California Labor Code 1179 allots a $50 per diem plus travel expenses to wage board members during conferences. The duty of a wage board is to review and recommend changes for the wages and working conditions of certain industries in the state.
The full text of the statute reads as follows:
1179. The members of the wage board shall be allowed fifty dollars ($50) per diem and necessary traveling expenses while engaged in such conferences. The commission shall make rules governing the number and selection of the members and the mode of procedure of the wage board, and shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction over all questions as to the validity of the procedure.
Legal Analysis
California Labor Code 1179 provides travel expenses plus a $50 per diem to members of California wage boards.1 The purpose of wage boards is to investigate whether the wages and working conditions of certain trades and industries are adequate. Wage boards hold at least one public hearing on the issue it is investigating.
At the end of the investigation, wage boards make recommendations to the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC). The IWC must adopt any proposed regulations supported by two-thirds of the wage board unless it finds there is no substantial evidence to support the recommendation.2
Currently, the IWC is not operational. The Division of Fair Labor Standards (DFLS) is enforcing the IWC’s former wage orders. But the California legislature can vote to refund the IWC at any time.3
If you have a wage and hour dispute, call our California labor and employment attorneys for help.
Legal References
- California Labor Code 1179 – Per diem and expenses of members; Rules; Jurisdiction. 8 CCR 11535.
- California Labor Code 1178.5.
- , “Governors in these states can give workers a raise with the stroke of a pen: “Wage board” laws in Colorado, California, and New Jersey let an entire sector’s wages go up at once“, Vox (July 19, 2019).