Rest and Meal Breaks

Which Employees are Entitled to Rest and Meal Breaks?

 

Combine Rest and Meal Breaks? 

 

Consequences for Not Providing Meal and Rest Breaks

 

 

Rest and Meal Breaks in the state of California have the following guidelines:

• One paid 10 min rest break for every 4 hours of work

• One unpaid 30 min meal break for every 5 hours of work.

• If someone works more than 10 hours a day they must have the option for a second 30-minute unpaid meal break.

 

 

 

Which Employees are Entitled to Rest and Meal Breaks?

 

Non-Exempt Employees:

 

Independent Contractors are not entitled to rest and meal breaks

 

 

Combine Rest and Meal Breaks? 

 

Meal breaks and rest breaks are separate, an employer cannot force you to combine the two breaks. Also, you should not combine two 10 min rest breaks into 20 mins nor should you split the 10 min break into two 5 min breaks. The same goes for combining meal breaks with rest breaks. The breaks are the way they are on purpose to break up your day in a way that you are not overworked.

 

 

Consequences for Not Providing Meal and Rest Breaks

 

Past court decisions in California have detailed exactly how to repay the employee for missed rest and meal breaks.

 

Meal Break

Each meal break missed will be paid as one hour of regular pay to the employee.

 

Rest Break

If any required rest breaks are not provided or are interrupted, the employee will receive one hour of regular pay on the next paycheck provided.

 

Meal and Rest Breaks

The employer must pay two hours of regular pay for days where both the rest break and the meal breaks are missed. The court counts this as two separate violations.