The California Supreme Court in Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., 2 Cal.5th 257 (2016) made clear that rest breaks must be free of all duties. This means the employee may not be on call, may not be required to do any type of work, and may leave the work premises. An hourly employee in California is entitled to rest breaks of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked. So, in an eight hour shift the employee should receive two rest breaks in addition to the meal break. The rest break should be on the clock. If a rest break is not permitted, is missed due to work obligations, or is given but has limitations like those described above, the rest break is not valid and the employee should be paid an extra hour of pay. If you believe you have wrongly missed rest breaks, call us 310-356-1006.
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