• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Do you make workers take breaks? Might be time you did

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
September 1, 2011
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

One reason you may want to make sure employees take their meal breaks: You could end up in a lawsuit if you don’t.
That’s especially true in states where the laws surrounding meals are ambiguous and confusing — like California.
As Nathan Koppel points out at The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog, there’s certainly a lot of wiggle room in California law when it comes to meal breaks.
Recent court rulings in California have said companies cannot pressure employees to skip meal breaks — or establish a work environment discouraging or preventing employees from taking such breaks.
And yet companies are not required to ensure employees take meal breaks. They are only required to make them available to workers.
The tales of two companies
Sounds like there’s a lot of room in there for employers to get lost. And those kinds of laws are generally breeding grounds for expensive lawsuits.
Two painful situations Cali employers found themselves in when they didn’t make employees take meal breaks:

  • Terminix just agreed to pay a $1.5 million settlement to workers who claimed they’d been required to work without rest or meal periods.
  • Granite Rock Company was sued for more than $6 million by workers claiming not to have gotten meal periods or additional pay for the time they spend working during what would’ve been their meal breaks. In this case, the company prevailed by proving it did offer meal breaks to its workers. They just chose to work through them.

That last case goes to show that when laws are left open to interpretation, there will be employees who’ll jump at the chance to profit.
One way to eliminate that threat in cases like this: Consider requiring employees to take breaks. It could’ve saved these companies a lot of time, aggravation and money.
Source: “Food for Litigation: Companies Sued for Failing to Provide Meal Breaks,” by Nathan Koppel, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, 8/30/11.

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader