Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., S224611

Labor law in California: Wage and hour claims: Conditions of labor:

The provisions of the Labor Code are not to be construed in isolation, but in harmony with a second set of rules governing employment. The Legislature established the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) a century ago to regulate and protect the working conditions of women and minors. (Martinez v. Combs (2010) 49 Cal.4th 35, 54–55.) The IWC carried out that mission by adopting a series of wage orders, quasi-legislative enactments establishing minimum wages, maximum work hours, and conditions of labor. (Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (2016) 63 Cal.4th 1, 10; accord, Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1026.) As a result, wage and hour claims are today governed by two complementary and occasionally overlapping sources of authority: the provisions of the Labor Code, enacted by the Legislature, and a series of 18 wage orders, adopted by the IWC. (Brinker Restaurant Corp., at p. 1026.)

Our role in interpreting the IWC wage orders and reconciling them with the Labor Code is settled: The IWC‘s wage orders are to be accorded the same dignity as statutes. They are presumptively valid legislative regulations of the employment relationship, regulations that must be given independent effect separate and apart from any statutory enactments. To the extent a wage order and a statute overlap, we will seek to harmonize them, as we would with any two statutes. (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, supra, 53 Cal.4th at p. 1027.)

In 1976, (…) the Legislature expanded the IWC‘s jurisdiction to include adult men (see California Hotel & Motel Assn. v. Industrial Welfare Com. (1979) 25 Cal.3d 200, 207).

(Cal. S.C., May 8, 2017, Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., S224611).

Le droit du travail californien a sa source principale dans le Code du travail, mais, surtout s'agissant des questions d'heures de travail et de temps de travail, il s'agit de consulter également les ordonnances rendues par l'Industrial Welfare Commission, qui ont pour ainsi dire la même valeur que les lois au sens formel promulguées par le législateur de l'état. Ces ordonnances régissaient d'abord les conditions de travail des femmes et des mineurs. Depuis 1976, elles s'appliquent également aux hommes majeurs.