Meal Breaks for Public Sector and UC Health Care Workers

California law now guarantees meal breaks and rest periods to public sector and UC workers who provide or support direct patient care in a hospital, clinic, or public health setting.

Private sector nurses have been guaranteed meal breaks and rest periods for some time. However, public sector nurses have not enjoyed these basic protections, even though they perform the same job duties.

However, on September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed SB 1334. That bill created Labor Code section 512.1, which provides as follows (emphasis added):

(a) An employee directly employed by an employer shall be entitled to one unpaid 30-minute meal period on shifts over 5 hours and a second unpaid 30-minute meal period on shifts over 10 hours, as provided by Section 512.

(1) The employee may waive a meal period in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 512 and paragraph (D) of Section 11 of Wage Order Number 4 or paragraph (D) of Section 11 of Wage Order Number 5 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.

(2) On-duty meal periods may be provided in accordance with paragraph (A) of Section 11 of Wage Order Number 4 or paragraph (A) of Section 11 of Wage Order Number 5 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.

(b) An employee who is directly employed by an employer shall be entitled to a rest period based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of 10 minutes net rest time per 4 hours or major fraction thereof, as provided by Wage Order Number 4 and Wage Order Number 5 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.

Critically, section 512.1 further provides that employers who fail to comply with this law must pay employees one hour of pay for each day that a meal break or rest period is not provided:

(c) If an employer fails to provide to an employee a meal period or rest period in accordance with this section, the employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest period is not provided.

However, many public sector nurses are covered by collective bargaining agreements. Those nurses are not subject to the new meal break and rest period requirements under certain circumstances:

(d) This section does not apply to an employee directly employed by an employer who is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for meal and rest periods, and, if the employee does not receive a meal or rest period as required by the agreement, includes a monetary remedy that, at a minimum, is equivalent to one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest period is not provided.

Accordingly, the first question public sector nurses should ask is whether they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. If so, they should determine whether the collective bargaining agreement provides for meal and rest periods, and, if the employee does not receive a meal or rest period as required by the agreement, includes a monetary remedy that, at a minimum, is equivalent to one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest period is not provided. If all of these conditions are met, section 512.1 does not apply.

Hunter Pyle Law has represented nurses and other employees in meal break and rest period claims, both for individuals and on a class-wide basis. If you have questions about your rights at work, please contact us for a free, confidential initial intake. We can be reached at (510) 444-4400 and at inquire@hunterpylelaw.com.