LABOR LAWS AND DANCERS- WHAT ARE THE LAWS AND HOW THEY APPLY.


Exotic Dancers have fought and won many class actions lawsiuts as well as individulal law suits against
the dance club owners over the years. Exotic Dancers have also filed and won almost 200 wage and
hour violations with the Calfinfornia State Labor Commission as a means to seek economic justice.

The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women has recently written proposed legislation
that would include the revoking and/or suspending of dance club operators' permits to conduct business if a violation of
the following sections of California State Labor code has been violated; Section 201, 202, 203,221,222,223,226,351,353,432.5, 450, 510, 1174,1198,2802

Link for California Labor Code 200 through 243
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=05687313414+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

201. (a) If an employer discharges an employee, the wages earned
and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.
An employer who lays off a group of employees by reason of the
termination of seasonal employment in the curing, canning, or drying
of any variety of perishable fruit, fish or vegetables, shall be
deemed to have made immediate payment when the wages of said
employees are paid within a reasonable time as necessary for
computation and payment thereof; provided, however, that the
reasonable time shall not exceed 72 hours, and further provided that
payment shall be made by mail to any employee who so requests and
designates a mailing address therefor.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state employer
shall be deemed to have made an immediate payment of wages under
this section for any unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave,
holiday leave, or time off to which the employee is entitled by
reason of previous overtime work where compensating time off was
given by the appointing power, provided, at least five workdays prior
to his or her final day of employment, the employee submits a
written election to his or her appointing power authorizing the state
employer to tender payment for any or all leave to be contributed on
a pretax basis to the employee's account in a state-sponsored
supplemental retirement plan as described under Sections 401(k), 403
(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code provided the plan allows
those contributions. The contribution shall be tendered for payment
to the employee's 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account no later than
45 days after the employee's discharge from employment. Nothing in
this section is intended to authorize contributions in excess of the
annual deferral limits imposed under federal and state law or the
provisions of the supplemental retirement plan itself.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when the state
employer discharges an employee, the employee may, at least five
workdays prior to his or her final day of employment, submit a
written election to his or her appointing power authorizing the state
employer to defer into the next calendar year payment of any or all
of the employee's unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave,
holiday leave, or time off to which the employee is entitled by
reason of previous overtime work where compensating time off was
given by the appointing power. To qualify for the deferral of
payment under this section, only that portion of leave that extends
past the November pay period for state employees shall be deferred
into the next calendar year. An employee electing to defer payment
into the next calendar year under this section may do any of the
following:
(1) Contribute the entire payment to his or her 401(k), 403(b), or
457 plan account.
(2) Contribute any portion of the deferred payment to his or her
401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account and receive cash payment for the
remaining noncontributed unused leave.
(3) Receive a lump-sum payment for all of the deferred unused
leave as described above.
Payments shall be tendered under this section no later than
February 1 in the year following the employee's last day of
employment. Nothing in this section is intended to authorize
contributions in excess of the annual deferral limits imposed under
federal and state law or the provisions of the supplemental
retirement plan itself.

