When employees like actors, crew members, and others working on a movie, TV show, music video, or commercial in California are fired or laid off (because the project ends or their work is done), employers have a little more time to pay them. It also does not matter if the productions are made for entertainment, commercial, religious, or educational purposes for the extra time to apply.
Instead of paying fired employees the same day or employees who quit within 72 hours of receiving notice like most jobs, employers in the television and movie industry have up to the next regular payday to pay the final wages. They also can mail the final payment unlike for most employees who are entitled to have that final check handed to them. Still, industry employers who fail to pay the final earned wages by the next regularly scheduled pay date could owe waiting time penalties measured by employees’ daily wage rate for every day the pay is late up to a maximum of 30 days.
This extended deadline to pay a final check only applies to certain jobs tied directly to a specific production or project for a period of limited time. It doesn’t apply to people who work regular year-round staff positions for the same industry employer. This ode to Hollywood, California, is a special rule recognizes that entertainment jobs often start and end quickly, making it harder for employers to prepare final checks right away.