MEAL BREAKS AND REST BREAKS ARE GUARANTEED BY CALIFORNIA LAW TO EMPLOYEES
As a California employee, you deserve proper meal and rest breaks. A judge recently awarded a large group of Wal-Mart employees over $180 million dollars in damages because the judge found that Wal-Mart owed these employees compensation for off-the-clock work and missed rest breaks. California and Federal law if protective of an employee’s right to take meal and rest breaks while on the clock. Additionally, if your employer fails to provide you with a proper meal break your employee owes you one hour of pay at your regular rate of compensation for each workday
Under California law, most employees qualify for a 30 minutes meal break after a 5 hour work shift. Usually, the meal period is counted as time worked and you should be relieved of all the duties of your job during this break. There are certain situations where a meal period may be waived by mutual consent between you and your employer. California labor law requires that you also receive a rest 10 minute break for every four hours worked if you work over three and a half hours a day. These mandatory breaks must be in the middle of your work period.
An experienced employment attorney will be able to help you determine if your employer is providing you with the meal and rest breaks the law requires. If live in CA, and believe you have not been receiving proper meal and rest breaks, or have not been paid for these breaks, call the law offices of Greenberg & Rudman LLP at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) today. You might be able to recover damages. Your consultation is free! And you will have the chance to speak with one of our knowledgeable employment attorneys to hear how we can help you.
