SACRAMENTO - Senator Bob Margett (R-Glendora) introduced Senate
Bill 1192 which gives all California employees greater flexibility in deciding
when to take a meal break.
Under current law, employees are mandated to take meal breaks by the fifth hour of work, causing many workers to take a lunch break only a few hours after beginning a shift. Nurses and truck drivers, who often have very busy mid-day schedules that include patient rounds and scheduled deliveries, have found this mandate especially hard on them.
SB 1192 seeks to fix this problem by extending the time in which a meal period must be taken to any time before the sixth hour of work. This creates greater flexibility for employees to choose when to take their lunch break.
"California´s rigid meal period regulations ignore the needs of both the employee and the employer," said Senator Margett. "Too many employees must take their lunch breaks at unreasonable hours, including just after finishing an earlier meal, so they can be in compliance with impractical regulations. That is unfair."
According to a recent publication regarding meal periods by the California Chamber of Commerce, "California law on meal and rest periods is a confusing, self-contradictory muddle that exposes employers to indefinite and often unjustified risks of litigation. Further, it provides employers and employees alike with no meaningful ability to maturely manage how employees eat and rest during their daily workday."
"Employees and employers should not be afraid of litigation simply because a worker wants to take a lunch break that best fits into his work schedule," continued Senator Margett. "Nor should a worker be forced to take a lunch break when he is still digesting an earlier meal."
SB 1192 is expected to be referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
Under current law, employees are mandated to take meal breaks by the fifth hour of work, causing many workers to take a lunch break only a few hours after beginning a shift. Nurses and truck drivers, who often have very busy mid-day schedules that include patient rounds and scheduled deliveries, have found this mandate especially hard on them.
SB 1192 seeks to fix this problem by extending the time in which a meal period must be taken to any time before the sixth hour of work. This creates greater flexibility for employees to choose when to take their lunch break.
"California´s rigid meal period regulations ignore the needs of both the employee and the employer," said Senator Margett. "Too many employees must take their lunch breaks at unreasonable hours, including just after finishing an earlier meal, so they can be in compliance with impractical regulations. That is unfair."
According to a recent publication regarding meal periods by the California Chamber of Commerce, "California law on meal and rest periods is a confusing, self-contradictory muddle that exposes employers to indefinite and often unjustified risks of litigation. Further, it provides employers and employees alike with no meaningful ability to maturely manage how employees eat and rest during their daily workday."
"Employees and employers should not be afraid of litigation simply because a worker wants to take a lunch break that best fits into his work schedule," continued Senator Margett. "Nor should a worker be forced to take a lunch break when he is still digesting an earlier meal."
SB 1192 is expected to be referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
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