Think you’re in compliance with California break laws? Did you know that more than two-thirds of those recently surveyed who were entitled to a meal break reported they didn’t receive the full, uninterrupted, work-free break required by law?
In an ERI webinar titled “Meal & Rest Breaks In California: How to Stave Off Employees Hungry to Sue for Wage & Hour Violations,” Marc Jacuzzi outlined that the lawsuits surrounding non-compliance with these regulations are still coming steadily, both of the class-action variety and individual complaints.
Jacuzzi stressed the point: “I can’t emphasize more the absolute necessity to make sure that you are implementing your meal and rest break policies, practices and procedures precisely; and when I say precisely I mean in compliance with California law.”
California Break Laws: The Basics
California break laws require you to provide meal and rest breaks for employees. Specifically, an employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. While there are exceptions and more detailed requirements for longer shifts, this is the basic premise.
When it comes to rest breaks, California break laws require that every employer shall authorize and permit all employees to take rest periods, which insofar as practicable shall be in the middle of each work period. The authorized rest period time shall be based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of 10 minutes net rest time per 4 hours or major fraction thereof.
Jacuzzi noted: “Even if you are a small employer – with 1, 2, or 20, 50 employees – the laws regarding meal and rest break apply to you, irrespective of your size . . . It’s very important to make sure that you are in compliance.”
What Can You Do to Ensure Compliance with California Break Laws?
To ensure you’re meeting your legal requirements and steering clear of litigation, here are 10 tips for staying in compliance:
- Draft a compliant policy.
- Evaluate systems to ensure that they do not hinder or impair employees taking rest and meal breaks.
- Schedule breaks and relief.
- Ensure that employees record the time out and time in for the meal period.
- Have a compliant written on duty meal period agreement on file (if applicable).
- Program automated scheduling systems to trigger violations and show premium pay requirements.
- Establish a system for employees to report violations.
- Educate managers.
- Make managers “own” the problem.
- Track and discipline violations.
Employers have the obligation to ensure compliance, and there are many ways to influence it. Are you in compliance?
The above information is excerpted in part from an ERI webinar titled “Meal & Rest Breaks In California: How to Stave Off Employees Hungry to Sue for Wage & Hour Violations,” with expert Marc Jacuzzi. To register for a future webinar, visit our ERI webinars page.
Marc L. Jacuzzi, Esq., is a shareholder in the law firm of Simpson, Garrity, Innes & Jacuzzi (www.sgilaw.com). He advises clients regarding all aspects of the employer/employee relationship including hiring and termination, wage and hour requirements, employee classification, civil rights and discrimination issues, employee investigations, commission plans, employment contracts, employee handbooks and policies, confidential information agreements, reductions in force, leaves of absence, employment audits, M&A employment issues, violence in the workplace, and international employment issues.
Looking forward to some clarification on meal/rest breaks from the Supreme Court in Brinker.
Looking forward to some clarification on meal/rest breaks from the Supreme Court in Brinker.