Legal Question in Employment Law in California

There are a number of issues you raise in this posting, so I will address each of those. First, if you're not being given your meal/rest breaks, that is a violation of the California Labor Code and Industrial Wage Commission regulations. Most non-exempt CA employees are entitled to a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period for a shift of 5 hours or more, and they get a second meal period after 10 hours of work. There are circumstances when the employer and employee can agree to waive a meal period, such as where a meal period is not practical due to the nature of the work or where the total work day is less than 6 hours. Employees are also entitled to a paid 10-minute uninterrupted rest period for every 4 hours of work, and the break should be as close to the middle of the 4-hour period as practicable. In the case of an 8-hour shift, the rest breaks should be on either side of the meal period. If you should be receiving breaks but are not, the company is in violation of the law.

Second, you bring up you health condition, the diabetes. California's anti-discrimination law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA"), addresses an employer's obligation with regard to employees' disabilities. Diabetes generally qualifies as a disability, and your employer must make efforts to "reasonably accommodate" your disability. In the case of diabetes, that often means extra time to test your blood sugars and time to recover if you feel dizzy and need to sit down because of your blood sugar levels. If they know about your condition but have not made any accommodations, they may very well be in violation of the FEHA and liable in a lawsuit.

Lastly, to address your shoulder pain because of having to break safety protocol, that is possibly a Workers' Compensation issue. Our firm does not practice Workers' Compensation law, but we know attorneys who do and have worked together to coordinate the various claims.

Feel free to give us a call at (877) 877-2545. We handle claims throughout California and would be happy to talk to you in more detail about your potential claims.