If an employer is looking for any slack for inadvertent errors in its pay practices, California’s highly technical meal and rest break rules offer no sympathy.  In this state’s overheated climate of class action litigation, just a few seemingly minor violations of these standards can mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in potential liabilities.  See, Trust Me, I’m a Lawyer – Mass Employment Litigation is No Fun (August 30, 2024).

For instance, full time hourly workers must begin their off-duty meal period by the “end of the fifth hour” from the beginning of a shift (i.e., four hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds) with that break at least 30 minutes long.  Labor Code 512. On any day where an employer fails to provide meal breaks within these boundaries, it automatically owes the workers affected an extra hour of “premium pay.” Labor Code 226.7.

Facing a class action and PAGA suit for such violations, manufacturer Royalty Carpet Mills of Porterville asserted its voluntarily paying its employees for their off-duty meal time should be credited against whatever premium pay the company might owe.  After all, the employer reasoned, how were its employees harmed if they had already received the equivalent of any such potential liability?

However, while paying for lunch time was commendable, Royalty learned its generosity bought them no respite from the impact of the meal rules.

“ … Royalty suggests the amount of premium pay awarded by the court should be offset by the regular wages it paid to Porterville employees during their meal periods. But no offset applies because premium pay under section 226.7 serves a different purpose than wages. Rather than compensating employees for time worked, it is awarded for the noneconomic injuries suffered by them due to deprivation of a compliant meal period.

“Section 226.7 is not aimed at protecting or providing employees’ wages. Instead, the statute is primarily concerned with ensuring the health and welfare of employees by requiring that employers provide meal and rest periods as mandated … Even if the employee ‘is paid for the 30 minutes of work, the employee has been deprived of the right to be free of the employer’s control during the meal period.’”

Take-Aways:  The best defense against mass-litigation claiming an employer’s Labor Code violations is to operate in well-documented full compliance, adjusting policies and protocols to meet the regular refinements of these laws.  An employer big-hearted enough to compensate its workers for their off-duty meal times will not find its beneficence rewarded in the courts.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• PAGA Monster Declawed- Major Relief for Responsible Employers (June 28, 2024)
• Timekeeping Policy – Fourth Dimension Attention: It’s in the Cards (February 24, 2023)
• Please: Document Workplace Meal Breaks – Require Employees to Clock Out and Back In on Their Meals (June 4, 2021)

Tim Bowles
September 20, 2024