Accuchex Blog

California Break Laws And Payroll Compliance

Posted by Tristan Ruhland on Jul 12, 2016 9:30:00 AM

When it comes to California break law, negligent employers are especially subject to lawsuits by employees. This is why payroll compliance is critical. 

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The California labor employment law protects the rights of California employees including many new laws since 2014 that also protect new immigrants.  In addition to protecting meal and rest breaks, the California labor code covers issues such as overtime pay, tip pooling laws, vacation laws and more.

Employee Lawsuits Are on the Rise in California

Recently in Los Angeles, a former employee of Guess Retail Inc. filed a California labor lawsuit over missed meal breaks, lack of payment for the alleged missed meal breaks, as well as improper payment of wages upon termination. The lawsuit, Burgos v. Guess Retail Inc., is proposed as a class action suit, and it is the third lawsuit against Guess already in 2015.

According to the available court documents, the plaintiff Kriss Burgos was a non-exempt hourly employee at a Guess facility in California. She has alleged that she was required to work without being allowed rest periods or a meal break, and was never compensated for those missed breaks.

The California labor law requires employers to provide regular rest breaks and an uninterrupted 30-minute meal period to be taken while off-duty, after the fifth hour of duty.

Payroll Compliance Includes Adherence to California Break Laws

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So what, exactly, does that entail?

Here is a brief overview of the California Labor Code:

Meal Breaks

  • During a five-hour workday, an employee is required to receive a 30-minute break.
  • During a 10-hour workday, an employee is required to receive two 30-minute breaks.
  • If the workday is no more than six hours, the meal break may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. (This should be put into writing beforehand.)
  • During more than 10 hours a day, a second meal period of not less than 30 minutes is required. If the total of hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee only if the first meal period was not waived.

Rest Breaks

  • California labor law requires that non-exempt workers receive a 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked.
  • It is recommended that the rest period be in the middle of the work period.
  • If an employer does not provide a rest break, California labor law states that the employer shall pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is not provided.

California has a very large agricultural workforce and special provisions in the California labor laws regarding agricultural and outdoor workers are important to be aware of, as well.

Individuals employed in agriculture and outdoor work such as landscaping and farming are now legally entitled to sufficient rest breaks when temperatures exceed 85 degrees. This is defined as a minimum five minutes in the shade, on an “as needed” basis. This new law applies to all employees, including illegal immigrants, who now have a number of rights and protections provided by the state of California under the provisions of Bill 263.

If an employee does not receive the proper meal and rest periods the employer must pay to the employee one hour of pay as a penalty. This includes the newly defined “recovery periods” or “cool down period afforded an employee to prevent heat illness.” In addition to the recovery periods, California employers should review the California OSHA recommendations for preventing heat illness.

Consequences for Failing to Provide Meal and Rest Breaks

According to the CalChamber website, "California employers face costly consequences for violating work break laws. Court decisions have increased the potential for large financial fines."

Here is an overview of those fines:

Missed Meal Break

For each workday that you fail to provide an employee a meal period, as required, you owe the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate. The additional hour of pay is a wage owed to the employee. This allows employees up to three years to claim unpaid wages.

Missed Rest Break

If either rest break is not given, you owe the employee one hour of pay, which you must include in the next paycheck.

Missed Meal and Rest Breaks

There has been a great deal of discussion about the premium wage employers owe an employee who misses a meal break and a rest break in one day: Is it one hour of pay? Or is it two hours of pay because two violations occurred?

In United Parcel Service v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, a California Court of Appeal ruled that there are two separate remedies because the premium wage requirement is contained in two separate sections of the Wage Orders.

Helping You Stay In Compliance With California Break Laws

If your organization would like to learn more about its obligations, or acquire resources to deal with these types of situations, Accuchex recently partnered with HR Solutions Partners to offer its customers the most up-to-date and professional human resources management solutions available.

To learn more about the different levels of Human Resource Management services available, please follow this link.

To learn more about California Labor Law, click on the button below to download our free guidebook.

Free Guide: California Labor Law – What You Need To Know

Topics: california labor law, labor law compliance, meal and rest breaks, employee lawsuits, payroll compliance, california break laws

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