Lunch breaks are important to keep employees happy and healthy and yet we still see a trend of employees eating lunch at their desk or skipping their lunch break. Even though California employers are required by law to offer a 30-minute unpaid lunch break when employees work more than 5 hours, this doesn’t mean employees have to take that break.
An employer’s legal obligation to provide a lunch break ends once they have relieved the employee of all duties, relinquished control over their activities, and given them a reasonable opportunity to take a 30-minute break. An employer is also not allowed to discourage an employee from taking breaks. If the work period is less than six hours the meal break can be waived as long as both the employer and employee consent.
Employers are also required to provide a second 30-minute lunch break if the employee works for over 10 hours. This second break may be waived as long as the employee is working less than 12 hours, both parties consent, and the first meal break wasn’t waived.
Employees can also take on-duty lunch breaks, meaning they would still be working while they take their lunch break, but they must be paid during that time. This must be agreed to on paper by both parties, except for those under wage order 14, and the employee can revoke this at any time in writing. This is only allowed when the nature of the job prevents the employee from being completely relieved of duty.
Employees are also entitled to a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked or any “major fraction thereof”, meaning over 2 hours. These breaks should be given as close to halfway through the 4-hour period as possible but if something prevents the employee from taking the break at that time they can take it at any other point during their shift.
If an employee is not given their lunch or rest breaks they could file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. They will then be entitled to an additional hour of pay at their regular hourly rate for every missed break.
This is the bare minimum an employer must do to prevent getting in legal trouble, however, it never hurts to go above and beyond. Actively encouraging your employees to take breaks can help them become more productive and increase employee satisfaction.
While encouraging employees to take a break is a good habit to get into, it may not be enough to be effective.
- According to a survey done by Tork, 88% of employers encourage employees to take their lunch break but only 62% of employees actually feel encouraged to do so.
- A survey by EZCater reveals that while 29% of office workers block out time for a lunch break, 62% usually can’t use that time for a meal.
- When asked why they miss their lunch breaks 23% of workers said they want to finish their work ASAP, 22% said they are afraid they won’t have time to get all their work done and 20% said they have too many meetings to take a break.
So what do all these numbers mean? In simple terms, employees are often kept too busy to take a proper lunch break. While lunch breaks prevent burnout and make employees happier and more productive, they are not given the time necessary to take one so many end up eating lunch at their desk or not eating at all in order to get their work done.
It is important for employers to consider this and if possible, make sure to emphasize the importance of lunch breaks and lighten the workload put on employees if necessary. While you may want your employees to get as much work done as possible, it is not worth their mental or physical health.
Taking a lunch break has numerous benefits for both you and your employees. It can help with productivity, self-care, creativity, and mental health. It also helps prevent unhealthy eating habits and burnout. Just 30 minutes a day can improve the overall health and happiness of you and your team so that you can be as successful as possible, so make sure that you are taking the necessary steps.