24 | 2024 Cal-Peculiarities ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com 1.5.4 The DLSE Manual In 2002, the DLSE published a comprehensive Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual—available online and subject to periodic updates.46 DLSE interpretations typically favor the view of the law that is most onerous for employers. The Manual itself deserves no judicial respect, as it amounts to an “underground regulation”—an administrative pronouncement that an agency issues without giving notice of a proposed regulation and an opportunity for the public to comment.47 The Manual is very useful, however, to the extent that it summarizes opinion letters (discussed immediately below) that the DLSE has issued in specific situations. 1.5.5 DLSE opinion letters The DLSE has issued opinion letters in response to particular situations presented by individual employees and employers. The amount of judicial deference owed to DLSE opinion letters is unclear. DLSE opinion letters are advice in specific cases only. Nonetheless, California courts state that the “DLSE’s interpretation of an IWC [wage] order is entitled to great weight.”48 A court seems to adopt or reject the reasoning of a DLSE opinion letter depending on whether the court independently finds the DLSE’s reasoning persuasive.49 1.5.6 Compliance Monitoring Unit The DLSE’s Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) focuses on enforcing prevailing wage requirements on public works. Awarding bodies must notify the CMU, through the Public Works Chapter, each time a public works contract is awarded. 1.5.7 Labor Commission enforcement authority The Labor Commissioner can hold hearings to determine whether an employer is liable for civil penalties.50 Under legislation called “A Fair Day’s Pay Act,” the Labor Commissioner can conduct hearings to determine whether a “person acting on behalf of an employer” should be held personally liable for an employer’s violations, and can seek payment from successor employers. The Labor Commissioner can file liens on property in California for unpaid wages and the other compensation, penalties, and interest owed to an employee.51 The Labor Commissioner can enforce local laws regarding overtime and minimum wage provisions and issue citations and penalties for violations, provided the local entity has not already cited the employer for the same violation. The Labor Commissioner can also issue citations and penalties to employers who violate the expense-reimbursement provisions of Labor Code section 2802.52 The Labor Commissioner or an employee may seek injunctive relief—such as reinstatement pending a claim— upon a mere finding of “reasonable cause” that a violation of the law has occurred.53 The Labor Commissioner may also issue citations to persons it determines to be responsible for violations, directing specific relief.54 The Labor Commission has been given expanded authority as of 2020. New legislation has expanded the appeal and enforcement mechanisms available when the Labor Commissioner cites an employer for violating the Labor Code’s anti-retaliation provisions.55 And the Labor Commissioner can cite employers for failure to pay contract wages when the employer has paid an employee below minimum wage.56 1.6 Employment Development Department (EDD) 1.6.1 General administration The EDD collects payroll taxes for the state and administers programs concerning Job Service, Unemployment Insurance, State Disability Insurance (SDI), Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits, the Workforce Investment Act, and the Welfare-to-Work program.
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