California Meal and Rest Breaks: What You Don't Know Can Cost You

California statutes pertaining to meal and rest periods for non-exempt employees are one of the more confusing topics in today’s business environment.  

This course is designed to provide you with a practical foundation for understanding the law. It includes guidelines for how to properly create and administer your own meal and rest period policy. Or, if your company already has its own policy, then this information can help you to review your existing policy as well as the procedures and practices in “real life” daily operations. 

By the end of the course, you will be informed about the laws so that you will be better equipped to assist your company in being California-compliant with meal and rest periods.

• Understand the basic requirements under California law pertaining to meal and rest periods.
• Review common violations by employers in attempting to follow the law.
• Enumerate the penalties and remedies for violations under the law.
• Review examples of recent settlements.
• Review best practices for compliance.
• Identify resources for further information about the requirements.
• Updated: Recent legal case decisions and developments to keep you in compliance!

• Effect of the California Supreme Court decision of Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Supervisor Court on Meal and rest periods
• Specific sections of the California Labor Code and the California Wage Order, both of which establish the requirements for meal breaks
• Waivers and on-duty meal periods
• Rest periods
• On-call rest periods
• Best practices for complying with the law

Meal and rest break laws continue to confound California employers with hourly-paid employees. Without a solid understanding of these specific requirements, your policies and procedures for your non-exempt employees can pose a substantial financial risk to your business.

Employers, managers, supervisors, and human resources professionals should have a sound understanding of these laws to communicate the legal requirements to their hourly-paid employees. They also need to be well-versed to provide non-exempt employees with the opportunities to take their entitled meal and rest periods.  

By attending this training, employers and their leaders will have a working knowledge of California meal and break period requirements and help their companies comply with the law.

• Leaders (executive, vice-president, director, manager) and supervisors of hourly-paid employees based in California
• Human resources director with California responsibilities
• Human resources manager with California responsibilities
• Human resources coordinator with California responsibilities
• Human resources generalist with California responsibilities
• Human resources business partner with California responsibilities
• Functional areas: Finance, Accounting, Operations, Human Resources, Quality, Sales (Inside Sales), Marketing, Engineering, Sanitation

Melveen Stevenson is the CEO and founder of M.S. Elemental, LLC, a human resources and business advisory firm. As a certified HR professional with a background in accounting and finance, she helps companies to navigate the human resources “jungle” of compliance, human capital, and leadership challenges. In doing so, she empowers companies to strengthen their infrastructure from the inside out, specifically through leadership development, operations, training, employee engagement, and executive coaching.

Melveen speaks on key topics to empower companies with the latest research and best practices for increasing engagement, enhancing leadership presence, and optimizing diverse workforce groups.

Over the last 20 years, Melveen has held leadership positions in human resources operations, supply chain, and talent management at international companies in food manufacturing, medical devices, and consumer products. She has spent most of her career in California, and has expertise in the state’s complicated employment regulations.

Melveen is certified through the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP) and the Human Resources Certification Institute (SPHR).  She is also a faculty member at California State University-Dominguez Hills.