Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Most likely, no. While the answer depends on your status as a non-exempt or exempt employee, generally, employees must be given a 30 minute lunch break for every 8 hours worked. In addition, employees must be given two 10 minute breaks for every 8 hours worked. If your employer is not providing you these rest and/or meal breaks, and you are considered a non-exempt employee, your employer is violating the law and you may have a claim against your employer.

If you would like more information or feel you may want to pursue a lawsuit, feel free to contact our firm at (415) 788-0888. You can also visit our website at www.sarnofflaw.com and complete our Confidential Online Case Evaluation Form. This will provide us with sufficient information to conduct at least a preliminary analysis of your situation.

In a word, No. If you are a non-exempt employee, your employer is required to pay you for all hours worked. Feel free to contact my firm, Eisenberg & Associates, for a free consultation at (213) 201-9331.

Both answers are mostly right, in that they say it is not legal, but they provide you with VERY wrong explanations. First off - Mr. Sarnoff is completely wrong that it depends on whether you are exempt or non-exempt. If you are exempt, it is illegal for the employer to pay you or not pay you in any unit less than a day. So it is certainly illegal for them to take out a 1/2 hour of pay, whether you took the break or not. They can track your hours and run their payroll accounting using hours but if you work any hours in a day they must pay you for a day at your agreed salary. They do not, however, have to give you official breaks since you can take breaks throughout the day because you have to be paid for a day's work regardless of how much break time you take. If you are NON-exempt, it is illegal not to give you at least a 1/2 hour relieved of job duties for a meal break for every shift of 5 hours or more. That break may be and usually is recorded as unpaid time. If they don't give you that break, they are breaking the law and you can collect penalties for it. Lastly, under NO circumstances is it EVER legal to falsify time records or to dock an employee's pay for meal breaks they did not take. It doesn't matter whether you are exempt or non-exempt at all. If you are interested in retaining counsel, at least find someone who actually knows the law.

No. The employer is obligated to provide and ensure you take a 30 minute unpaid lunch break for every full shift, and a 10 minute paid break every 4 hours. If denied a break, you have a claim for unpaid OT, penalties and interest for every such denial, Feel free to contact me if serious about pursuing this.