The vocabulary.

Every field earns its shorthand. Ours gets used on people at the worst week of their careers, so here it is in plain terms — each entry linked to the piece that explains it properly.

Adverse action. Something serious an employer does to you — firing, demotion, a stripped territory, a sudden performance plan. The law asks whether it materially affected your job, and it counts a course of smaller acts in the aggregate.

At-will. The default rule: employment can end at any time, without cause. It means the employer needs no reason; it does not mean any reason will do. See “What at-will does not mean.”

CFRA. The California Family Rights Act — twelve protected workweeks for serious health conditions and bonding, at employers of five or more. See the leave primer.

Comparator. Someone outside your protected class, treated better for the same conduct under the same supervisor. Discrimination cases are built on them.

Constructive discharge. A resignation the law treats as a firing, because conditions were intolerable. The bar is high and the timing is everything — advice before resigning, always.

Contingency. A fee arrangement under which attorney fees depend on a recovery. Responsibility for litigation costs is a separate question, including if no recovery occurs. Any arrangement with this office must be established in an engagement agreement; this definition is not an offer of particular fee or cost terms.

Contributing factor. The whistleblower causation standard — your report need only have contributed to the decision. Then the burden shifts to the employer, at a higher standard. See “Four years of Lawson v. PPG.”

CRD. The Civil Rights Department (formerly DFEH) — FEHA’s front door. Most claims must pass through it before court. See the right-to-sue guide.

Exempt. Lawfully outside overtime and break rules — a status earned by a salary floor plus a duties test, never by a title. See “Exempt or not.”

Exhaustion. Completing a required administrative step — the CRD complaint — before filing suit. Some claims require it; section 1102.5 claims do not.

FEHA. The Fair Employment and Housing Act — California’s core anti-discrimination, harassment, and retaliation statute, broader than federal law on nearly every axis.

Interactive process. The individualized, good-faith conversation about accommodating a disability that employers owe — and skip. Skipping it is a claim by itself.

Mediation. A structured settlement negotiation with a neutral, where most employment cases resolve. The decision to settle is always the client’s.

PAGA. The Private Attorneys General Act — a statute deputizing workers to pursue Labor Code penalties on the state’s behalf; rebuilt in 2024, still formidable when pleaded with precision.

Pretext. A stated reason that does not survive inspection — shifting explanations, skipped procedures, timing that tells its own story. The center of most discrimination and retaliation cases.

Premium pay. The extra hour of wages owed for each workday with a noncompliant meal or rest period. It is a wage, it appears on stubs, and it compounds. See the meal-and-rest primer.

Protected activity. Something the law shields you for doing: complaining internally, reporting to an agency, requesting accommodation, discussing pay, refusing an unlawful order. What happens after it is the retaliation case.

Qui tam. A suit brought by a private person — the relator — in the government’s name over fraud on public funds, filed under seal, with a statutory share of the recovery. See “Qui tam, in plain terms.”

Regular rate. The rate overtime and premiums are actually computed on — base pay plus nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, and differentials. Where under-payment hides.

Right-to-sue letter. The CRD’s exit document, which opens the courthouse and starts a one-year clock. Do not request it casually. See the right-to-sue guide.

Severance. Money offered in exchange for a release of claims. A purchase, negotiable, with statutory minimum consideration periods. See the severance guide.

Waiting-time penalty. A day’s wages for each day final pay is late, up to thirty — the Legislature’s opinion of employers who treat your last check as low priority.

Terms are stated as California law as of the site’s revision dates; each linked article carries the detail and the citations.

This article states California law as of its revision date and is analysis, not legal advice. Reading this site does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising.