Second Meal Break Waivers for Health Care Workers Impermissible on Shifts Longer Than 12 Hours
March 2, 2015 by Vishtasp Soroushian
California State employment law requires employers to provide employees working more than 10 hours per day with a second 30-minute meal period. However, if an employee works 12 or less hours, the worker can consent with the employer to waive the second meal period if he/she did not waive the first meal period. The Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Order applicable to the health care industry permits employees working shifts of more than 8 total hours in a day to voluntarily waive their right to one of their two meal periods.
A California Court of Appeal has now struck down IWC Wage Order allowing this waiver to the extent that it authorized second meal break waivers on shifts exceeding 12 hours. (Gerard v. Orange Coast Mem. Med. Ctr., 14 C.D.O.S. 1515, Feb. 10, 2015.) The Court reasoned that the IWC Wage Order conflicts with the Labor Code by creating an unauthorized exception to the Labor Code’s general rule regarding second meal breaks. The Court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to seek premium pay under the Labor Code for any past failure by the hospital to provide mandatory second meal periods within the statute of limitations period.
If you have questions about whether your employer is providing necessary meal breaks under California law, contact Beeson, Tayer and Bodine. We are a well-established law firm with experience in labor and employment law where interpreting and defending the rights of workers and unions are at issue.
Contact us at our Oakland or Sacramento law offices here.
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