Know Your Rights: Overtime and Break Laws in California

California labor laws provide strong protections for workers. Employers must follow strict rules regarding overtime pay, meal periods, and rest breaks. If your employer has not followed these requirements, your workplace rights may have been violated.

Overtime Violations

California law requires that most non-exempt employees receive overtime pay when they work beyond a certain number of hours. This includes both daily and weekly overtime thresholds. Employers sometimes avoid paying overtime by misclassifying workers, requiring off-the-clock work, or failing to track time properly.

You may be entitled to overtime if:

• You worked more than 8 hours in a workday
• You worked more than 40 hours in a workweek
• You worked 7 consecutive days, especially on the 7th day
• You worked over 12 hours in a single day (double time)

Overtime must be paid at 1.5 times your regular hourly rate, or 2 times your rate for longer shifts or consecutive workdays such as time after 12 hours in a single day. These rules may apply even if you agreed to a fixed schedule such as 4 ten hour shifts per week.

Missed Meal Periods

California law gives employees the right to meal breaks during their shifts. If your employer did not allow you to take a full, uninterrupted meal break, or required you to stay on duty, that may be a violation.

Here’s what the law requires:

• A 30-minute unpaid meal break when working more than 5 hours
• A second 30-minute break if working more than 10 hours in a day
• The break must be uninterrupted and duty-free

Employers are not permitted to discourage or prevent employees from taking their meal periods, and cannot require workers to remain on-call or nearby during the break. The meal period must occur before the 5th hour, a late lunch break may also receive a penalty like a missed lunch or a lunch interrupted by work.

A common way lunches are violated for workers may include issues such as having to don and doff protective equipment during their lunch break.  Getting into and out of protective equipment is work, and using lunch to get into and out of protective equipment may be a lunch break violation.

Missed Rest Breaks

In addition to meal periods, California law requires employers to provide paid rest breaks to allow workers to step away and rest. These breaks must be provided at regular intervals throughout the day, and employers cannot require employees to work through them.

Key rest break rules:

• One 10-minute paid rest break for every 4 hours worked (or major fraction thereof)
• Breaks should be provided as close to the middle of the work period as possible
• Workers must be relieved of all duties during the rest period

If you were discouraged from taking breaks, or forced to delay or skip them regularly, this may be a violation of California labor laws.

Off-the-Clock Work

California law requires that employees be paid for all hours worked, including time spent performing tasks before or after a scheduled shift, or during unpaid breaks. Employers may violate the law by asking employees to clock out and continue working, or by failing to track certain work activities.

Examples of off-the-clock work may include:

• Setting up or cleaning up before or after shifts
• Attending mandatory meetings or trainings outside regular hours
• Completing paperwork, inspections, or security checks off the clock
• Responding to work-related calls, texts, or emails while off duty

Even short tasks performed off the clock may be considered work time under California law. If this has happened regularly, your rights may have been violated.

Speak With Our Team

If you believe your employer may have violated California’s overtime or break laws, Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP is here to help you understand your rights. We have experience representing workers across a wide range of industries.

📞 1-800-689-0024

📧 info@schneiderwallace.com

📍 Offices throughout California

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