California generally does not require that employers measure wages in a certain way. California only requires that the wages are at least equivalent to or greater than the applicable minimum and overtime wage rules for all hours worked unless an employer establishes that an exemption applies. The amount of money may be a fixed sum, or determined by standard of time, task, piece, commission or other method of calculation.
Wages determined by a standard of time might be by the hour, day, week, month, or year like a typical hourly wage for a nonexempt cashier or a salary for an exempt CEO of a company.
Wages ascertained by a task or piece are wages paid according to the number of units turned out, which is called piece-rate. The piece rate must be based upon a known figure paid for completing each task or making each particular piece of goods. For example, a factory worker may be paid an amount per widget completed, a technician paid an amount per telephone installed, or a nurse paid per procedure performed.
Finally, commission is compensation based on a percentage of a sale paid to a worker for services rendered in the sale of the employer’s goods or services.