Till Death Do You Part—Wages Of The Dearly Departed

When an employee dies, employers ask, “Who gets the employee’s wages, and how do I pay them without getting into trouble?” While employers might be tempted to consult the California Labor Code (see discussion of payment of wages to a terminated employee here), under certain circumstances, paying wages earned by a deceased employee is governed by the California Probate Code.

 

Sections 13600-13606 address when and to whom an employer should pay wages owed to a deceased employee. We focus here on cases where the deceased employee has left a surviving spouse. Section 13600 provides a method much more expedient that the usual probate process by which a surviving spouse may receive the wages owed to the deceased spouse. (Other states differ. In New York, for example, employers can make reasonable efforts to contact the administrator of the estate of the deceased employee to pay wages within the time wages generally must be paid).)

 

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