Employers in the entertainment industry know that payroll compliance can be uniquely complicated. Production schedules change, wrap dates move, and crew members may be hired for short stints across multiple projects.

California has a special final pay statute aimed at this reality: Labor Code section 201.5, which sets rules for when and how final wages must be paid to employees “engaged in the production or broadcasting of motion pictures.”

To be sure, California’s final pay rules generally require immediate payment of wages upon an employer’s termination of employment of the employee, or belated payment of up to 72 hours upon an employee’s resignation. Those rules can be difficult to apply in practice in the motion picture industry, where on a production, employees may be hired for brief periods, work on location, separate at wrap, or be subject to force majeure events that affect their employment status.

Section 201.5 provides a specific timetable for final pay timing and delivery for a defined slice of the entertainment world, with respect to individuals employed in these often complex and specialized production and broadcasting roles.

Who is covered?

Section 201.5 applies to employees “engaged in the production or broadcasting of motion pictures”, which is defined by reviewing (a) the employee’s job duties; (b) the type of media involved; and (c) the nature of the hiring arrangement.  First, as to job duties, those include any such job duties that relate to or support the entire life of production—or the facilities or equipment used in production—of motion pictures, such as the early phases of production like development and creation, to later stages like exhibition or broadcasting.  

Second, the definition of “motion pictures” is also expansive, covering any moving images, whether presented by film, commercials, music videos, satellite transmission, Webcast, or other “moving images.”

Lastly, the statute extends this coverage to temporary employees hired for generally the same purposes as above, and employees hired for one or more daily or weekly calls or short-duration projects.  These employees certainly may include on-set crew, production staff, and others whose work is part of a motion picture production or broadcast.

Employers in California must ensure that if they are employing people for video production, even internal educational videos, they are monitoring their compliance with section 201.5 requirements. Coverage questions can arise for different phases of the life cycle of a production (e.g., post-production, publicity, or work performed after principal photography), so employers should evaluate roles and timing carefully.

Final Wages Due

Under the statute, an employee engaged in the production whose employment terminates is entitled to receive payment of the wages earned by the next regular pay day. “Next regular pay day” is defined as the day designated by the employer for payment of wages earned during the payroll period in which the termination occurs, subject to the standard rules for payroll periods found in Labor Code section 204. Employers may pay the wages covered in section 201.5 by mail or at a specified location in the county in which the employee was hired or performed labor, and the date of payment will be considered the day that the wages were either mailed or made available at a specified location, whichever is earlier.

Termination Defined

The law explains that termination for purposes of the law is when the employment relationship ends, whether by discharge, layoff, resignation, completion of employment for a specified term, or otherwise. Unlike the general rule, the law does not distinguish between a voluntary resignation and an involuntary termination for timing of final pay purposes.

Union Considerations

As noted in Labor Code section 204, collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) can affect the terms of both what constitutes a payroll period and when final payments are due within a payroll period.  However, Section 201.5 mandates that any alternative arrangements for final pay cannot exceed the time limitation outlined in Section 204. Thus, employers with employees covered by CBAs should review sections 201.5 and 204 when bargaining to ensure compliance with California law.

Bottom Line

California’s Labor Code section 201.5 recognizes the operational realities of motion picture production and broadcast by providing employers with direction as to how to apply final pay timing laws across this specific category of entertainment employees. However, it does not eliminate final pay risk. Employers that treat wrap and separation as a planned payroll event are best positioned to avoid penalties and disputes.

If your organization regularly hires crew for short engagements, works on location, or scales up quickly for production, now is the time to verify that your final pay practices align with section 201.5 and your broader California wage-and-hour obligations.  Please reach out to your Jackson Lewis attorneys for assistance.