What are the meal and rest break rules in California?

Non-exempt California employees are entitled to a 30-minute, duty-free, unpaid meal period starting before the end of the fifth hour of work, a second meal period on shifts over ten hours (Labor Code section 512), and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours or major fraction worked.

Labor Code section 512 requires a 30-minute, duty-free, unpaid meal period beginning before the end of the fifth hour of work, and a second before the end of the tenth; the first may be waived by mutual consent when the shift is no more than six hours, and the second on shifts up to twelve if the first was taken. The Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders add a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked or major fraction. The employer's duty is to relieve the employee of all duty and not impede breaks — though it need not ensure no work is done (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004). Each workday a required meal or rest period is missed, the employer owes one additional hour at the employee's regular rate of compensation (Labor Code section 226.7). These premiums are wages, recoverable for three years, and exempt employees are generally outside these rules.

Authority: Cal. Lab. Code §§ 512, 226.7