California’s Meal and Rest Break Laws: What Employers Need to Know

Summary

• California requires employers to provide their staff with a meal break and several rest breaks, depending on shift length.
• Due to waiver conditions, industry-specific exceptions, and confusing legal jargon, complying with these rules is tricky.
• Misunderstanding is no excuse for getting rest breaks wrong in California. Employers must equip themselves to schedule, track, and pay rest breaks correctly to avoid legal trouble.

Employee meal and rest break laws vary by state. Some lack regulations, while others have strict guidelines – the most stringent being California.

So, if you’re an employer in California, how do you know if you’re implementing meal and rest breaks correctly? Let’s break down what you need to know about these rules, what happens when you break them, and practical tips to ensure you remain compliant. 

What are California’s Meal and Rest Break Laws?

According to California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office, also known as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), most non-exempt employees in California are entitled to distinct categories of breaks: a meal break and a rest break.

Meal Breaks

• Employees who work more than five hours in a day are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid lunch break.
• Employers must provide an additional 30-minute unpaid meal break to employees working more than 12 hours in a day.

Several conditions must be met to satisfy the requirements for a reasonable meal break. Employees must be fully relieved of all their duties, the break must go uninterrupted, and the employer cannot discourage or prevent it. Employees must also be free to use the time as they see fit. Whether they eat lunch, leave the premises, or take a quick nap, it’s their prerogative.

Failing/refusing to give a meal break

If an employer fails to provide a reasonable meal period, they owe the employee one extra hour of pay at the regular rate for each day they do not receive a meal break. This is what is known as premium pay.

If an employee’s meal break is less than 30 minutes, and they never agreed to end their break early in writing, it is considered “interrupted” and must be paid, along with the one additional hour of premium pay for a missed break.

Employees who do not receive premium pay have the right to submit a wage claim to the Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Waiving meal breaks

Can meal break times be waived? Yes, but only under certain circumstances. Both employer and employee can agree to waive the meal break if a shift is 6 hours or less. At the same time, employees can skip the second 30-minute meal break, provided they took the first meal break and worked more than 10 but less than 12 hours. 

Waiving breaks should not be standard practice and should only be agreed to if a meal break will prevent an employee from completing an essential task. Employers should always properly document waived breaks in writing to protect themselves from unclaimed wage lawsuits.

On-duty meal breaks

There are cases when employees can’t be fully relieved of their duties during meal breaks or leave the premises while on break. If that’s the case, the rules for on-duty meal periods will apply, and these are the following: 

• If an employee must remain at the work site or facility during the meal period, the meal period must be paid. 
• On-duty meal periods are only allowed under certain conditions where the nature of the job makes it impossible for workers to be free of all of their duties while on break. Examples are sole employees in a coffee kiosk, night shift workers in a convenience store, or security guards stationed alone.
• Both employer and employee must agree in writing. The document should state the terms of the on-duty meal period and explicitly state that the employee can cancel the agreement anytime if they no longer wish to have on-duty meal breaks.
• On-site meal breaks should only happen for real, job-related reasons requiring employees to stay on the premises, not just because the employer and employee agree. The nature of the work should make it necessary for employees to remain at the job site, even during meal breaks.

Rest Breaks

• Employers must provide a ten-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked or a significant fraction thereof.
• As much as possible, the break should be taken around the middle of the work period.
• The 10-minute rest break should start when an employee reaches a proper place to rest away from their work area. Employers must provide a suitable place for rest that’s separate from the restroom and available during work hours.
• If a rest break is not provided, the employee is owed an additional hour of premium pay at their regular pay rate.

As with meal breaks, employees must be free from job responsibilities during their rest period. Furthermore, employees must not be on call during this time. Employees working at most three and a half hours are not entitled to rest breaks.

Employees can skip their rest breaks, but it must be their choice without any pressure or influence from the employer. It’s also wise to document every time a break is missed or skipped – an employer should have in writing why a break was skipped and if the employee agreed to it.

What makes compliance with California’s break time laws challenging

Due to the sheer complexity of California’s break laws, it can be difficult for employers to get everything right, even if they have the best intentions. Here are some of the most common roadblocks employers face regarding California meal and rest break laws:

Complying with industry-specific rules and exemptions

Aside from the basic rules around unpaid meal breaks and paid rest periods, California employers must also ensure that they follow applicable industry-specific regulations and exemptions. Here are some examples of such:

