California law generally requires employers to provide nonexempt employees with an unpaid meal period of at least 30 minutes for before the expiration of a work period which is to exceed five hours.
California law generally requires employers to provide nonexempt employees with a second unpaid meal period of at least 30 minutes when the employee works a work period of more than 10 hours per day. If the employee is not relieved of all duty during a 30-minute meal period or the meal period is not uninterrupted, the meal period shall be considered an on-duty meal period and counted as time worked, so the employee must be paid for that time.
If the employee is not free to leave the work premises or worksite during the meal period, even if the employee is relieved of all other duty during the meal period, the employee is subject to the employer's control and the meal period is generally counted as time worked; the employee must be paid for that time.
If an employer fails to provide a nonexempt employee a duty-free meal period in accordance with the law, California law generally requires the employer to pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that the employer failed to provide the employee with a meal period.
No matter how many meal periods are missed per workday, only one missed meal period payment may be imposed per workday.
A complex set of laws govern the requirements that California employers provide nonexempt employees with meal periods. Numerous exceptions exist which alter an employer's duty to provide an employee with meal periods. To navigate the complex statutes regarding whether you are receiving meal periods in compliance with California law, you need to speak to an experienced attorney who is familiar with the law in this area.
If you believe that your employer has failed to follow the law in payment of your wages, contact Lavi & Ebrahimian, LLP, today for a free consultation. Our experienced employment attorneys will evaluate your options under the law and can help you obtain the most complete relief possible.
