wage and hour

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California Labor Code section 512 guarantees a thirty (30) minute, off-duty, meal period for employees after five (5) work hours, and a second thirty (30) minute, off duty, meal period after ten (10) work hours. Section 512 also provides that, for shifts between five (5) and six (6) hours, the first meal period “may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee.” (§ 512(a).)  Most Wage Orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) similarly provide for meal periods and their waiver.Continue Reading Are Prospective Meal Period Waivers Enforceable? YES – If Done Properly

Almost exactly one year ago, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Gustavo Naranjo v Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (“Naranjo”), reviewing a decision by the Second Appellate District (the “Appellate Court”) in 2019. As we discussed in our California Employment News episode at that time (available here on YouTube, or here on our podcast) and here on our blog, the Supreme Court’s decision opened the flood-gates for employees to recover waiting-time and wage statement penalties whenever meal or rest period premiums went unpaid. This ruling immediately hyper-inflating the value of many wage and hour class actions across the state. On remand, the Appellate Court halted this inflation in some instances by clarifying that such penalties are not available to a class of employees where the employer has a good faith dispute that the premiums were due.Continue Reading Safe Harbor from Class-Based Waiting Time and Wage Statement Penalties for Employers with “Good Faith Disputes” That Meal or Rest Period Premiums Were Owed — the Latest Chapter in the Naranjo Saga

Join Shauna Correia and Rachel Davey from Weintraub’s Labor & Employment group as they review the basics of wage statement compliance in California in part one of this three-part series from California Employment News.
Continue Reading California Employment News: The Basics of Wage Statement Compliance (Part 1)

Background

In California, Wage Order 9-2001 applies to “all persons employed in the transportation industry,” including property-carrying commercial truck drivers. (Cal. Code Regs., Tit. 8, § 11090(1).) Under the order, an employee working more than five hours a day is entitled to a “meal period of not less than 30 minutes,” and an employee working more than 10 hours in a day is entitled to “a second meal period of not less than 30 minutes.” (Cal. Code Regs., Tit. 8, § 11090(11)(A),(B).). The Wage Order entitles employees to 10-minute rest breaks for every four hours worked throughout the day. (Cal. Code Regs., Tit. 8, § 11090(12)(A).)
Continue Reading Federal Preemption of California’s Meal and Rest Laws for Truck Drivers Subject to Federal Regulations Applies Retroactively!