California Supreme Court Rules in Meal-Break Case
The Supreme Court of California reached a decision in the Brinker Restaurant Corp. case regarding employers’ obligations regarding provided meal breaks for employees.
The case dates back to a Division of Labor Standard Enforcement finding in 2002 that workers were not given proper meal breaks at Chili’s Grill & Bar, which is owned by Brinker.
In the decision, released on April 12, the court ruled that “an 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.”
Further, the court ruled, employers are “not obligated to police meal breaks and ensure no work thereafter is performed.”
Relieving workers from duty and “the relinquishing of control satisfies the employer’s obligations,” the court said, adding that work done by a “relieved employee during a meal break” does not “place the employer in violation of its obligations and create liability for premium pay.”—A.A.N.
