Meal Breaks

Nonexempt California employees are generally entitled to an uninterrupted, duty-free, unpaid, minimum 30 minute meal break after working a five hour shift. If those breaks are not provided or an employer urges an employee to skip his or her meal break, that is a violation of wage and hour laws.

Defining a Lawful Meal Break

A qualifying meal break must begin prior to the completion of hour five of an employee’s work shift. This break may only be waived if the employee’s shift does not exceed six hours.
A lawful meal break is that in which the employee is relieved of all work duties and is no longer under the direction of the employer for the duration of the break .Employees must have a practical expectation of taking a 30 minute break without interruption on the part of the employer for any cause or purpose.
In order to remain in compliance with California labor law, employers may not discourage, obstruct, or hinder any employee from taking his or her lawful meal break. Any incentives, inducements, or intimidation of an employee to refrain from taking a meal break is strictly prohibited by law.
Employers are required to provide lawful meal breaks, however, they are not bound by law to make certain that any employee exercises his or her right to those meal breaks.

Determination of Applicable Meal Breaks for Nonexempt Employees

Any nonexempt employee working a shift with a duration of over five hours is entitled to take one meal break that lasts a minimum of 30 minutes at no later than the fifth hour of that shift. In the event an employee is working a shift with a duration of over ten hours, that employee is entitled to take a second break that lasts a minimum of 30 minutes at no later than the tenth hour of that shift.
Keep in mind, however, the number of meal breaks to which an employee is entitled is based solely on the number of hours actually worked, not the number of hours in a work shift on an employee’s schedule. For instance, any employee who is scheduled to work a ten hour shift but, instead, works just two or three hours of that shift, the employer is not required to provide a meal break.
If an employee takes his or her meal break later than the legally mandated five hours, the employer is bound by law to compensate the employee for that additional hour at the standard hourly rate for the employee’s regular work shift.

Employees Have a Right to Waive Meal Breaks

Any employee who has worked up to six hours during one shift is allowed to waive his or her meal break under California law. A meal break waiver must be agreed upon by both employer and employee, it need not be waived in writing, and any employee who has worked a shift that has lasted longer than ten hours but won’t extend beyond twelve hours is entitled to waive his or her second meal break but only if the preceding first meal break was taken.
Employees are not entitled to waive both meal breaks in the course of one work shift and any employee who has waived his or her meal break and chosen to work through that break is not automatically eligible to leave work sooner than expected as a result.

On-Duty Meal Breaks

Employees who hold job positions in which taking a standard meal break is not feasible due to the nature of the work are still entitled to meal breaks. These are described as “on-duty” meal breaks and are typically applied to employees who don’t have the ability to leave their work site or shift as a result of the type of work they are hired to perform.
For instance, a security guard who is unable to leave his or her post would be eligible to take on-duty meal breaks since that employee cannot be relieved of duties or depart the workplace to take his or her meal break.
In situations such as this, the employee is entitled to on-duty meal breaks which are paid breaks and must be agreed to by both employee and employer in writing. Under California law, the employee must be given the opportunity to end such an arrangement at any time.
If the employee misses his or her provided meal break, that employee is not entitled to compensation for that time.

Legal Criteria for Meal Breaks Taken at the Workplace

There are instances where employees may have no choice but to take a meal break at the workplace. In these situations, the employer must provide the employee with an appropriate area in which to consume their meal. This meal break still requires the employer to relieve the employee of his or her duties (except in situations where the employee is unable to be relieved of those duties due to the nature of his or her job position) and the employee is entitled to receive payment during this meal break, even if the employee is not effectively “on the clock” as he or she has been relieved of typical duty.
For any meal break that takes place in the course of a work shift between the hours of 10:00pm and 6:00am, the employer is required by law to provide employees with a safe and appropriate sheltered space for consuming food and beverages, as well as fully functional amenities for heating food and beverages and storing hot food and beverages.