(a) In addition to, and entirely independent and apart from, any other penalty provided in this article, every person who fails to pay the wages of each employee as provided in Sections 201.3, 204, 204b, 204.1, 204.2, 204.11, 205, 205.5, and 1197.5, shall be subject to a penalty as follows:

(1) For any initial violation, one hundred dollars ($100) for each failure to pay each employee.

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Terms Used In California Labor Code 210

  • Labor: includes labor, work, or service whether rendered or performed under contract, subcontract, partnership, station plan, or other agreement if the labor to be paid for is performed personally by the person demanding payment. See California Labor Code 200
  • Labor Commissioner: means Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. See California Labor Code 21
  • Person: means any person, association, organization, partnership, business trust, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Labor Code 18
  • Violation: includes a failure to comply with any requirement of the code. See California Labor Code 22
  • Wages: includes all amounts for labor performed by employees of every description, whether the amount is fixed or ascertained by the standard of time, task, piece, commission basis, or other method of calculation. See California Labor Code 200

(2) For each subsequent violation, or any willful or intentional violation, two hundred dollars ($200) for each failure to pay each employee, plus 25 percent of the amount unlawfully withheld.

(b) The penalty shall either be recovered by the employee as a statutory penalty pursuant to Section 98 or by the Labor Commissioner as a civil penalty through the issuance of a citation or pursuant to Section 98.3. The procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations issued by the Labor Commissioner under this section shall be the same as those set forth in subdivisions (b) through (k), inclusive, of Section 1197.1.

(c) An employee is only entitled to either recover the statutory penalty provided for in this section or to enforce a civil penalty as set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 2699, but not both, for the same violation.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 716, Sec. 1. (AB 673) Effective January 1, 2020.)

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