Definitions

As used in this part: "Appeal board" means the labor and industrial relations [appeals] board. "Department" means the department of labor and industrial relations. "Director" means the director of labor and industrial relations. "Employee" includes any person suffered or permitted to work. "Employer" includes any individual, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, corporation, the personal representative of the estate of a deceased individual, or the receiver, trustee, or successor of any of the same, employing any persons, but shall not include the State or any political subdivision thereof or the United States. "Wages" means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation. It shall include the reasonable cost, as determined by the director under chapter 387, to the employer of furnishing an employee with board, lodging, or other facilities if the board, lodging, or other facilities are customarily furnished by the employer to the employer's employees but shall not include tips or gratuities of any kind.