202. (a) If an employee not having a written contract for a
definite period quits his or her employment, his or her wages shall
become due and payable not later than 72 hours thereafter, unless the
employee has given 72 hours previous notice of his or her intention
to quit, in which case the employee is entitled to his or her wages
at the time of quitting. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
an employee who quits without providing a 72-hour notice shall be
entitled to receive payment by mail if he or she so requests and
designates a mailing address. The date of the mailing shall
constitute the date of payment for purposes of the requirement to
provide payment within 72 hours of the notice of quitting.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state employer
shall be deemed to have made an immediate payment of wages under
this section for any unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave,
holiday leave, sick leave to which the employee is otherwise entitled
due to a disability retirement, or time off to which the employee is
entitled by reason of previous overtime work where compensating time
off was given by the appointing power, provided at least five
workdays prior to his or her final day of employment, the employee
submits a written election to his or her appointing power authorizing
the state employer to tender payment for any or all leave to be
contributed on a pretax basis to the employee's account in a
state-sponsored supplemental retirement plan as described under
Sections 401(k), 403(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code provided
the plan allows those contributions. The contribution shall be
tendered for payment to the employee's 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan
account no later than 45 days after the employee's last day of
employment. Nothing in this section is intended to authorize
contributions in excess of the annual deferral limits imposed under
federal and state law or the provisions of the supplemental
retirement plan itself.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a state
employee quits, retires, or disability retires from his or her
employment with the state, the employee may, at least five workdays
prior to his or her final day of employment, submit a written
election to his or her appointing power authorizing the state
employer to defer into the next calendar year payment of any or all
of the employee's unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave,
holiday leave, sick leave to which the employee is otherwise entitled
due to a disability, retirement, or time off to which the employee
is entitled by reason of previous overtime work where compensating
time off was given by the appointing power. To qualify for the
deferral of payment under this section, only that portion of leave
that extends past the November pay period for state employees shall
be deferred into the next calendar year under this section may do any
of the following:
(1) Contribute the entire payment to his or her 401(k), 403(b), or
457 plan account.
(2) Contribute any portion of the deferred payment to his or her
401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account and receive cash payment for the
remaining noncontributed unused leave.
(3) Receive a lump-sum payment for all of the deferred unused
leave as described above.
Payments shall be tendered under this section no later than
February 1 in the year following the employee's last day of
employment. Nothing in this section is intended to authorize
contributions in excess of the annual deferral limits imposed under
federal and state law or the provisions of the supplemental
retirement plan itself.

203. If an employer willfully fails to pay, without abatement or
reduction, in accordance with Sections 201, 201.5, 202, and 205.5,
any wages of an employee who is discharged or who quits, the wages of
the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof
at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced;
but the wages shall not continue for more than 30 days. An employee
who secretes or absents himself or herself to avoid payment to him
or her, or who refuses to receive the payment when fully tendered to
him or her, including any penalty then accrued under this section, is
not entitled to any benefit under this section for the time during
which he or she so avoids payment.
Suit may be filed for these penalties at any time before the
expiration of the statute of limitations on an action for the wages
from which the penalties arise.

221. It shall be unlawful for any employer to collect or receive
from an employee any part of wages theretofore paid by said employer
to said employee.


222. It shall be unlawful, in case of any wage agreement arrived at
through collective bargaining, either wilfully or unlawfully or with
intent to defraud an employee, a competitor, or any other person, to
withhold from said employee any part of the wage agreed upon.

222.5. No person shall withhold or deduct from the compensation of
any employee, or require any prospective employee or applicant for
employment to pay, any fee for, or cost of, any pre-employment
medical or physical examination taken as a condition of employment,
nor shall any person withhold or deduct from the compensation of any
employee, or require any employee to pay any fee for, or costs of,
medical or physical examinations required by any law or regulation of
federal, state or local governments or agencies thereof.

223. Where any statute or contract requires an employer to maintain
the designated wage scale, it shall be unlawful to secretly pay a
lower wage while purporting to pay the wage designated by statute or
by contract.

