California Break Laws: Meal and Rest FAQs

California wage and hour law entitles an employee who works more than five hours to an unpaid meal break of at least thirty minutes. This page answers the most common questions about meal breaks, rest breaks, and what an employer owes when a required break is missed.

Is my employer required to allow me to take a break for meals or rest during my workday?: The state of California wage and hour laws require that any employee that works more than five hours in a workday be entitled to an unpaid meal break of at least a half hour. If an employee works more than 10 hours they are entitled to a second meal break.
Do CA wage and hour regulations require that an employee receive break time?: California wage and hours law requires that employees covered by the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders must receive a rest period, which is to be taken in the middle of each work period, whenever that is feasible.
How long must the break period be?: According to California wage and hours law, breaks must be ten minutes long for each four-hour period worked, or for any period that is more than two hours long. Rest time is not required for any employee that works less than three and a half hours per day.
If my employer does not allow me to take meal breaks or rest breaks during my workday does that mean they are guilty of wage and hour violations? Is there a penalty for denying meal breaks or rest breaks?: Unless you are an exempt employee, failure to provide breaks by your employer does mean that they may be guilty of wage and hour violations. If your employer fails to provide break time as required, they must pay you one hour’s wage for every day that they fail to provide a break.
What should I do if my employer fails to allow me to take meal breaks or rest breaks?: You can file a California Labor Commissioner wage claim or you can file a lawsuit in court to recover the additional pay you are owed, which is equivalent to one hour’s pay at your regular rate of pay for every day that you were denied your break periods.