What's more, following a 2021 ruling by the California Supreme Court, employers are not allowed to round up time-clock punches for employee meal periods. Employees must receive their full break allowance. "The California Supreme Court ruled that it is the employer's responsibility to implement compliant meal period policies that allow employees to take the full, uninterrupted 30-minute meal period without reduction of any kind," according to Schneiders & Associates, LLC.

This law may seem challenging for managers who feel they cannot ensure that employees get to take breaks, and that those breaks are recorded properly. However, there are easy solutions that California employers can implement in order to abide by the law and avoid negative consequences.

What the law says

California law mandates both meal breaks and rest periods for employees. The key difference to be aware of is that meal breaks are unpaid, while rest breaks are paid.

Firstly, in terms of meal breaks, the law states the following:

• ½ hour, if work is for more than 5 hours per day, except when workday will be completed in 6 hours or less and there is mutual employer/employee consent to waive meal period. On-duty meal period counted as time worked and permitted only when nature of work prevents relief from all duties and there is written agreement between parties. Employee may revoke agreement at any time.
• An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee only if the first meal period was not waived.

So essentially, an employee must take a 30-minute unpaid meal break for each continuous five-hour period they work.

Secondly, in terms of rest period, the law states the following:

• Paid 10-minute rest period for each 4 hours worked or major fraction thereof; as practicable, in the middle of each work period. Not required for employees whose total daily work time is less than 3 and ½ hours. This includes paid "recovery period" which means a cool down period afforded an employee to prevent heat illness.

What are the exemptions?

The most important exemption to be aware of is the "white-collar exemption." This clause exempts certain executive, administrative and professional employees from California wage and hour laws, and therefore from break requirements. But the criteria determining which employees fall into this category are exacting, and break down as follows:

• Have primary duties that are executive, administrative or professional (this generally means that 50% or more of his/her work time must be devoted to such tasks);
• Regularly and customarily exercise discretion and independent judgment at work; and
• Earn a salary equivalent to at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time (40 hours/week) work.

In other words, employers can't simply change an employee's job title or slightly alter their job description to exempt them from meal and rest breaks. Misclassifying employees as exempt or as "independent contractors" and requiring work during breaks is illegal.

A common misconception is that anyone who is paid a salary instead of an hourly wage is exempt. As the above criteria shows, plenty of salaried employees are entitled to meal and rest periods.

When it comes to taking meal breaks, the nature of some employees' jobs will mean they are unable to leave their post while eating a meal. These are usually employees that work alone and need to remain present in their post during the entirety of their shift, such as a security guard or concierge.

For employees that fall into this category, their meal breaks can be classed as "on duty" and they must be paid for these meal periods at their regular rate of pay. Also, employers must get written agreement from employees confirming they consent to "on duty" meal periods and employees have the right to revoke this agreement at any time.

When it comes to rest periods, there are a number of exemptions for different industries, which break down as follows:

• Uniform application to industries under 15 Orders, including agriculture and household employment.
• Employees at 24-hour care residential care facilities may have their rest periods limited due to their working conditions and patients.
• Excludes professional actors, sheepherders under Agricultural Occupations Order, and personal attendants under Household Occupations Order.
• Additional interim rest periods required in the motion picture industry during actual rehearsal or shooting for swimmers, dancers, skaters or other performers engaged in strenuous physical activity.
• Under all Orders, except for private household employment, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement may grant exemption upon employer application on the basis of undue hardship, if exemption would not materially affect welfare or comfort of employees.

Strategies to maintain compliance

With the responsibility of compliance on their shoulders, employers can use a few simple strategies to guarantee that employees are taking breaks.

Employers can encourage employees to take breaks by normalizing the habit of briefly stepping away from work. Headspace recommends that managers and bosses lead by example, taking breaks right along with their employees. Additionally, a designated and welcoming space, such as a work cafe or lunchroom, can also encourage a regular break routine. A space with a quiet atmosphere, plenty of seating, and complimentary beverages or snacks will further reinforce that taking a breather is part of the company culture.

Since employers have the burden of proof, recording these breaks is essential in the event of legal issues. Therefore, employers must be sure to give employees a mechanism for recording their meal periods — and make sure that employees are using that mechanism correctly.

The simplest way to do this is via a time and attendance (T&A) platform. Many T&A platforms provide a "lunch lockout" feature which prevents employees from punching back in after a meal or rest break if they haven't used up their full time allowance. This ensures that employees don't accidentally take shorter breaks than those that are mandated. It also provides employers with an audit trail or every break taken by every employee.

Furthermore, T&A systems can be used to detect any employees that are skipping breaks altogether, allowing managers to quickly step in and remove any obstacles that might be preventing an employee from taking their mandated break periods.

California meal and rest break laws can appear complex and difficult to enforce. However, once you confirm which employees are entitled to these and set up processes that enable compliance and record audit trails, you can be confident that your business is in compliance.

Adam Day is president & CEO of Timerack, a time and attendance (T&A), payroll integration and HR services company that provides lunch lock T&A systems to employers in California, to help them remain in compliance with break laws.

Read more: 

• Employee exemption classification: A primer
• 5 wage and hour compliance issues that could cost employers
• Practical solutions to novel employment law issues