Category Archives: Wages and Hours

This category examines the minimum wage and overtime laws in California. It also examines jobs that are exempt (salary) and those that are non-exempt (hourly). It also looks at real world examples and cases surrounding this massive body of law.

by Branigan Robertson | September 13, 2012 · 12:25 pm

California’s Lawsuit Environment and the OC Register

I love reading my local news. The Orange County Register does a good job covering local business affairs. Jan Norman, covering small business, is a fantastic reporter. She is objective and fair. But I have a little beef with her recent article, “Business survey ranks Calif. 47th in lawsuit climate.”

The article is about a survey conducted by the U.S. Chamber Institute of Legal Reform (ILR), a national lobby group for big business. According to ILR’s website:

The (ILR) is a national campaign, representing the nation’s business community, with the critical mission of making America’s legal system simpler, fairer and faster for everyone.

Further down the page it states:

ILR aims to neutralize plaintiff trial lawyers’ excessive influence over the legal and political systems.

This is a ridiculous position. Plaintiff lawyers are consistently the underdogs representing the little guys. In general, they don’t have millions of dollars to throw at cases like the lawyers who were surveyed by ILR. Moreover, plaintiff lawyers don’t have the lobbying power that Corporate America has in Federal and State legislatures.

Pregnancy Series #1: California is Friendly to Moms Breastfeeding in the Workplace

My wife is 5 days overdue with our first child. Once the baby is out my wife wants to breastfeed our daughter. Although my wife no longer works, I couldn’t help but wonder, what are a new mom’s rights in the workplace? Can you breastfeed on the job? What if your boss doesn’t let you? Can you use a breast pump at work? Does your boss have to provide you with a private room, or do you have to do it in a bathroom stall?

In 1998, California’s legislature resolved to improve the life of Mom’s in the workplace. It passed a series of statutes, including California Labor Code § 1030-1033. The most important is § 1030:

Every employer…shall provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee desiring to express breast milk for the employee’s infant child. The break time shall, if possible, run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee. Break time for an employee that does not run concurrently with the rest time authorized for the employee…shall be unpaid.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Discrimination, Family & Medical Leave, FMLA - Family & Medical Leave Act, Pregnancy, Rest Breaks, Sex Discrimination, Wages and Hours

Tagged as breast pump, breastfeeding, new moms, pregnancy discrimination, pumping at work

by Branigan Robertson | August 21, 2012 · 10:02 am

Brinker Part II – Lunch & Rest Breaks in California

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would post more information on the California Supreme Court decision Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court. The Brinker decision was huge in the employment law world. It clarified some of the most tricky wage and hour issues.

Here are a few of the important rulings:

Lunch breaks: An employer is supposed to give a 30 minute uninterrupted meal break to employees who work more than five hours. An employers obligation is to relieve its employee of all duty, with the employee thereafter at liberty to use the meal period for whatever purpose he or she desires. The employer does not need to ensure that no work is done. An employer cannot discourage or impede meal periods. If the employer has the employee do work during his or her lunch break, the employee must be paid for it. If the employer relinquishes control and the employee decides to keep working with the employers knowledge, then the employer must still pay the employees hourly rate, but not an additional premium. For those who like bullets:

Employees who don’t work more than 5 hours don’t get a meal period.
Employees who work over 5 but not more than 6 hours get a meal period, unless they’ve waived it in writing. If they don’t waive it, the meal period must begin by the end of the 5^th hour.
Employees who work more than 6 but not more than 10 hours get a meal period regardless of whether there’s a waiver. The meal period must begin by the end of the 5^th hour.
Employees who work more than 10 hours get a second meal period. If they don’t work more than 12 hours they can waive the second meal period. If they don’t waive it, the meal period must begin by the end of the 10^th hour.

Continue reading →

CA Supreme Court Rules on Brinker Wage & Hour Case

Some big news just hit the airwaves: The California Supreme Court just ruled, in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court, S166350, that employers are under no obligation to ensure that workers take legally mandated lunch and rest breaks. To put it as the Court put it:

“we conclude an employer’s obligation is to relieve its employee of all duty, with the employee thereafter at liberty to use the meal period for whatever purpose he or she desires, but the employer need not ensure that no work is done.”