226. (a) Every employer shall, semimonthly or at the time of each
payment of wages, furnish each of his or her employees, either as a
detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's
wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal check or cash,
an accurate itemized statement in writing showing (1) gross wages
earned, (2) total hours worked by the employee, except for any
employee whose compensation is solely based on a salary and who is
exempt from payment of overtime under subdivision (a) of Section 515
or any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, (3) the
number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if
the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis, (4) all deductions,
provided that all deductions made on written orders of the employee
may be aggregated and shown as one item, (5) net wages earned, (6)
the inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid, (7)
the name of the employee and his or her social security number,
except that by January 1, 2008, only the last four digits of his or
her social security number or an employee identification number other
than a social security number may be shown on the itemized
statement, (8) the name and address of the legal entity that is the
employer, and (9) all applicable hourly rates in effect during the
pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each
hourly rate by the employee. The deductions made from payments of
wages shall be recorded in ink or other indelible form, properly
dated, showing the month, day, and year, and a copy of the statement
or a record of the deductions shall be kept on file by the employer
for at least three years at the place of employment or at a central
location within the State of California.
(b) An employer that is required by this code or any regulation
adopted pursuant to this code to keep the information required by
subdivision (a) shall afford current and former employees the right
to inspect or copy the records pertaining to that current or former
employee, upon reasonable request to the employer. The employer may
take reasonable steps to assure the identity of a current or former
employee. If the employer provides copies of the records, the actual
cost of reproduction may be charged to the current or former
employee.
(c) An employer who receives a written or oral request to inspect
or copy records pursuant to subdivision (b) pertaining to a current
or former employee shall comply with the request as soon as
practicable, but no later than 21 calendar days from the date of the
request. A violation of this subdivision is an infraction.
Impossibility of performance, not caused by or a result of a
violation of law, shall be an affirmative defense for an employer in
any action alleging a violation of this subdivision. An employer may
designate the person to whom a request under this subdivision will be
made.
(d) This section does not apply to any employer of any person
employed by the owner or occupant of a residential dwelling whose
duties are incidental to the ownership, maintenance, or use of the
dwelling, including the care and supervision of children, or whose
duties are personal and not in the course of the trade, business,
profession, or occupation of the owner or occupant.
(e) An employee suffering injury as a result of a knowing and
intentional failure by an employer to comply with subdivision (a) is
entitled to recover the greater of all actual damages or fifty
dollars ($50) for the initial pay period in which a violation occurs
and one hundred dollars ($100) per employee for each violation in a
subsequent pay period, not exceeding an aggregate penalty of four
thousand dollars ($4,000), and is entitled to an award of costs and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(f) A failure by an employer to permit a current or former
employee to inspect or copy records within the time set forth in
subdivision (c) entitles the current or former employee or the Labor
Commissioner to recover a seven-hundred-fifty-dollar ($750) penalty
from the employer.
(g) An employee may also bring an action for injunctive relief to
ensure compliance with this section, and is entitled to an award of
costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
(h) This section does not apply to the state, to any city, county,
city and county, district, or to any other governmental entity,
except that if the state or a city, county, city and county,
district, or other governmental entity furnishes its employees with a
check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's wages, the state or a
city, county, city and county, district, or other governmental
entity shall, by January 1, 2008, use no more than the last four
digits of the employee's social security number or shall use an
employee identification number other than the social security number
on the itemized statement provided with the check, draft, or voucher.


Link for California Labor Code 351-356
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=05808422742+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

351. No employer or agent shall collect, take, or receive any
gratuity or a part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an
employee by a patron, or deduct any amount from wages due an employee
on account of a gratuity, or require an employee to credit the
amount, or any part thereof, of a gratuity against and as a part of
the wages due the employee from the employer. Every gratuity is
hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees
to whom it was paid, given, or left for. An employer that permits
patrons to pay gratuities by credit card shall pay the employees the
full amount of the gratuity that the patron indicated on the credit
card slip, without any deductions for any credit card payment
processing fees or costs that may be charged to the employer by the
credit card company. Payment of gratuities made by patrons using
credit cards shall be made to the employees not later than the next
regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit
card payment.

353. Every employer shall keep accurate records of all gratuities
received by him, whether received directly from the employee or
indirectly by means of deductions from the wages of the employee or
otherwise. Such records shall be open to inspection at all
reasonable hours by the department.

354. Any employer who violates any provision of this article is
guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment for not exceeding 60
days, or both.

