{"id":36403,"date":"2016-03-31T19:23:51","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/california-employers-awaiting-significant-changes-to-rules-on.html"},"modified":"2016-07-14T11:38:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T16:38:01","slug":"california-employers-awaiting-significant-changes-to-rules-on","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/california-employers-awaiting-significant-changes-to-rules-on.html","title":{"rendered":"California Employers Awaiting Significant Changes To Rules On Meal Periods & Rest Periods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) proposed a new meal and rest period regulation on December 20, 2004. This proposal was filed under the regular rule-making process of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). On the same day, the DLSE pulled the Emergency Regulation that it had proposed only ten days earlier. The wording is almost identical in both proposals.<\/p>\n

The Proposed Regulation<\/b><\/p>\n

The DLSE proposal, also known as Section 13700, contains four primary sections:<\/p>\n

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  1. a definition of a work period;<\/li>\n
  2. a discussion of how an employer provides a meal period<\/a> and how it documents the provision of that meal period;<\/li>\n
  3. a discussion of when a meal period must start; and<\/li>\n
  4. a clarification that the sanction of not providing a meal period or rest period is a penalty, not a wage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A work period is defined as "that period of time during which an employee is subject to the control of the employer." \u00a7 13700(a). Essentially, a work period begins when the employee starts the day, and a new work period<\/a> begins after a meal period ends. A work period ends with the start of a meal period and at the end of the day’s work.<\/p>\n

    An employer properly provides a meal period when it:<\/p>\n