Employers owe employees certain rights under California’s wage and hour laws. One of the most common types of wage and hour violations is the failure to provide meal and rest breaks. Employers can violate an employee’s legal rights to take meal and rest periods in different ways. Regardless of how and to what extent employers violate meal and rest breaks, they will be subject to a legal claim.
If you or someone you know believes your employer has committed meal and rest break violations, you should speak with an experienced employment attorney immediately. The Orange County meal and rest break lawyers at the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates can help. With multiple offices located in Irvine, Anaheim, Los Angeles, El Segundo, Riverside and San Diego, our labor law attorneys represent employees across Southern California. For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation, please call 949-528-8136.
California Meal Break Obligations
California law legally defines a “meal break” as an unpaid, uninterrupted 30 minute period provided to employees to spend on any personal business they choose. Employees are not required to actually eat during their meal break. Employers are obligated to provide any employee who works for a period of more than five hours with a meal break. The first meal break is given no later than the end of the employee’s fifth hour of work.
In order to provide an employee with a legal meal break, an employer is required to:
- Relieve the employee of all duties
- Relinquish the employee of all control of their activities
- Allow the employee with a reasonable opportunity to their uninterrupted 30-minute meal break
If employees work a period of not more than six hours during a workday, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee.
Second 30-Minute Meal Break
If an employer works more than a 10-hour work shift, the employer must provide a second meal break of no fewer than 30 minutes. Employers must provide this second meal break no later than the end of the employee’s 10th hour of work.
The second meal break can be waived only if all the following requirements are met:
- The employee’s total hours worked during the workday do not exceed 12 hours.
- Both the employee and employer mutually agree to waive the second meal break.
- The employee has not waived the first meal break of the workday.
California Rest Break Obligations
California law requires employers to provide a 10-minute rest break for every shift of four hours – so long as the shift is at least 3.5 hours or more worked during the day. To the extent possible, rest breaks should be provided in the middle of each work period. A legal rest break must meet the following requirements:
- The rest break must be paid time off.
- The rest break must be for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- The employee must not be interrupted during the rest break.
- The employee must be relieved of all job duties during the break.
- The employee must be given the option of leaving the job site during the rest break.
Employees can agree to waive a rest break under certain conditions.
Who Is Covered By California’s Meal and Rest Break Laws?
California meal and rest break laws apply to most, but not all, employees. Employees entitled to breaks are commonly referred to as exempt or nonexempt employees. An exempt employee is defined as one who is exempt from overtime, meal, and rest break laws.
Employees are presumed to be non-exempt unless they fall into one of these categories of employment:
- Administrative
- Professional
- Executive
- Computer professional
- Outside salesperson
Even if your job title falls into one of the categories above, you must also meet the following requirements to be considered exempt:
- Your pay must be no less than twice the California minimum wage.
- Your job duties cannot be routine, mechanical, or involve manual labor.
- You must exercise discretion and independent judgment in matters of significance or company policy type decisions.
If our Orange County meal and break violations attorney decides your job title does not meet these requirements (and your employer has the burden of proving this, not you), then you are considered a non-exempt employee and are protected by California labor laws, which include the requirements for meal and rest breaks.
Premium Pay for Missed Break
California law requires employers to provide employees with breaks, relieve them of their duties during those periods, and ensure employees are not interrupted during their breaks. However, employers are not required under the law to police employees to ensure that no work is performed during that time.
When an employer violates California’s meal and rest break laws, they are required to pay a premium for those hours. Recent court decisions have increased the potential for large financial fines.
- Missed meal break:
For each day that an employer fails to provide a non-exempt employee a meal break as required by law, the employer owes the employee one additional hour of pay at their regular pay rate. This additional hour of pay counts as the wage owed. - Missed rest break:
If an employer fails to provide a rest break or if the rest break does not meet the requirements under the law (i.e. uninterrupted), the employee is owed one hour of pay at their regular rate. - Missed meal and rest breaks:
If an employee doesn’t get both meal and rest breaks, they are entitled to pay for both, equaling the pay of two hours a day. The reason for the two hours is that rest and meal breaks are two separate breaks, entitling the employee to two separate remedies.
Contact an Experienced Orange County Meal & Rest Break Violations Attorney
If you or someone you know believes that your employer has created a hostile environment-based failure to provide you the meal and rest breaks you are legally owed, you should immediately consult with an experienced employment lawyer. The Orange County meal and rest break violation lawyers at the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates can help you fight for your rights. We specialize in handling a wide variety of employment law cases, including meal and rest break penalties.
With multiple offices located in Irvine, Anaheim, Los Angeles, El Segundo, Riverside and San Diego, our labor law lawyers represent employees across Southern California. For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation, please call 949-528-8136.
- Orange County Meal & Rest Break Violations Attorneys
- Workplace Sexual Harassment Attorneys in California
- Orange County Disability Discrimination Attorney
- Orange County Age Discrimination Attorneys
- Orange County Religious Discrimination Attorney
- Orange County Whistleblower Protection Attorneys
- Gender Discrimination Attorneys in California
- Orange County Unpaid/Overtime Violation Attorneys
- California Wrongful Termination Attorneys
- Orange County Pregnancy Discrimination Attorneys
- Orange County Class Action Employment Lawyers
- Wage and Hour Attorneys in California
