Meal and Rest Break Laws in California
It may not seem like it, but did you know that your meal and rest breaks are almost sacred in the eyes of California’s state laws? Douglas Han from Justice Law Corporation explains, “In California, employees are entitled to a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period every five hours (for shifts six hours or longer) and a 10-minute uninterrupted rest period every four hours (or greater fraction thereof). Many employees don’t know that they are entitled to an extra hour’s worth of pay if they are forced to work through their breaks.”
The Justice Law Corporation ’s Douglas Han continues, “Working through breaks can lead to overworking, stress, anxiety, and burnout. It’s essential that employees are given an opportunity to take a break.” These laws are set in place to avoid overworking and exploitative business practices on the part of employers. With the long history of labor rights violations throughout the history of business, they are a necessary part of keeping businesses in check and ensuring the dignity of laborers is respected. They are ironclad because labor rights cases such as Brinker Restaurant Corp v. Superior Court have reached the California Supreme Court and defined employer meal and rest break obligations in significant detail. Because of cases like these, employers cannot impede or discourage employees from taking their 30-minute meal breaks and must provide employees with a reasonable opportunity to take their breaks.
Despite these provisions, many employees have been unknowingly forced to work through their meal and rest breaks. Douglas Han of the Justice Law Corporation comments, “There are several reasons why employees are forced to work through their breaks. Breaks can be used to handle important business that you can’t do on the clock.” He lists supervisors and coworkers talking to you about work-related topics, being asked to come back to work, and waiting in line to clock back in for lunch as some of the ways employees can be forced to work during meal breaks.
If you believe your rights to meal and/or rest breaks have not been respected, you may be able to sue your employer for damages. Be sure to document the offending behavior before calling a reputable law firm to represent you if you do decide to take your employer to court for meal and rest break violations. California takes the rights of laborers seriously, so do not be afraid to speak up if you have been mistreated or taken advantage of by your employer.