Litigation

California wage laws may affect Northwest employers

By Matt Hedberg

Employers beware:  you may be required to comply with California wage and hour laws if your employees perform work in California.  On November 6, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Sullivan v. Oracle, Corp. that California's Labor Code applies to work performed in California by nonresidents of California.

In Sullivan, the plaintiffs brought an action against Oracle seeking damages under California law for failure to pay overtime.  The plaintiffs were residents of Colorado and Arizona, and performed only a small portion of their work for Oracle in California.  The court engaged in a "choice of law" analysis to determine that California wage and hour laws should apply when residents of Colorado or Arizona perform some work in California.

Although the plaintiff employees were nonresidents of California, Oracle maintained its principal place of business in California.  It is not clear whether the court would reach the same result if the employer was located outside of California and the employees performed only a small portion of their work in California.

Full post as published by Northwest Business Litigation Blog on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).