In California, taking scheduled rest breaks during work hours has been outlawed.
In a significant development, fast-food giant McDonald's has agreed to settle a lawsuit for $3.75 million. The settlement, expected to cover approximately 800 workers, comes after a federal lawsuit was filed in 2014 alleging that a franchise owner in the San Francisco Bay Area cheated hundreds of workers out of wages and overtime.
While the details of the lawsuit and the settlement were filed in federal court in San Francisco, no specific amounts of awarded damages, interest, or penalties related to computer software employees were mentioned in the article. The lawsuit sought a court order designating McDonald's as the joint employer of workers at the franchise in question.
Meanwhile, the California Supreme Court has offered guidance on the administrative employee exemption from overtime, as clarified in the case Harris v The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, decided on December 29, 2011. The ruling aims to protect employees’ rights to meaningful rest during work shifts and clarifies employers' obligations to pay employees for rest periods when they are not fully relieved of duty.
In a separate ruling in 2016, the California Supreme Court further clarified rest break rules in the case Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc. The ruling emphasized that rest breaks must be truly restful, meaning employees must be completely relieved from work duties to count as unpaid rest periods. When employees are unable to take actual breaks due to ongoing work or on-call obligations, the time must be compensated accordingly.
For instance, if an employee is required to remain on-duty during a rest break, the rest break time must be paid, as it is considered time worked. Conversely, if the employee is truly relieved of all duties during the rest break, the break must be off-duty and unpaid. Similarly, for on-call periods, if the employee is relieved of all duties and free to use the time as they wish, this time may also be unpaid. However, if the on-call duties restrict the employee such that they cannot use the time effectively as rest, the time should be counted as paid working time.
These rulings serve as key precedents in California labor law concerning the enforcement of rest break rules in contexts where employees remain on-duty or on-call during break times. It is important to note that California employers are required to relieve their employees of all duties and relinquish control during rest periods.
The overtime exemption for computer software employees in California and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governing overtime exemptions in the United States were also discussed in the article, but no specific companies related to computer software were mentioned. The article did not provide information about any court rulings or settlements related to computer software employees.
In light of the clarified rest break rules in California labor law, a fast-food chain like McDonald's might seek legal services to ensure compliance with the regulations for its workers, especially in relation to rest periods and on-call obligations. The financial implications for businesses, such as fines or penalties for non-compliance, could be significant.
