Brett Sutton and Jared Hague sit down to discuss the recent ruling in the Supreme Court of California on the Donohue vs. AMN case and how it might affect employers in the future. In the State of California, they take their meal and rest breaks seriously, and if employers fail to comply, they can risk multi-millions in lawsuits. Brett and Jared share their thoughts on what all this might mean and provide a little bit of clarity on how employers can prevent this from happening to them in this week’s episode.
Highlights:
- Let’s do a quick review on what the basic meal period and rest rules are currently under California law.
- For other states, the meal period is incredibly flexible, but for California, it is very strict.
- What’s behind the 2012 Brinker case?
- What are the definitions of a rest period?
- A recent Supreme Court of California ruling could change all of this.
- What do you need to know about the 2021 Donohue vs. AMN Services case?
- Despite the software rounding up and down on employees’ lunch breaks, it appeared that employees were taking on average a 45-minute lunch break.
- Can employers properly round time punches for meal periods?
- It’s every employer’s duty to maintain accurate records. This means you need to prove that the employee did not waive their opportunity for a full 30-minute break.
- Brett and Jared take turns talking about some of the lessons they learned on the case.
- You need to be very careful with your meal and rest policies. The handbooks you have might very well be wrong or out to date.
- It’s going to be harder and harder to overcome non-compliant meal period time punches.
- Make sure your timekeeping technology isn’t “rounding up.”
- What kind of evidence or statement should you include in your meal periods, going forward?
- If the court determines your records are unreliable, they’re going to get thrown out and it’s going to cost you big.
- When does it make sense to offer an individualized settlement agreement?
- It might be time to consider a severance program.
Resources:
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.