Legal Question in Employment Law in California

There is no law that dictates to employers how long or short suspensions must be for while they conduct an investigation. But the larger question here is why are you not able to leave work for lunch? You do not say what you do, but if you are a non-exempt employee, employers must allow employees to take a meal break and the employee must be able to take their meal break away from the workplace, if they so choose. They are off the clock and free to go wherever they wish. If not, penalties and possible overtimes issues arise.

If you are terminated for an unlawful reason, you may have grounds for a wrongful termination case. You should consult with an employment law attorney to discuss the details of your situation and learn what your rights are.

The 'do not leave the workplace at lunch' rule is not 'legal' or enforceable under most circumstances. Employees are entitled to have breaks and lunches away from their workstation. So, if you are denied such lunch benefits, and terminated for that reason, it probably is a violation of the wage/hour rules, giving you grounds for a 'wrongful' termination claim and lawsuit.

Complicating this however, there is no fixed time period for suspensions or notice. You could notify them, always in writing, that you will consider this to be a termination unless they return you to work by a specified date. If you don't hear from them by that date, you could then apply for unemployment as a 'terminated' employee, and take any other legal action discussed above.

If serious about getting legal counsel to represent you, feel free to contact me. I've been doing these cases for over 20 years.