California High Court Clarifies California Meal-and-Rest Rules

In welcome news for many California employers facing class actions based on the state break rules, the California Supreme Court has held that employers need not ensure that their workers take meal periods required by California law, but only that workers are provided the meal periods. The 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 Court explained. Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum), No. S166350 (Calif. Apr. 12, 2012). Should the employee choose to work after being relieved of duty, however, he or she must receive pay for the time worked, but is not entitled to the one hour of premium pay under California law for working during a meal break.