Link for California Labor Code 432.5
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=05776520401+3+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

432.5. No employer, or agent, manager, superintendent, or officer
thereof, shall require any employee or applicant for employment to
agree, in writing, to any term or condition which is known by such
employer, or agent, manager, superintendent, or officer thereof to be

Link for California Labor Code 450
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=lab&codebody=450&hits=20

450. (a) No employer, or agent or officer thereof, or other person,
may compel or coerce any employee, or applicant for employment, to
patronize his or her employer, or any other person, in the purchase
of any thing of value.
(b) For purposes of this section, to compel or coerce the purchase
of any thing of value includes, but is not limited to, instances
where an employer requires the payment of a fee or consideration of
any type from an applicant for employment for any of the following
purposes:
(1) For an individual to apply for employment orally or in
writing.
(2) For an individual to receive, obtain, complete, or submit an
application for employment.
(3) For an employer to provide, accept, or process an application
for employment.

Link for California Labor Code 510
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=05839828106+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

510. (a) Eight hours of labor constitutes a day's work. Any work
in excess of eight hours in one workday and any work in excess of 40
hours in any one workweek and the first eight hours worked on the
seventh day of work in any one workweek shall be compensated at the
rate of no less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay
for an employee. Any work in excess of 12 hours in one day shall be
compensated at the rate of no less than twice the regular rate of pay
for an employee. In addition, any work in excess of eight hours on
any seventh day of a workweek shall be compensated at the rate of no
less than twice the regular rate of pay of an employee. Nothing in
this section requires an employer to combine more than one rate of
overtime compensation in order to calculate the amount to be paid to
an employee for any hour of overtime work. The requirements of this
section do not apply to the payment of overtime compensation to an
employee working pursuant to any of the following:
(1) An alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to Section
511.
(2) An alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to a
collective bargaining agreement pursuant to Section 514.
(3) An alternative workweek schedule to which this chapter is
inapplicable pursuant to Section 554.
(b) Time spent commuting to and from the first place at which an
employee's presence is required by the employer shall not be
considered to be a part of a day's work, when the employee commutes
in a vehicle that is owned, leased, or subsidized by the employer and
is used for the purpose of ridesharing, as defined in Section 522 of
the Vehicle Code.
(c) This section does not affect, change, or limit an employer's
liability under the workers' compensation law.

Link to California Labor Code 1174

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=lab&codebody=1174&hits=20

1174. Every person employing labor in this state shall:
(a) Furnish to the commission, at its request, reports or
information that the commission requires to carry out this chapter.
The reports and information shall be verified if required by the
commission or any member thereof.
(b) Allow any member of the commission or the employees of the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement free access to the place of
business or employment of the person to secure any information or
make any investigation that they are authorized by this chapter to
ascertain or make. The commission may inspect or make excerpts,
relating to the employment of employees, from the books, reports,
contracts, payrolls, documents, or papers of the person.
(c) Keep a record showing the names and addresses of all employees
employed and the ages of all minors.
(d) Keep, at a central location in the state or at the plants or
establishments at which employees are employed, payroll records
showing the hours worked daily by and the wages paid to, and the
number of piece-rate units earned by and any applicable piece rate
paid to, employees employed at the respective plants or
establishments. These records shall be kept in accordance with rules
established for this purpose by the commission, but in any case
shall be kept on file for not less than two years.

1174.5. Any person employing labor who willfully fails to maintain
the records required by subdivision (c) of Section 1174 or accurate
and complete records required by subdivision (d) of Section 1174, or
to allow any member of the commission or employees of the division to
inspect records pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1174, shall
be subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500).


Link to California Labor Code 1198

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=0587733572+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

1198. The maximum hours of work and the standard conditions of
labor fixed by the commission shall be the maximum hours of work and
the standard conditions of labor for employees. The employment of
any employee for longer hours than those fixed by the order or under
conditions of labor prohibited by the order is unlawful.


Link to California Labor Code 2802

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=0589285234+2+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

2802. (a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all
necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct
consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her
obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful,
unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed
them to be unlawful.
(b) All awards made by a court or by the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement for reimbursement of necessary expenditures
under this section shall carry interest at the same rate as judgments
in civil actions. Interest shall accrue from the date on which the
employee incurred the necessary expenditure or loss.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term "necessary expenditures
or losses" shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not
limited to, attorney's fees incurred by the employee enforcing the
rights granted by this section.