California Meal and Rest Break Law (2023)

Although the general rule of thumb for California break law is that employees get a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours of work, what happens if an employee works less than a full 4-hour period?

The California labor code, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and California courts have said that during the first 4-hour period, if the employee works at least 3.5 hours, you round up (to 4). A rest break is required. During every subsequent 4-hour period, you round up if the employee works at least 2 hours.

Example: John works 7-hour shifts in California. Is he entitled to 1 paid rest break or 2? Answer. John is entitled to 2 paid rest breaks. Because he works more than 6 hours, you round up to 8 hours for determining rest breaks.

The below chart summarizes California rest break law on when breaks are required, and when to round up vs. round down when the employee works a partial shift. Remember: 1 rest break = 10 minutes. And rest breaks = paid time.

How long is your shift?	Number of Rest Breaks You’re Entitled To
Less than 3.5 hours	0 rest breaks
3.5 – 4 hours	Rounded up: 1 rest break
4 hours exactly	1 rest break
4 – 6 hours	Rounded down: 1 rest break
6 – 8 hours	Rounded up: 2 rest breaks
8 hours exactly	2 rest breaks
8 – 10 hours	Rounded down: 2 rest breaks
10 – 12 hours	Rounded up: 3 rest breaks
12 hours exactly	3 rest breaks
12 – 14 hours	Rounded down: 3 rest breaks
14 – 16 hours	Rounded up: 4 rest breaks
16 hours exactly	4 rest breaks
16 – 18 hours	Rounded down: 4 rest breaks
18 – 20 hours	Rounded up: 5 rest breaks
20 hours exactly	5 rest breaks
20 – 22 hours	Rounded down: 5 rest breaks
22 – 24 hours	Rounded up: 6 rest breaks
24 hours exactly	6 rest breaks

Under California labor law, employers must allow their employees to take a 30-minute meal break after every 5 hours of work. Meal breaks are unpaid, but must be uninterrupted, and employees must generally be permitted to go off-site for their meal.

Example: John works 18-hour shifts in California. How many meal breaks does his employer have to give him? Answer. 3 meal breaks. After the first five hours of work, John gets a break for breakfast. After he’s worked another five hours, he gets a lunch break. And after he’s worked another five hours, he gets a break for dinner. But, because he spends 1.5 hours of his 18-hour shift on meal breaks, John will be paid for only 16.5 hours of work.

When calculating how many meal breaks an employee gets, California break law does not include the time spent during an earlier meal break. For example, an employee who works 8 am to 5:30 pm, with one 30-minute meal break, has only worked 9 hours, and therefore isn’t entitled to a second meal break.

The below chart assumes that if a meal break is offered during a work-shift, that it is taken. And the chart counts the meal break as part of the “shift.”

How long is your shift?	Number of Meal Breaks You’re Entitled To
Less than 5 hours	0 meal breaks
5 – 10 hours	1 meal break
10.5 – 15.5 hours	2 meal breaks
16 – 21 hours	3 meal breaks

No, California employees do not have to take their meal and rest breaks. Employees can choose to keep working through their breaks. But rest breaks are paid, so there’s no direct monetary benefit to skipping rest breaks. In contrast, meal breaks are unpaid, so an employee who chooses to skip meal breaks may get paid for more hours, or can end their workday earlier.

The choice has to be the employee’s. An employer cannot pressure workers to skip breaks—whether by directly asking workers to skip or imposing deadlines that are impossible to meet without skipping breaks.

The rule under California break law is that an employer must give employees a “reasonable opportunity” to take meal and rest breaks, during which the employer:

(1) relieves the employee of all job duties;

(2) relinquishes control over what the employee does with their time; and

(3) does not impede or discourage the employee from taking a break.

Yes. Larger employers are often very cautious about avoiding penalties under California meal and rest break law. To ensure that managers are giving employees time for breaks, some employers configure their time-clock software to forcibly clock-out workers for a 10-minute rest break every 4 hours, and a 30-minute meal break every 5 hours. It’s generally not illegal for an employer to force workers to clock-out at set intervals, unless the employee is required to be on-call during that time, or cannot leave the premises, or is pressured by a manager to keep working through the break.

Employees who are forcibly clocked out for breaks, but are pressured by managers to keep working, may have a claim under California off-the-clock work law.

Sections

(1) Are meal breaks paid in California?

(2) Can you work more than 6 hours without a break in California?

(3) Can I sue my employer for not giving me breaks in California?

(4) Can I waive my lunch break in California?

(5) Can I work 5 hours without a lunch break in California?

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(1) Are meal breaks paid in California?

The general rule under California labor law is that meal breaks are unpaid. But if the employee is required to stay on the work premises or be on-call during the meal break, then it generally must be paid.

Paid Meal Break Example #1: John works as a security guard in California. His job involves sitting in front of security monitors and checking them for suspicious activity. His employer lets him take a meal break every five hours, but he has to stay and keep watching the monitors. Is John entitled to be paid for his meal break? Answer. Yes, he is still on-duty during his meal break, so it must be paid.

