California Meal Break Lawsuit

The California Supreme Court recently ruled to ease up on meal break laws.

As a manager, you probably know how difficult it can be to enforce meal breaks – telling your employees to take them is one thing, actually ensuring that it happens is another. Proponents of the meal break law argue that without it, employers may take advantage of their employees by making them work long hours without a break.

Now, after years of having the California meal break in place to support the employee, judges have rescinded the law in favor of the employer.

If employees are sent on their breaks and, for whatever reason, decide not to take their break, they only need to be paid straight pay for their time. Prior to the ruling, employees who worked through their breaks would have received double pay.

Tracking time in California just got a little easier.

California still has complicated rules for overtime, as California requires employers to pay workers for any hours worked over 8 in a day, but the new meal break laws will make calculations a little easier on the payroll processor.

For additional information, read the original associated press article.