Rest and Meal Break, Employment Policies, Wage Orders

In Win for Employers, California Appellate Court Confirms Prospective Meal Period Waivers Are Legal

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP on 5/13/2025

On April 21, 2025, the California Court of Appeals held that prospective written meal period waivers for shifts between five and six hours are lawful, rejecting the argument that meal period waivers must be signed for each...more

California Supreme Court Holds that “Regular Rate of Compensation” Is Synonymous with “Regular Rate of Pay” for Purposes of...

Stokes Wagner on 7/22/2021

On July 15, 2021, The Supreme Court of California published its opinion on Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC and reversed the appellate court’s decision. Under California law, employers must provide employees with...more

California Employers Must Immediately Revisit Wage Premium Payment Practices Under New Ruling

Holland & Knight LLP on 7/19/2021

The California Supreme Court on July 15, 2021, finally and conclusively resolved a long-unsettled question of California wage and hour law, likely to the detriment of most California employers. In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood...more

Missed Meal Period Penalty Must Include Adjustment for Nondiscretionary Payments

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 7/19/2021

In a unanimous opinion in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, the California Supreme Court ruled on the important practical question of whether the “regular rate of compensation” for calculating meal or rest break premium...more

California Supreme Court Rejects Use of Rounding Policies for Meal Periods

Payne & Fears on 2/26/2021

Today, the California Supreme Court held that employers cannot use the practice of rounding time punches in the meal period context, and that unrounded time records that show noncompliant meal periods raise a rebuttable...more

Recent Meal Period Cases Require Employers To Review Their Current Practices

Fisher Phillips on 1/6/2020

The year 2019 brought a number of adjustments in the legal landscape for California employers – and meal periods were no exception. California appellate courts buckled down on the interpretation of statutory language in two...more

Even On-Duty Meal Periods Must Last at Least 30 Minutes

Payne & Fears on 8/12/2019

While the California Labor Code specifies that an off-duty meal period must consist of at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time during which the employee is relieved of all duties, the duration requirement for an on-duty...more

California Supreme Court Provides A Dose Of Helpful Medicine For Healthcare Employers

Fisher Phillips on 12/11/2018

In an important decision for employers in the healthcare industry, the California Supreme Court just approved the Industrial Welfare Commission’s long-standing exemption for health care workers in relation to second meal...more

California Court of Appeal Affirms Validity of Hospital Meal Period Waivers

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/17/2017

The ability of hospitals to use meal period waivers was called into question by a 2015 Court of Appeal decision in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (Gerard I), which held that the provision in Wage Order 5...more

Rest and Meal Break › Employment Policies › Wage Orders

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