law are closely related in some areas as the state code has flowed from federal legislation. The state labour code imposes requirements on hiring and firing, employee benefits and wages, collective bargaining and worker health and safety. The article confines itself to the statutory scheme of the state labour code and how it is interpreted by courts and scholars. Case law imposes additional requirements upon the employer‐employee relationship in California but this is outside the scope of this article. The source of most of the information contained herein has come from the code itself as supplemented by cases and scholarly commentary. The article will only deal with California law and therefore may be inapplicable to other states.