Bradshaw

In this case, we decide whether the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) govern employment in the Santa Barbara Channel. To decide that question, we must decide, among other things, whether written interpretive policies of the state agency charged with enforcing IWC wage orders constitute regulations within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (Gov. Code, § 11340 et seq.). We conclude that these interpretive policies do constitute regulations and therefore are void because they were not adopted in accordance with the APA. Nevertheless, we conclude that the agency properly exercised its enforcement jurisdiction and that the trial court erred in granting a permanent injunction barring enforcement. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiffs Tidewater Marine Western, Inc. (Tidewater), and Zapata Gulf Pacific, Inc. (Zapata), are maritime firms that transport (or transported) workers and supplies from the California coast to oil-drilling platforms located in the Santa Barbara Channel. Plaintiff Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) is a trade association representing the…