Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Exempts working through meal breaks, leaving work early

We have some exempt employees who feel that if they work through their one hour lunch breaks, they should in fact be allowed to leave one hour earlier from work each day that this happens. I feel that if they do this on a regular basis, they have been allowed to change their work week which is not the schedule the company wishes them to work necessarily. Are there any laws in California that relate to exempt lunch breaks (I am aware of the non-exempt rules)?


Asked on 1/14/01, 9:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stuart Kaye Law Offices of Stuart M. Kaye

Re: Exempts working through meal breaks, leaving work early

There are no laws in California that regulate lunch breaks for exempt employees. You should exercise caution in setting a fixed workday or workweek for an exempt employee. A truely exempt employee could work ten hours in a workweek or fifty hours in a workweek and still be exempt. When an employer regulates, in terms of hours, the workday or workweek, for an exempt employee, the exempt status may be lost.

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Answered on 1/30/01, 9:24 am


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