California Meal Break Violation
Essentially, my job did not have me waive my meal but frequently has me work past the the latest time I can work without taking a lunch.
They do this to several employees and despite being in a medical job, they do not enforce that we take lunch before the designated CA Labor Law Time.
I brought this up to them, referring to 40+ violations where they had me work past 5 hours with no meal breaks.
To Be Clear, no one at my work knows about their rights regarding this.
To be Clearer- this would mean
Clock-In: 8:30AM
Latest time to clock out for Lunch is 5 hours after clock in which would be 1:30PM.
At least that is my understanding and seems to be the case according to California Labor Law.
However, when I brought this to their attention, they brought up a technicality that, that
"You need to clock out by the end of the FIFTH hour"
Which they presented as being 2pm...
Is this accurate? I reviewed the CA Labor Law regarding this & no where does it state that it's by the end of the "clock hour", simply by the end of the 5th hour worked, which would be 1:30pm, not 2:00pm...
Can anyone clarify this with me beyond a reasonable doubt?
I'm not superbly confident in bringing this up to them again. I do know they need to compensate 1 hour of base pay for every violation found. Of which I got 8, but I also know my fellow employees don't know this law and don't take lunches until 2-3pm most days.
BELOW is the quoted text from CA Labor Law relevant to my post.
"Yes you can, and you should. If your employer is denying you meal breaks and rest breaks, you would be entitled to receive a penalty of 1 hour wages per day you were denied any rest breaks, and an additional penalty of 1 hour wages per day you were denied any meal breaks (for a maximum penalty of up to 2 hours wages per day)"
This feels incredibly sketchy, especially considering it was obvious they were trying utilize the "finer" print. They also have their HR off-site & the last employee to reach out to HR regarding an employer-employee conflict was immediately fired for doing so.
Full thoughts? I could be wrong but I need to confirm because at this point I could very well have a whole paycheck or two by the time I quit.
Essentially, my job did not have me waive my meal but frequently has me work past the the latest time I can work without taking a lunch.
They do this to several employees and despite being in a medical job, they do not enforce that we take lunch before the designated CA Labor Law Time.
I brought this up to them, referring to 40+ violations where they had me work past 5 hours with no meal breaks.
To Be Clear, no one at my work knows about their rights regarding this.
To be Clearer- this would mean
Clock-In: 8:30AM
Latest time to clock out for Lunch is 5 hours after clock in which would be 1:30PM.
At least that is my understanding and seems to be the case according to California Labor Law.
However, when I brought this to their attention, they brought up a technicality that, that
"You need to clock out by the end of the FIFTH hour"
Which they presented as being 2pm...
Is this accurate? I reviewed the CA Labor Law regarding this & no where does it state that it's by the end of the "clock hour", simply by the end of the 5th hour worked, which would be 1:30pm, not 2:00pm...
Can anyone clarify this with me beyond a reasonable doubt?
I'm not superbly confident in bringing this up to them again. I do know they need to compensate 1 hour of base pay for every violation found. Of which I got 8, but I also know my fellow employees don't know this law and don't take lunches until 2-3pm most days.
BELOW is the quoted text from CA Labor Law relevant to my post.
"Yes you can, and you should. If your employer is denying you meal breaks and rest breaks, you would be entitled to receive a penalty of 1 hour wages per day you were denied any rest breaks, and an additional penalty of 1 hour wages per day you were denied any meal breaks (for a maximum penalty of up to 2 hours wages per day)"
This feels incredibly sketchy, especially considering it was obvious they were trying utilize the "finer" print. They also have their HR off-site & the last employee to reach out to HR regarding an employer-employee conflict was immediately fired for doing so.
Full thoughts? I could be wrong but I need to confirm because at this point I could very well have a whole paycheck or two by the time I quit.