Paid Meal Break Example #2: Thomas works as a private-prison guard in California. He’s allowed to leave the prison for a meal break every 5 hours, but he has to stay on-call and keep his radio on, in case other guards call for “backup.” Does Thomas need to be paid for his meal-break time? Answer. Yes, Thomas remains on-call during his meal break, so it must be paid time.

Paid Meal Break Example #3: Elsa is a secretary at a law firm. She is required to attend mandatory lunch meetings at noon every Monday. And she is required to attend a monthly training seminar during lunch on the first workday of every month. The company provides free lunch during the meetings and seminars. Does Elsa need to get paid for time spent at lunch meetings and seminars? Answer. Yes, because the lunch meetings and seminars are mandatory, Elsa must be paid for those meal “breaks.”

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(2) Can you work more than 6 hours without a break in California?

Yes, if you want to. During a 6-hour shift in California, an employer must provide one rest break (10 min) and meal break (30 min). But the employee can choose not to take those breaks, if the choice is made freely – without undue influence from the employer.

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(3)  Can I sue my employer for not giving breaks in California?

Yes, employees denied meal and rest breaks can sue their employers in a court of law. They can even file a class action on behalf of other employees denied meal and rest breaks. Employees can recover the paid time they should have received during rest breaks; a rest-break penalty of one hour’s pay for each day without a rest break; and a meal-break penalty of an additional hour’s pay for each day without a meal break.

File a lawsuit

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(4) Can I waive my lunch break in CA?

Yes, but only if you work 6 hours or less. California employees can sign a waiver with their employer, stating that they will not get a meal break, as long as their shift is under 6 hours. Such waivers are not permissible if the employee works more than a 6-hour shift. Your employer should not be asking you to sign a lunch break waiver in California if you work more than 6 hours.

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(5) Can I work 5 hours without a lunch break in California?

Yes, your employer doesn’t have to give you a lunch break during a 5-hour shift. California break law requires employers provide a lunch break every 5 hours. But if your shift ends after 5 hours, you have the option of eating lunch after your shift or just going home.

If an employer in California does not provide rest breaks, employees who work 8-hour shifts may be entitled to 1.5x their regular rate of pay for the rest-break time they should have been provided. California overtime law requires time-and-a-half pay for work over 8 hours per day, and rest-break time must be added on top of other paid time.

California rest and meal break laws generally apply to nonexempt workers in California. Exempt workers, such as certain executives, computer employees, administrative workers, and medical and legal professionals, are not covered by the state’s rest and meal break laws.

Special rest and meal break rules also apply to employees in the following industries:

• Healthcare
• Group-home care
• Manufacturing
• Heavy duty operations (e.:drilling, logging, and mining)
• Construction
• Motion pictures
• Bakeries
• Professional driving
• Electrical, gas, and other utilities

ABM Security Services Rest Break Lawsuit	Security guards sued their employer, a private security company, for failing to provide uninterrupted rest periods. The guards were required to stay on-call, by radio and/or pager, during their rest breaks. On summary judgment, the trial court awarded $90 million to the security guards. The California Supreme Court upheld the award on appeal. In upholding the award, the California Supreme Court states that for rest breaks: California law requires employers to relieve their employees of all work-related duties … including the obligation that an employee remain on call. A rest period, in short, must be a period of rest.
Walgreens Rest Break Lawsuit	California workers sued Walgreens for failing to provide adequate rest breaks. The cases settled for $23 million.
Red Lobster and Olive Garden Rest Break Lawsuit	Current and former workers at Red Lobster and Olive Garden sued the restaurants’ parent company, GMRI, in California. The case settled for $9.5 million.

Chili’s and Maggiano’s Meal Break Lawsuit	Chefs, busboys, servers, and hostesses at Brinker-owned restaurants (Chili’s and Maggiano’s) sued their employer for failing to provide them with meal and rest breaks, as required under California law. The case settled for $56.5 million.
AT&T Meal Break Lawsuit	California retail salespeople and assistant store managers of AT&T sued the company for making them work through meal and rest breaks, including by understaffing AT&T stores, essentially forcing employees to work through their breaks. The case settled for $8 million.

Our California employment attorneys – with over 50 years of collective experience litigating under California employment law – know how to fight for employees’ rights and get them the money they deserve. We’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars for California employees and represent individuals as well as class actions in virtually every area of California employment and labor laws: California overtime law, off the clock violations in CA, breach of contract disputes, California independent contractor law, sexual harassment, employee misclassification, discrimination, as well as mass layoffs in violation of the California WARN Act. Our California employment lawyers are repeatedly recognized for their expertise litigating in California. Founding partner Eric Gibbs has been selected as one of the Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California. And seventeen of the firm’s attorneys were selected as Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, a distinction received by less than 5% of attorneys in Northern California.

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