1. Labor Commissioner's Office

DLSE - Glossary

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Health and Safety Code Section 1596.881

1596.881. No employer shall discharge, demote, or suspend, or threaten to discharge, demote, or suspend, or in any manner discriminate against any employee who takes any of the following actions:

1. Makes any good faith oral or written complaint of the violation of any licensing or other laws by the employer to the State Department of Social Services or other agency having statutory responsibility for enforcement of the law or to the employer or representative of the employer.
2. Institutes, or causes to be instituted, any proceeding against the employer in relation to the violation of any licensing or other laws.
3. Is, or will be, a witness or testify in a proceeding in relation to the violation of any licensing or other laws.
4. Refuses to perform work in violation of a licensing law or regulation after notifying the employer of the violation.

Employees shall be notified in writing at the time of employment of their rights under this chapter, as evidenced by their signature on a notification form outlining actions protected by this section. Forms to be utilized for this purpose shall be kept on file at the facility. The department shall provide each facility with the notification forms, which shall include information regarding enforcement pursuant to relevant Labor Code sections.

"Other laws" for the purposes of this section, includes, but is not limited to, laws relating to staff-child ratios, transportation of children, or child abuse.

healthcare industry

"Healthcare industry" is defined in IWC Orders 4 and 5, and means "hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care and residential care facilities, convalescent care institutions, home health agencies, clinics operating 24-hour per day, and clinics performing surgery, urgent care, radiology, anesthesiology, pathology, neurology or dialysis."

The term "clinic" does not apply to a physician's office unless the office meets the requirements of a "clinic" given above.

holidays

"Holidays" under Government Code Section 19853 means:

January 1 (New Year's Day)

Third Monday in January (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Third Monday in February (President's Day)

March 31 (Cesar Chavez Day)

Last Monday in May (Memorial Day)

July 4 (Independence Day)

First Monday in September (Labor Day)

November 11 (Veteran's Day)

Thanksgiving Day

Day after Thanksgiving

December 25 (Christmas)

Other days designated by the governor for a public fast, thanksgiving, or holiday.

In addition to the above, under Government Code Section 6700 every Sunday is considered a "holiday," and under Code of Civil Procedure Section 12a, "holiday" means all day on Saturdays.

The significance of which days are "holidays" is that whenever any act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, is appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, it may be performed upon the next business day with the same effect as if it had been performed upon the day appointed. Thus, for example, if the regularly scheduled payday is the 20^th of the month, and the 20^th falls on a Sunday, the wages for that payroll period may be paid on Monday.

Just because a day is designated by the state as a "holiday," does not mean that an employee automatically gets that day off. Time off from work on a holiday, with or without pay, is entirely (1) at the discretion of the employer, or (2) pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining or similar type of agreement, or (3) pursuant to the terms of a private agreement between the employer and employee.

And just because an employee works on a holiday does not mean that the employer must pay the employee at a rate other than the employee's regular rate of pay, as any premium pay to reward the employee for working on the holiday is entirely (1) at the discretion of the employer, or (2) pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining or similar type of agreement, or (3) pursuant to the terms of a private agreement between the employer and employee.

And if an employee gets a paid day off for a holiday, such day is not counted for determining overtime for that workweek as no hours were worked on the holiday.

hours worked

The time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, including all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.

household occupations

"Household occupations" means all services related to the care of persons or maintenance of a private household or its premises by an employee of a private householder. Said occupations shall include, but not be limited to, the following: butlers, chauffeurs, companions, cooks, day workers, gardeners, graduate nurses, grooms, house cleaners, housekeepers, maids, practical nurses, tutors, valets, and other similar occupations.