The unanimous opinion was authored by Associate Justice Kathryn Werdegar. The Court explained that neither state statutes nor the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) compel an employer to ensure employees cease all work during meal periods. Instead, an employer must provide its employees with a uninterrupted 30-minute duty-free break during which the employee is at liberty to do whatever he or she pleases. Absent some sort of waiver, a meal break must be afforded after no more than five hours of work, and a second break provided after no more than 10 hours of work.

After I spend a good deal of time analyzing the case I’ll post more information.

________________________

Branigan Robertson is a California employment lawyer who exclusively represents employees in workplace disputes. He focuses his practice on sexual harassment, wage & hour, wrongful termination, and retaliation. Visit his website at BRobertsonLaw.com or call his office at 949.667.3025.

2 Comments

Filed under Rest Breaks, Wages and Hours

by Branigan Robertson | September 23, 2011 · 8:38 pm

Do I get a rest break at work?

I’m an hourly employee. Doesn’t my jerk boss have to give me a rest break? What if he doesn’t?

Yes, you’re entitled to a break! That jerk is in for some serious suits if he doesn’t! And I don’t mean clothing. I mean lawsuits. California law states that any hourly employees that have not been provided at least a 10 minute rest period for every 4 hours of work, that employee is entitled to one hour of pay. And my boss can’t require me to work during my break, obviously. He can, however, require me to stay on the premises. CA Labor Code § 226.7.

For example: If I make $30/hr and my boss doesn’t let me take a 10 minute break within a 3.5 – 4hr period, my boss is supposed to compensate me with one hour of pay ($30) on top of the hours I worked that day.

I know what you’re telling yourself right now. “I’m not going to sue my boss for $30 bucks, you idiot.”

True. However, you might want to sue your boss if I let you in on a little secret. That $30 penalty applies per day. And if you add them all up, that could be a lot of money. Let say you’ve been denied a rest break every day for the past three years. You could be owed $22,500.

That might be worth suing over…. If you add that to a few other wage and hour violations, that number could hit $100,000 with ease. That might motivate you to talk to an employment attorney.

A few more details on rest breaks:

The break must be a paid break. Your boss can’t deduct 10 minutes from your hours every time you go for a smoke, stretch, or stroll. Also, to the extent possible, you have to take the break near the middle of each work period. This is flexible, though. Lastly, you don’t have to take the break if you don’t want (provided your boss isn’t ‘encouraging’ or forcing you not too).

With that said…keep up the good work.

________________________

4 Comments

Filed under Rest Breaks, Wages and Hours

Tagged as 10 minutes, california employment law, rest breaks

by Branigan Robertson | August 25, 2011 · 7:46 pm

Angel’s Union Authorizes Strike

Oh dear. Angels fans be wary! The workers who sell hot dogs and beer at Angel Stadium may strike. If you’re like me, you can’t go to an Angel game an not get a beer and a hot dog. A typical food-service cashier at Angel Stadium makes $12.88 an hour. Apparently, similar jobs pay more in other stadiums. More than 500 workers have authorized union leaders to call for a strike if contract negotiations remain stagnant. Read the full article here.

Food workers say that they are frustrated by a wage freeze and health-care takeaways suggested by concessionaire Aramark, which handles food and beverage sales at the stadium.

Angel’s owner Arte Moreno needs to fix this fast.

________________________

California Wage Orders

What are wage orders and why do they matter to an employer? Why do they matter to an employee?

For an employer, a wage order governs the wages, hours and working conditions in California. For example, Wage Order 02 guides an employer in the personal services industry on what to pay an employee, what employment records must be kept, when meal and rest periods are mandatory, and other details. Each wage order is meant to be self-explanatory but in reality is difficult and boring to read. Wage orders must be posted in the workplace at a location where employees can read them during the workday.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Exempt, Hourly or Salary?, Non-exempt, Overtime, Wages and Hours

Tagged as exempt, hourly, non-exempt, overtime, wages & hours

Category Archives: Wages and Hours

California’s Lawsuit Environment and the OC Register

Pregnancy Series #1: California is Friendly to Moms Breastfeeding in the Workplace

Brinker Part II – Lunch & Rest Breaks in California

CA Supreme Court Rules on Brinker Wage & Hour Case

Do I get a rest break at work?

Angel’s Union Authorizes Strike

California Wage Orders

This blog is for employees.

____________________

Recent Posts

Categories

Lawyer Links

Archives

Meta