California · Labor Code

LAB §210: (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.

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

Employers who fail to pay wages owe statutory penalties: $100 per violation initially, or $200 plus 25% of withheld wages for subsequent/willful violations. Penalties are civil, recovered by employees or the Labor Commissioner.

Read the full statutory text
(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. (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.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.