Many businesses shut down for specific periods of time over the holidays. Often this is due to a reduction in the amount of available work and/or a reduction in available staffing. In some cases, such as the entertainment industry, it is a standard practice. However, most businesses are not aware that these types of temporary closings or layoffs can be a trap for the unwary employer. Indeed, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) generally maintains that a temporary layoff must be treated as a termination unless the employee is given a return to work date within the same pay period. Put differently, if an employee is temporarily laid off without a specified return date within the same pay period, the DLSE asserts that all wages owed to the employee should be paid on the day of the layoff. If the employee will return to work for the employer within the same pay period, any wages owed may be paid on the next regular pay day.

Happy holidays!

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked.  So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again.  This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing.  No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits).  But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you.  And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry).  Big news: Copyright 2014.  All rights reserved; yep, all of them.

If you have any questions about this article, contact the writer directly, assuming he or she was brave enough to attach their name to it.  If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq., commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department, at (310) 281-6348.