• Employees in the motion picture industry must not work for more than 6 hours without taking at least a 30-minute break but not exceeding an hour. After that, employers must provide a second meal break no later than 6 hours after the previous one has ended. (IWC Order No. 12)
• Hot meals and drinks must be provided for production employees working after 12 midnight.  (IWC Order No. 12)
• Performers engaged in strenuous activities, such as swimmers, dancers, and skaters, shall have additional interim rest periods during shootings and rehearsals.  (IWC Order No. 12)
• Rest breaks can be staggered in the construction, drilling, logging, and mining industries to prevent disruptions in operations. If a break is missed, it must be provided within the same workday; otherwise, the employer must pay a penalty for the missed break. (IWC Order No. 16)
• Healthcare industry workers who work shifts longer than 8 hours may voluntarily waive their right to one of their two meal periods, provided that there’s a written agreement signed by the employer and employee. Employees can revoke the waiver with at least one day’s written notice. (IWC Order No. 4)
• Employees who are directly responsible for the care of children under 18 years old or still in the foster system who need 24-hour care and employees who are working in 24-hour residential care facilities for the elderly, blind, and developmentally disabled individuals may be required to work on-duty meal periods without extra pay, especially if they must meet regulatory standards. This applies if:
  • The employee eats with the residents and is provided the same meal for free.
  • The employee is solely responsible for the residents, and a free meal is provided during the day shift.

Incorrect interpretations

Legal jargon is notoriously ambiguous and sometimes difficult to understand. Regardless, incorrectly interpreting California’s break laws can result in costly lawsuits—case in point: Bono Enterprises, Inc. vs. Bradshaw.

Bono Enterprises Inc., operating under the business name American Temporary Services (ATS), was a temporary work agency that supplied roughly 1,000 Californian employers with a workforce. One of their clients is a manufacturing plant in Modesto. ATS temp workers were not given security clearance in the plant, which resulted in them remaining in the plant premises during their 30-minute meal breaks.

Several employees filed complaints for not receiving paid wages for lunch periods when they had no choice but to stay on the premises. However, ATS argued that the wording of the rule is vague and unclear.

Furthermore, employees are relieved of all work duties during their meal breaks and can access an on-site cafeteria and relaxation areas. 

The commissioner ruled in favor of the employees, and the court agreed with their interpretation. The ruling emphasized that unpaid meal breaks must allow employees to spend their time as they choose, including leaving the premises. Being restricted on-site meant they could still be under the employer’s control, which violates the law.

This case clearly illustrates how easily the law can be misunderstood and reminds employers to tread carefully and err on the side of caution. It’s best to seek legal advice when in doubt or faced with unclear regulations. 

Tracking break times 

While it’s not the employer’s job to police how employees spend their break time, it is their duty to ensure that breaks are provided as required by the law. 

The challenge comes with determining which breaks are paid and unpaid and knowing when an employee qualifies for premium pay. Employers must also ensure the system isn’t misused to gain extra pay, such as manipulating break times to extend paid hours. And let’s not forget documentation and keeping track of waivers. These tasks add to the already heavy workload of HR workforce management.

Stay on top of California Labor Laws with Workforce.com

California meal and rest breaks are not only difficult to understand but also tricky to implement. Luckily, a payroll system like Workforce.com can help you automatically ensure employees receive what they are entitled to.

Here is how Workforce.com handles breaks in California:

Properly identifying paid and unpaid meal breaks

Workforce.com helps you identify which meal breaks are unpaid and when premium pay will apply. 

Employees clock in and out for meal breaks on Workforce.com’s time clock app. If they return early, you can set up shift questions asking if they are coming back by choice. If so, the break remains unpaid. However, if they answered no and indicated their manager asked them to return early, it would be an interrupted, paid break. Managers are notified in these cases to verify the situation.

Automated timesheet attestations

When staff clock out of their shift, you can prompt them with a series of questions certifying the accuracy of their timesheets. If no meal or rest breaks were taken, Workforce.com will give the employee an option to sign a waiver indicating whether or not they agreed to take their break. Every attestation and break waiver is filed securely in your document library, which you can refer to in case of an external audit or lawsuit.

Ensuring breaks are properly scheduled

Managers can easily customize and schedule compliant breaks in Workforce.com’s scheduling system. These breaks can be configured to automatically apply to any shift that meets the minimum required length. These preventative workflows ensure correct breaks are always scheduled with minimal manual effort.

Notifications and alerts

With Workforce.com’s mobile employee app, employees get reminders to take their breaks and clock in and out for meal and rest periods. At the same time, managers can also receive notifications if any of their team members seem to have missed their breaks. This way, they can investigate and address any issues quickly. 

Automated premium payments

When an employee fails to receive or misses a break, Workforce.com’s payroll system automatically calculates the correct premium payment amount they are owed based on their time logs and pay rate. This additional pay is reflected on the timesheet and properly paid out on payday.

Learn more about how Workforce.com’s payroll and scheduling system can help you easily manage rest breaks in California. Book a demo today.