Meal & Rest Breaks in California
Meal and rest break policies continue to be the source of a myriad of litigation in the state of California. Understanding California's meal and rest break requirements are important for employees to protect their rights, and for employers to avoid unnecessary litigation. To comply with these rules, employers must do everything possible to communicate the legal requirements of California's employee break laws to nonexempt workers and provide them opportunities to take meal and rest breaks.
Brinker Meal and Rest Case Decided
In 2012, the California Supreme Court decided an important meal and rest break case, Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court. The question of whether employers must ensure breaks are taken, or must simply provide breaks has been a source of significant litigation in both federal and state courts. The California Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Brinker's favor regarding the most critical part of the decision – holding that employers do not have to ensure that employees take meal breaks. Once a meal period is provided, there is no duty to enforce meal breaks and/or to ensure no work is being performed. The unanimous ruling is a victory for California employers, but it is not without potential pitfalls. Employers with vague meal and rest break policies may subject themselves to increased liability. The decision clarifies that meal and rest break issues are still subject to class-action lawsuits.
Meal Break Obligations in California
Employees cannot work for a period of more than five hours without employers providing an unpaid, off-duty meal period of at least 30 minutes. The first meal period must be provided no later than the end of the employee's fifth hour of work. The employer satisfies its legal obligation to provide an off-duty meal period to its employees if it:
Relieves its employees of all duty
Relinquishes control over their activities
Permits them a reasonable opportunity to take an uninterrupted, 30-minute break
Does not impede or discourage them from doing so
A meal break can be unpaid only if all of the above conditions are met. When the total work period is shorter than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee.
Second 30-Minute Meal Break
Employers must provide a second meal break of no fewer than 30 minutes for all workdays on which an employee works more than 10 hours. The second meal break must be provided no later than the end of an employee's 10th hour of work. An employee can waive the second meal period only if all of the following conditions are met:
Total hours worked on that day are not more than 12
Employers and employee mutually consent
The first meal break of the workday was not waived
On-Duty Meal Breaks
Employees can take on-duty meal periods only in certain, limited circumstances. An on-duty meal break must meet all of the following conditions:
Permitted only when the nature of the work prevents an employee from being relieved of all duty
Must be agreed to in writing by the employer and employee
Must be paid
An on-duty meal break can be revoked at any time in writing by the employee, except under Wage Order 1 4 (Agricultural Occupations)It is recommended that employers consult with legal counsel before authorizing on-duty meal breaks. On-duty meal breaks have been upheld only in very limited circumstances.
10-Minute Rest Break Obligations
Employers must authorize and permit rest periods for all nonexempt employees whose total daily work time is at least 3.5 hours. These mandatory rest breaks must be offered at the rate of 10 minutes for every four hours worked, or a major fraction thereof. Any work performed over two hours is considered by the courts to be a "major fraction" of four. As a general rule, and insofar as practicable, the rest period must be in the middle of the four-hour work period. Though this is the general rule, there is no absolute obligation to permit a rest period before a meal period.
According to the California Supreme Court in Brinker:
"[s]horter or longer shifts and other factors that render such scheduling impracticable may alter this general rule." Employers are given some latitude as they may ‘deviate from that preferred course where practical considerations render it infeasible.’" Caution is recommended regarding departing from the general rule to provide rest breaks in the middle of each work period. Employers should consult with counsel if practical considerations unique to their industry appear to warrant a departure from the general rule.Employers must treat rest periods as hours worked and must pay rest periods as time worked. For the reason that employees receive compensation for rest breaks, they can be required to remain on the premises during their rest breaks.
Consequences for Failing to Provide Meal and Rest Breaks
California employers can face costly consequences for violating work break laws. Court decisions have increased the potential for large financial fines for these violations.
Missed Meal Break
For each work day that employers fail to provide an employee a meal period as required, the employee is owed one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate. Employees have up to three years to claim unpaid wages.
Missed Rest Break
If either rest or meal break is not given, employers owe the employee(s) one hour of pay, which must be included in the following paycheck.
Missed Meal and Rest Breaks
There has been a great deal of discussion about the premium wage employers owe an employee who misses both a meal and a rest break in one day; whether it is one or two hours of pay because two violations technically occurred.In the case of United Parcel Service v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, a California Court of Appeal ruled that there are two separate remedies because the premium wage requirement is contained in two separate sections of the Wage Orders.
Contact The Law Office of Alex Tovarian
Do not allow your employer to take advantage of you regarding meal and rest breaks claims. If you suspect your employer is violating the law regarding proper meal or rest breaks for you or any other employees at your company, contact Tovarian Law for a free case evaluation.