Legal Question in Employment Law in California

You should contact an employment lawyer regarding your situation. From what you write, it sounds like you have claims for unpaid wages as well as failure to provide breaks. In the meantime, you should keep track of all days on which you were unable to take your breaks, as well as the reason why. This log will be strong evidence for you in the event you bring a claim against Denny's.

Good luck.

You have a claim for unpaid compensation and OT for breaks denied, plus interest and penalties. Put together a summary of all that time and you can either file a claim with the Labor Commissioner, or you can file suit to recover it. If successful you are entitled to your attorney fees. If serious about pursuing this, feel free to contact me.

CA employers are required by law to provide the opportunity for employees to take at least 2 paid ten minute breaks and at least a 30 minute duty-free unpaid meal period if the employee works 8 hours. If the employer fails to "provide the opportunity" for you or others to take meal and breaks which are required by law, you are owed one hour of pay for EACH violation. You must be paid for ALL work performed by you and you should not be clocked out when working. If you work over 8 hours in a day OR over 40 in a company workweek, you are owed overtime. Call an employment law attorney to discuss if you want a free consultation or if you and/or the employees want an attorney to write a letter to your employer. It is best in the future when asking questions online to not give any specific identifying details such as the name of your employer.