Salaried Employees
Many salaried employees are classified as “exempt” because they are not covered by state and federal minimum wage or overtime laws. An exempt employee who works more than 40 hours in a week, for example, isn’t entitled to overtime pay. However, they are often entitled to full pay if a natural disaster prevents them from working.
Both federal law and California law support this. IIn California, exempt employees must receive a full week’s pay as long as they worked at some point during that week. Other states may have different laws.
Additionally, your employment contract or your employer’s policies may specify that you won’t be paid if you miss work due to wildfires or other disasters. If you believe your employer should pay you, consider consulting a lawyer.
Hourly Employees
Non-exempt workers, which include most hourly workers, are not necessarily entitled to pay if they can’t work due to wildfires or other disasters. In California, employers cannot require employees to enter areas under mandatory evacuation orders. If an hourly employee cannot report to work or must leave work because of wildfires, the employer is not obligated to pay them.
If an hourly employee cannot work but remains under the employer’s “control,” then they have a right to get paid. For example, if hourly employees cannot work because of a wildfire-related power outage, but their employer does not release them to go home, they must get paid.
Hourly workers who lose wages due to wildfire-related business closures may be eligible for unemployment benefits, as explained below.
Self-Employed Individuals
While self-employment offers flexibility, it does not provide employer-paid wages during a disaster. However, self-employed individuals may qualify for unemployment benefits as a form of disaster assistance.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance
Disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) is a federal unemployment program that provides financial relief to workers displaced by a disaster. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) manages DUA requirements, but applications are processed through state unemployment offices. In California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) handles DUA claims.
Eligibility requirements include the following:
- You lost your job due to a presidentially declared disaster;
- You cannot get to your job as a direct result of the disaster; or
- You have a disaster-related injury that prevents you from working.
You must not be eligible for or receive any other unemployment benefits while you receive DUA benefits.
DUA benefits cover unemployment periods during the Disaster Assistance Period (DAP), which begins the first Sunday after the disaster starts and lasts 26 weeks from the president’s disaster declaration.
For example, the Los Angeles wildfires began on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. President Biden declared a disaster on January 8. The DAP began on Sunday, January 12, and will end on Saturday, July 12.
California provides DUA as a weekly benefit. The minimum payment is 50% of the average unemployment benefit from the previous calendar quarter. However, payments may be reduced based on factors such as partial earnings, wage loss insurance, or union benefits.
If you live in California, you can apply for DUA benefits through the EDD website, where you can also check if you qualify for regular unemployment benefits.
This article contains general legal information and does not contain legal advice. Rocket Lawyer is not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. The law is complex and changes often. For legal advice, please ask a lawyer.
