Rest Break Violations Attorney

Under California law (IWC Wage Orders), employers must authorize and permit 10-minute paid rest breaks for every 4 hours of work, or major fraction thereof. That means: 1 break for shifts of 3.5–6 hours, 2 breaks for 6–10 hours, and 3 breaks for 10–14 hours. Rest breaks must be in the middle of each 4-hour period when practicable and must be completely duty-free.

New York does not have a general rest break requirement for most private-sector employees, unlike California. However, certain industries and occupations have specific rest break requirements. Factory workers must receive a rest period. Some collective bargaining agreements also mandate rest breaks. New York does require day-of-rest provisions under Labor Law § 161.

For each workday a rest break is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of premium pay at the employee's regular rate under Labor Code § 226.7. This is the same penalty structure as meal break violations, and the two can be combined — meaning an employee denied both a meal break and a rest break on the same day recovers two hours of premium pay.

Under California law, rest breaks must be duty-free, meaning you cannot be required to work. However, the California Supreme Court in Augustus v. ABM Security Services held that employers cannot require employees to remain on-call during rest breaks. Whether you must remain on premises is a separate question — employers can restrict your location as long as you are completely relieved of duties.