Providing rest breaks in California is just as important as providing meal breaks, and failing to do so could prompt similar penalties if discovered. In fact, meal and rest period requirements have played a huge role in wage and hour litigation for more than 5 years now.
Rules for Providing Rest Breaks in California
“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 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.”Marc Jacuzzi explained in a recent CER webinar. Basically, this means that any work in excess of 2 hours within a 4-hour period entitles the employee to 10 minutes rest. However, a “rest period need not be authorized for employees whose total daily work time is less than three and a half hours.” Jacuzzi explained.
This authorized rest period time shall be counted as hours worked for which there shall be no deduction from wages. Employers have a duty to make a good faith effort to authorize and permit rest breaks in the middle of each work period, but may deviate from that preferred course where practical considerations render it infeasible.
What happens if the employer doesn’t comply with the duty to provide rest breaks in California? What penalties apply? If an employer fails to provide an employee a rest period in accordance with the applicable provisions of the California wage order, the employer shall pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each work day that the rest period is not provided. The maximum penalty is one hour of pay per day that one or more rest periods were missed, not one hour per rest period missed.
The above information is excerpted from the webinar titled “Meals and Rest Breaks in California: HR’s Guide to Wage & Hour Compliance.” To register for a future webinar, visit CER webinars.
Marc L. Jacuzzi, Esq., is a shareholder in the law firm of Simpson, Garrity, Innes & Jacuzzi. 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.