Can Earned Wages Due on Weekends Be Paid the Next Weekday?
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In recent news, the court held that earned wages due on weekends can generally be paid the next weekday.
The Case: Parsons v. Estenson Logistics
The Court: Sacramento Superior Court
The Case No.: 34-2018-00247176-CU-OE-GDS
The Plaintiff: Parsons v. Estenson Logistics
The plaintiff in the case, Mr. Parsons, received pay through the company’s weekly pay period running from Sunday through the following Saturday. Parsons alleged that the delay between the end of the pay period and when the employer issued payment to employees violated Labor Code section 204, subdivision (d).
The Defendant: Parsons v. Estenson Logistics
The defendant in the case, Estenson Logistics, had a standard practice to pay their employees on the second Monday after the pay period (aka typically nine calendar days after the pay period). Parsons v. Estenson Logistics clarifies a gray area and provides California employers with common sense flexibility for paying earned wages when a payday falls on a weekend.
The Case: Parsons v. Estenson Logistics
When the Court disagreed with the plaintiff’s argument that the delay in payment was a legal violation, they reasoned that California Code of Civil Procedure section 12a (Section 12a) governed the employer’s timely payment obligations (under Labor Code § 204); and that since Section 12a extends deadlines falling on holidays to the following non-holiday, Estenson’s practice of paying their employees on Monday after the weekend deadline for payment was a legal practice. In Parsons v. Estenson Logistics, the court held that when weekly-paid wages are due on a weekend or a holiday, they can legally be paid on the next day that is not a holiday. In essence, the Court set forth a common-sense “exception” to the seemingly inflexible rules about the timely payment of employee wages in California.
If you have questions about how to file a California wage and hour lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced wage and hour attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.
