Personal Service With a Smile: A History of California’s “Seven-Year” Rule

Seven Years Hard Labor [Code]-

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the world’s first national park, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Amnesty Act restoring civil rights to most (but not all) Confederate sympathizers, Boston was devastated by the Great Fire, Calvin Coolidge and Harlan Stone were born, and California enacted Section 1980 of the Civil Code, which read as follows:

A contract to render personal service, other than a contract of apprenticeship, as provided in the chapter on master and servant, cannot be enforced against the employee beyond the term of two years from the commencement of service under it; but if the employee voluntarily continues his service under it beyond that time, the contract may be referred to as affording a presumptive measure of the compensation.

In 1931, the Star-Spangled Banner became the U.S. national anthem, Nevada legalized gambling, the Empire State Building was completed, Europe was in a banking crisis that threatened global financial markets (some things never change), James Earl Jones, James Dean, Mickey Mantle and Rupert Murdoch were born, Thomas Edison died, and Section 1980 of the Civil Code was amended to make the term seven years and to include, in relevant part...