General Criteria

• The California Department of Industrial Relations, which administers the state's wage and hour laws, requires California employers to give employees a lunch break of at least 30 minutes if they work more than five hours per day. An exception applies if the employee works no more than six hours for the day, in which case, the employer can waive the lunch break if he and the employee agree to it. The employer must give a second meal period of at least 30 minutes if the employee's work period exceeds 10 hours for the day. If the daily work hours are no more than 12, the employer can waive the second meal period if he and the employee agree to it and if the first lunch break was not waived.
  
  

Exception

• Employees who work in the motion picture industry must receive a meal period of at least 30 minutes, up to an hour, if they work six hours for the day. If they 12 hours or more for the day, they should receive a lunch break no later than six hours after the initial one.
  
  

Paid Breaks

• A meal period is unpaid in California if the employee is relieved of all her work duties during the break. If the employee works during her meal period, the employer must pay for the break at her regular hourly pay rate. The employee can work during her meal period only if both the employer and the employee have a written agreement consenting to the on duty lunch break; the agreement must state that the employee can terminate the arrangement whenever she wants. An employer can require most employees to eat meals at the work site instead of off the premises. In this case, the employee is still under the employer's control and should therefore be paid for the break. In most cases, if the meal period happens on a shift that starts or ends at or between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the employer must provide the employee with covered facilities that allow her to obtain food and drink and to consume her meals.
  
  

Penalties/Solutions

• An employer that neglects to give employees meal periods as required by California law must pay the related employee an extra hour of pay at his regular pay rate for each workday the break was not given. The employer does not include the additional hour when calculating overtime pay. An employee who does not receive the required meal periods can file a wage claim with the California labor commissioner's office or a lawsuit in court to recover the extra hour of pay for each affected workday.
  
  

Consideration

• California law requires employers to give employees paid 10-minute rest breaks for each 4-hour work period.