California Meal Time and Break Laws: Employer Violations

Meal time and break violations are considered as one of the most common and often-ignored labor law violations in the workplace. Although employees are allowed by law to take their meal breaks, some employers continue to violate this provision.

Some of the common violations of California labor relations regarding California lunch laws and break period include the following acts:

• Moving an employee’s meal time or break period before or after the shift
• Changing length of time allotted for meal or break period
• Having an employee waive his/her meal or rest period without consent
• Non payment of meal premium pay

California Meal Time and Break Laws

Under California Code of Regulations, Title 8, section 11040, also known as the lunch break law, employers must observe and practice the following:

• An employee who works for a period of more than five (5) hours must be allowed to take a meal period of not less than 30 minutes.
• If work can be completed in not more six (6) hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employee and the employer.
• A meal period is considered an “on duty” meal period and counted as time worked, unless the employee is relieved of all duty during the 30-minute meal period
• An “on duty” meal period is permitted only when the nature of an employee’s work prevents him/her from being relieved of duty.
• A written agreement between the employer and the employee must be signed regarding the on-the –job paid meal period.
• The written agreement must state that the employee, in writing, may revoke the agreement any time

According to this law, the meal period can only be waived when the total work day is only six hours, subject to a written agreement where the job does not allow a meal break.

However, there are few instances where a meal break is not actually permitted. For instance, a security guard assigned to a secluded location cannot leave his post and stop guarding for 30 minutes to take a break. In this case, if he has a written agreement, he could work through his meal period. In contrast, if you are an employee watching a store, an “on duty” meal period may not apply to you, as you may just close the store and take your meal break.

Similarly, taking the break at the beginning or end of the shift is also illegal as the law states that an employee cannot work more than five (5) hours without a meal break. The law therefore allows only bona fide meal breaks that occur at least every 5 hours.

In Case of Employer Violations

According to these US labor laws, if an employer fails to provide an employee his meal break, he will be required to pay the employee an amount equivalent to one (1) hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal period was not provided.

The violation is counted on a “per day” rather than per violation basis. This means if you work for more than 10 hours and entitled to 2 meal breaks, you are only entitled to a 1-hour pay even if you do not get either of the meal breaks.

In addition, the meal premium pay may also increase the amount of overtime pay that you are due. In Murphy v Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., the California Supreme Court held that payments for meal break violations are considered “wages” and subject to the statute of limitations for wages, which is three (3) years.

If you feel that your employer is not following the law regarding proper meal breaks for you and/or other employees in the company, you can consult with a knowledgeable labor and employment attorney to advise you on the matter.

• This article is provided for informational purposes only. If you need help with an Employment Law Problem, please click here to consult with Rodney Mesriani or an Employment lawyer in your area.