City of Fort Dodge v. Iowa Public Employment Relations Board

I. Even the most restrictive definition of wages does not limit compensation to cash. It is one thing to say wages are usually a payment of money but quite another to say they are always a payment of money.

Our decision in this case does not depend upon whether we adopt the NLRA definition of wages as opposed to the ordinary definition of the word. This is because payment of wages may be made in kind rather than cash even under the ordinary definition. See Pacific American Fisheries, Inc. v. United States, 138 F.2d 464, 465 (9 Cir. 1943) (“Generally speaking, the term wages means compensation…