Overtime Pay: Workers Seek Back Pay For Meal Periods

Under strict new rules adopted last year by the state Industrial Welfare Commission, you may be liable for a penalty of an additional hour’s pay for each day that you fail to provide a nonexempt employee with a required meal break, unless they’ve consented in writing to an on-duty meal period. Now three former employees of DiTech Funding Corp. are suing the Costa Mesa mortgage lender, claiming, among other things, they failed to receive adequate meal breaks. DiTech had not responded to our calls as we went to press.