California Wage Law: Regular Rate of Pay & Meal Breaks

• "Regular rate of pay" in California wage law includes all forms of compensation received by an employee.
• Non-discretionary bonuses must be included in the regular rate of pay calculation.
• If an employee earns $20 per hour and receives a weekly production bonus of $80, while working 44 hours a week, the regular rate of pay is $21.82 per hour.
• Meal and rest break premiums must be paid at the overtime rate, which is 1.5 times the regular rate.
• A monthly performance bonus affects the overtime rate because the bonus should be included in the regular rate calculation for overtime purposes.

Meal Break Requirements

• Under California law, an employer must provide a meal break for shifts over 5 hours.
• A compliant meal break in California requires that the employee be relieved of all duties and free to leave the premises.
• For a shift of 6 hours or less, no meal break is required.
• For a shift of 12 hours, two 30-minute meal breaks are required.
• If an employee takes a late meal break beginning at the end of the 6th hour of work, the employer must pay one hour at the employee's regular rate of pay as a premium.

Rest Break Requirements

• For an 8-hour shift, two 10-minute paid rest breaks must be provided.
• Rest breaks should ideally be scheduled in the middle of each work period when practicable.
• For a shift of 3 hours, no rest breaks are required.
• If an employee works a 6.5-hour shift and is not allowed to take any rest breaks, the employer must pay one hour at the employee's regular rate of pay as a premium.
• If an employee misses both required rest breaks in a single day, the employee is entitled to receive two premium payments (one for each missed break).

Split Shift Requirements

• A "split shift" under California law is a shift with a break of more than 60 minutes that is not a bona fide meal period.
• For an employee who works a split shift and earns exactly minimum wage, the required premium is one hour at minimum wage.
• If an employee earns $18 per hour (when minimum wage is $16) and works a split shift of 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening, the split shift premium they are entitled to is $0 because the higher hourly rate offsets the premium.
• The split shift premium NOT applies when the employee is paid more than minimum wage.
• If a restaurant schedules a server to work from 11 AM to 2 PM and 5 PM to 10 PM, and the server earns $16.50 per hour plus tips, assuming a minimum wage of $16.00, the correct split shift premium is $0 because the tips offset the premium requirement.

Practical Application

• A "red flag" indicating a potential regular rate of pay violation would be the statement, "My overtime rate is always the same regardless of how much commission I earn."
• If a potential client says, "I work in retail and often have to work through my lunch because customers need help," flags an off-the-clock work violation (potentially both meal break and off-the-clock work violations).
• The most important documentation to request from a client with a potential split shift claim is work schedules showing the split shifts.
• If a client says they work at a restaurant from 6 AM - 10 AM and then 7 PM - 11 PM three days a week, with no additional compensation for this schedule, first ask, "Did you request this schedule?"
• If an employee regularly works 10-hour shifts but reports never receiving a second meal break or a third rest break, and the employee earns $19 per hour, the MAXIMUM daily premium pay the employee might be entitled to is $38 (one hour each for meal and rest violation).
• A restaurant server who works 11 AM - 2 PM and 5 PM - 10 PM and earns exactly minimum wage has a potential claim for unpaid split shift premium.
• When calculating a split shift premium for an employee who earns above minimum wage, the correct formula is one hour at minimum wage minus (hours worked × amount employee's hourly rate exceeds minimum wage).
• If a client who works split shifts tells you they are required to check work emails during their unpaid break between shifts, flag off-the-clock work in addition to split shift issues.
• The employee's personal food preferences is NOT required to document during intake for a potential meal break violation.
• If a client says, "I work a morning shift at one store location and an evening shift at another location of the same company," determine if this is a split shift, the most important information is Whether the shifts are on the same workday and scheduled by the same employer.