Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis
Ward: California Wage Statements Turn on the Employee’s Principal Place of Work
Decision: Ward v. United Airlines, Inc., No. S248702 (Cal. June 29, 2020).
Ward v. United Airlines, Inc. answered questions from the Ninth Circuit about pilots and flight attendants who lived in California but performed work across many jurisdictions for an airline based elsewhere.
Residence alone was not the governing test
California residence does not automatically make every wage statement subject to Cal. Lab. Code § 226. The court applied a principal-place-of-work test to section 226 wage statements, not a single geographic rule for every California employment law.
A majority-of-work rule applies first
An employee who performs a majority of work in California has California as the principal place of work. That provides a direct territorial basis for applying the state’s wage-statement requirements.
Operational base resolves many interstate cases
When an interstate transportation worker performs no majority of work in any one state, the test is satisfied if the worker performs some work in California and is based here for work. The base is the physical reporting location where the worker begins work, not simply a California residence. Ward, slip opinion, pages 26–27 and footnote 9.
The wage-order exemption did not erase the statutory right
Wage Order 9 exempts certain employees covered by Railway Labor Act collective-bargaining agreements. The court held that this exemption did not remove the separate wage-statement duties imposed by Labor Code section 226. On June 29, 2020, the California Supreme Court answered the Ninth Circuit’s certified questions; it did not decide the federal appeals or order a particular employee’s recovery. Ward, slip opinion, pages 5–14, 35–36.
Key takeaways
- Calculate work time by state before applying California law.
- Identify the employee’s operational base when no state has a majority.
- Do not substitute residence for principal place of work.
- Apply this geographic test to section 226 wage statements; analyze other statutes separately.
Review Interstate Wage Statements and Work Records
Our firm evaluates paystub records, work location logs, flight or route schedules, and base-of-operations documentation under California Labor Code § 226. Call (949) 343-9735 or email office@mishrax.com to review your records.