Introduction
In California, employers must authorize and permit a net 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked (or major fraction thereof).
If the employer does not authorize or permit a rest period, the employer shall pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is not provided.
The missed rest break penalty automatically identifies when a rest break has been missed and applies the extra one hour of pay to the relevant timecard.
California allows separate premiums for meal and rest violations:
1 hour for missed meal break
1 hour for missed rest break
The maximum in one workday is 2 hours of premium pay (one for each type).
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Premium Plan subscription or higher
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Rest break penalty calculations
If an employee does not take, or only partially takes, the full paid rest break they are entitled to, they will receive a missed rest break penalty.
A valid paid rest break must be at least ten minutes in duration.
The penalty applies if the employee completely misses the break or takes less than the required minimum time.
When a rest break is missed, the employee will receive one hour of pay at their regular rate. A maximum of one missed rest break penalty can be applied per day, even if multiple rest breaks are missed.
The missed rest break penalty is calculated in accordance with California legislation, which requires a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked (or major fraction thereof).
Even if the paid or unpaid breaks configured at the top of the screen differ from this setup, the missed rest break penalty will still be calculated based on the California requirement of one break for every four hours worked, or major fraction thereof.