Understanding California's Break Laws: Your Rights Explained

California's break laws are some of the most generous to employees in the country. In California, non-exempt employees are entitled to an unpaid meal or lunch break lasting a minimum of 30 minutes for shifts exceeding five hours. This break should commence before the completion of the fifth hour of work, and can be waived only if the workday does not surpass six hours.

Employees are also entitled to a 10-minute uninterrupted, duty-free rest break for every four hours worked. If an employer does not comply with break law requirements, they are required to pay the employee an extra hour of regular pay for each day on which a meal break violation occurred.

Meal break laws for shifts over 5 hours

In California, employees who work more than five hours in a day are entitled to a 30-minute meal break. This break must be uninterrupted and duty-free, and it must be provided before the end of the fifth hour of work. Employees are not required to take their meal breaks, but employers must provide them. If an employer does not comply with these break law requirements, they are required to pay the employee an extra hour of regular pay for each day on which a meal break violation occurred.

Employees can waive their meal break if the workday is no more than six hours long and the employer agrees. However, if the workday is longer than six hours, a meal break is required and cannot be waived.

For employees working shifts of more than ten hours, a second 30-minute meal break is required and must be provided before the end of the tenth hour of work. This second meal break can be waived if the employee works no more than 12 hours, the first meal break was not waived, and the employer agrees.

In addition to meal breaks, employees in California are also entitled to rest breaks. For every four hours worked, employees must be given a 10-minute paid and uninterrupted rest break. If an employer does not provide the required rest breaks, they are required to pay the employee an extra hour of regular pay for each day on which a rest break violation occurred.

Meal break laws for shifts over 10 hours

In California, if you work a shift over 10 hours, you are entitled to a second 30-minute meal break. This break must be provided no later than the end of the employee's tenth hour of work. An employee can waive this second meal break only if the following conditions are met:

• The total hours worked on that workday are not more than 12.
• Both the employee and the employer mutually consent.
• The first meal break of the workday was not waived.

It is important to note that this second meal break can be unpaid only if the employee is relieved of all duties and is allowed to take an uninterrupted break. If the second meal break is not provided, the employer owes the employee an additional hour of pay at the regular rate of pay.

Rest break laws for shifts over 3.5 hours

In California, employees are entitled to a rest break if they work at least 3.5 hours in a day. This break must be paid and must be at least 10 consecutive minutes long. The break should be taken in the middle of the work period, but this is not always practicable, and there is no absolute obligation to do so. Employees must be allowed to take the break off the premises and cannot be required to remain on-call or on-duty. If an employer fails to provide a rest break, they must pay a “premium wage” of one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate.

Rest break laws for shifts over 6 hours

In California, employees are entitled to a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. This means that for shifts over six hours, employees are entitled to a second 10-minute break. For shifts over 10 hours, employees are entitled to a third 10-minute break.

Rest breaks must be paid and uninterrupted. Employers must treat rest periods as hours worked and must pay rest periods as time worked. Employees must be relieved of all duties during rest breaks and employers must relinquish any control over how employees spend their break time.

Rest breaks must be taken in the middle of each four-hour work period, insofar as practicable. However, employers have some flexibility if the nature of the work prevents them from allowing a break in the middle of the four-hour period.

If an employer fails to provide a rest break, they must pay a "premium wage" of one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate. Employees have up to three years to file a claim for unpaid wages.

On-duty meal breaks

In California, employees are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break when working more than five hours in a day. This break must be off-duty, and the employee must be relieved of all duties. However, in certain circumstances, an employee and employer can agree to an on-duty meal break, where the employee is permitted to have their meal break during work time.

For an on-duty meal break to be lawful, three requirements must be met:

• The employer and employee must have a signed agreement authorizing the on-duty meal period.
• The signed agreement must state that the employee can revoke the agreement in writing at any time.
• The nature of the work must prevent the employee from being relieved of all duty during the meal period.

The "nature of the work" requirement is the most litigated and contentious of these requirements. Courts and administrative agencies consider various "objective" factors when determining whether the nature of the work allows for an on-duty meal break, such as the nature of the work performed, the availability of other employees to provide relief, and whether the employer's work product or process would be damaged or destroyed if the employee were relieved of all duty.

Examples of jobs that may be eligible for on-duty meal breaks due to the nature of the work include a sole worker in a coffee kiosk, a sole worker in an all-night convenience store, and a security guard stationed alone at a remote site. However, even employees in these jobs may be scrutinized by the courts and found to be ineligible for on-duty meal breaks.

It is important to note that even when an employee agrees to an on-duty meal break, the employer must still provide them with time to eat. If an employee does not get a chance to eat during their on-duty meal break, the employer may still be in violation of the employee's meal break rights.

Employees who feel they are not being provided with lawful on-duty meal breaks or are not being paid for on-duty meal breaks can file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement or file a lawsuit against their employer.

Frequently asked questions