Work & Careers : Shop Talk : Which Employees Can and Can’t Work Through Lunch, and When

Q. We have employees who want to work through lunch on Saturdays so that they can get out half an hour earlier. Do California labor laws allow this? Would it matter if there are women in the group?

--C.H., San Clemente

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A. California’s new “Eight-Hour-Day Restoration Act” will do more than just restore daily overtime premiums of time-and-a-half for work of more than eight hours in a day and double time for work of more than 12 hours in a day. One significant change will limit the circumstances under which hourly employees can waive meal periods.

Under both current regulations and the new law, employees are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal period if they work more than five hours in a day. Under the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, employees will also be entitled to a second half-hour meal period if they work more than 10 hours in a day.

Under the new law, employees who are not represented by labor unions will be allowed to voluntarily waive the first meal period only if the workday does not exceed 6 hours, and can waive the second meal period only if the workday does not exceed 12 hours.

It appears that the new law will abolish the “on-duty” meal period exception found in the current wage orders. Under the existing rule, employees can agree to eat their lunches while working if they are paid for the meal period and if the nature of their duties prevents them from being completely relieved from work for a full 30 minutes.

Thus, unless they are scheduled to work six hours or less on Saturdays, California’s new law will forbid your hourly employees from working through lunch so that they can leave half an hour sooner.

In answer to your second question, it does not matter whether there are women in the group. Most special protections for women in our state wage and hour laws were abolished 20 years ago after they were successfully challenged in court.

--Joseph L. Paller Jr.

Union-employee attorney

Gilbert & Sackman

Claiming Pay for Back Overtime

Q. I work for a company that for many years did not pay overtime. Although I am not owed any money, many workers are--and they’re afraid to do anything about it. How would I go about instigating a claim against the company? Is there a statute of limitations?

--J.T., Costa Mesa

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A. There is a statute of limitations for overtime claims. It is three years under California law and two years--in most circumstances--under federal law. The statute of limitations runs from each paycheck you receive, so you could not go back any further than three years from the date you file a claim.

To institute a claim for overtime wages, the best place to go is the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which has offices throughout the state.

Both California and federal law prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who threaten to file or who file overtime claims.

--Michael A. Hood

Employment law attorney

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker

Owed 4 Hours’ Pay for Waiting Time?

Q. In my part-time job as a clerk, I was to work daily from 1 to 5 p.m. at a small company that had just the owner and one other employee. When I reported to work one day, the front door was locked. I stayed until 1:20 p.m., then left a note on the door stating that I had reported to work as assigned.

I later found out that both the owner and other employee had been sick. Then the owner said I was overqualified for the job and that he didn’t need me.

Since I reported to work as scheduled but couldn’t get in, does the owner have to pay me for four hours that day?

--M.G., Irvine

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A. As a nonexempt employee, you would probably only have a claim to the 20 minutes of time during which you waited for the doors to be unlocked.

You only get paid for the time you actually work. You certainly were entitled to wait for a reasonable time for the doors to become unlocked, and you would be owed payment for that time. However, since you did not actually work the full four-hour shift, you would not get paid for the balance of that period.

Had you been an exempt worker, you would get paid for your entire shift had you performed any work during that shift.

If you feel that the real reason for your termination is that you requested compensation for your waiting time, you might have additional rights. It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you by terminating employment because of legitimate complaints about payment of compensation owed.

Your employer might have a lot more to worry about than simply paying for 20 minutes of waiting time. A wrongful-termination case could subject the company to a much larger liability.

--Don D. Sessions

Employee rights attorney

Mission Viejo

If you have a question about an on-the-job situation, please mail it to Shop Talk, Los Angeles Times, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; dictate it to (714) 966-7873; or e-mail it to shoptalk@latimes.com. Include your initials and hometown. The Shop Talk column is designed to answer questions of general interest; it should not be construed as legal advice.