According to California state law, am I required to take a lunch break
or is it simply required that I am offered one?

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 10 Oct 2005 22:16 PDT

signe,

I didn't find anything definitive, so I am giving you what I found. 
If you are satisfied, I'll post it in the Answer area. Plus, you have
not made it clear if this is something you are seeking to do (skipping
lunch) and the employer is not willing, or whether you are being
offered at busy times and feel you can't walk away, etc.  What EXACTLY
is the situation?

Not knowing, here's what I found.

CA is going through a change in this regard, and I think your employer
is worried about getting sued, as you will see at the link below. You
can only waive it in certain situations, otherwise you can sue the
employer later, for 1 hour per day that you do not take a lunch. Those
situations are say, a single employee on duty in a small store, cannot
take "non-working" lunch, therefore the lunch may be waived.
Otherwise, the lunches are mandatory.

Having said that, If you have a good relationship with your employer,
I think it's possible that you can give written permission to the
employer and absolve him/her of liability.  This would allow you to
waive your lunch, then eat on the job, and leave 30 minutes early
--having skipped the unpaid "lunch break."

Out to Lunch - Labor law and lunchtime lawsuits in California
http://www.reason.com/hod/ak042505.shtml
..."Current California law, enacted just a few years ago, calls for a
mandatory half-hour lunchtime for each six-hour shift, to be taken by
the fifth hour on the job; federal labor law requires no such breaks.
More onerous for businesses is that workers are owed an extra hour of
wages for each day without a rest break. This classification of breaks
as wages gives workers a three-year statute of limitations to sue..."

Minimum Length of Meal Period Required Under State Law For Adult
Employees in Private Sector
http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/meal.htm


Let me know if this is suffient.

~~Cynthia

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Clarification of Question by signe-ga on 11 Oct 2005 08:07 PDT

Yes, this is sufficient. Thank you Cynthia! I guess what I was unclear
about was that I would have to provice my employer with a written
waiver. And yes--I was trying to skip 'em and leave early. Oh well...

signe,

Thanks for accepting my research as your Answer!

CA is going through a change in this regard, and I think your employer
is worried about getting sued, as you will see at the link below. You
can only waive it in certain situations, otherwise you can sue the
employer later, for 1 hour per day that you do not take a lunch. Those
situations are say, a single employee on duty in a small store, cannot
take "non-working" lunch, therefore the lunch may be waived.
Otherwise, the lunches are mandatory.

Having said that, If you have a good relationship with your employer,
I think it's possible that you can give written permission to the
employer and absolve him/her of liability.  This would allow you to
waive your lunch, then eat on the job, and leave 30 minutes early
--having skipped the unpaid "lunch break."

Out to Lunch - Labor law and lunchtime lawsuits in California
http://www.reason.com/hod/ak042505.shtml
..."Current California law, enacted just a few years ago, calls for a
mandatory half-hour lunchtime for each six-hour shift, to be taken by
the fifth hour on the job; federal labor law requires no such breaks.
More onerous for businesses is that workers are owed an extra hour of
wages for each day without a rest break. This classification of breaks
as wages gives workers a three-year statute of limitations to sue..."

Minimum Length of Meal Period Required Under State Law For Adult
Employees in Private Sector
http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/meal.htm

Hope this helps!


~~Cynthia


Search strategy used at Google:
"State of California" labor lunch break

The law requires that after 6 hours your epmployeer must provide you
with one half hour break.
At any point before 6 hours, you can waive your right to your meal
period, but must be provided with one after the 6 hour mark. If not,
your company is civilally liable. See California Labor Codes for
furhter information.

I am still confused as to whether I can waive the break if I'm working
an 8-hour day.

Check out these labor lawyers' site; maybe it will help.  Here's a
quote from them:  "Section 219 of the Labor Code specifically provides
that the right cannot 'in any way be contravened or set aside by a
private agreement, whether written, oral or implied.'" 
http://www.kmtg.com/legalalerts/LA801529.htm.

Mockingbird,
That is just what I had expected, the situation being somewhat similar
in Germany.  The law is well-intended to protect employees' health,
even against their own desires.  A written statement to - or agreement
with - the employee is only a declaration of goodwill.
I think there are also some statistics that show that productive
declines and errors increase when someone consistantly foregoes a
lunch break.
Myoarin