Burbank, CA Employee Meal and Rest Breaks

Most Burbank, California employees are entitled to meal and rest breaks. Employees exempt from required rest breaks typically include professionals, executives, and administrators. The number of rest breaks and meal periods an employee is entitled to receive depends on the number of hours worked during an employee’s shift.

Required Meal Breaks for Burbank, CA Employees

Employees are entitled to an unpaid 30-minute meal break after working five hours. If the employee works ten hours or longer during a shift, the employee is entitled to another unpaid 30-minute meal break.

To count as an uninterrupted meal break, an employee should not be required to perform any work duties during the allotted time. Employers may be required to pay an employee for a meal break if the employer fails to relieve the employee of all work duties and tasks during the 30-minute meal break.

Required Rest Breaks for Burbank, CA Employees

Rest breaks are also required, depending on the number of hours worked during a shift. For every four hours worked (or a major fraction thereof), an employee is entitled to a 10-minute paid rest break.

Employees are not required to take the rest break, but the employers must make the breaks available to the employees and allow employees to take their breaks without requiring the employee to perform any job duties during the break.

If an employer fails to provide an appropriate rest or meal period in accordance with these obligations, the employer shall compensate each employee one (1) hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest and meal period was not provided.

If an employee fails to allow the appropriate rest and meal breaks, the employer shall compensate the employee one (1) hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for the missed meal period and one (1) hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for the missed rest period. Therefore, an employee could be awarded up to two (2) hours of pay per workday for being denied both meal and rest periods each day.

Retaliation for Complaints Regarding Wage and Hour Violations

Employees who complain of wage and hour violations are protected. If an employer terminates an employee, discriminates against an employee, or engages in any retaliatory action, such as decreasing pay, reducing hours, making threats, or creating a hostile work environment, the employee may have a legal cause of action against the employer for retaliation and/or wrongful termination.

Violations of Labor Code §203

Labor Code §203 assesses a penalty against an employer if the employer fails to pay all wages due upon termination or resignation. The “waiting time penalty” can be harsh.

The time an employer has to pay final pay depends on whether the employer was fired or quits. An employee who is fired is entitled to receive any wages earned through the date of termination on the employee’s last day of work.

However, if the employee quits, the time to pay final pay depends on the notice given by the employee. If an employee provides at least 72 hours of notice of the intent to quit, the employer must pay final wages on the last day of work. Employees who do not provide 72-hours of notice before quitting should receive their final pay within 72 hours of the final day of work.

Under Labor Code §203, employers can be fined a penalty for each day that final pay is delayed because of a “willful failure to pay” on behalf of the employer. A “willful failure to pay” does not necessarily mean that the employer had an evil intent or was guilty of wrongdoing. “Willful” only means that the employer failed to pay an employee’s final wages even though the employer knew about the requirement. In other words, the failure to pay was intentional. It was not a mistake or a misunderstanding.

An employee may be entitled to receive a full day’s pay for each day final wages are delayed past the waiting time period. The penalty may accrue for up to 30 days.