Contributors

Jennifer Woo Burns

Of Counsel

The California Labor Code provides that required meal breaks may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee for any shifts in which the employee works no more than 6 hours, and the second meal period may also be waived if the first meal break is not waived and the employee works no more than 12 hours in the shift. Many employers use standing written meal break waivers in which the employee agrees in advance to waive future meal breaks that fit within these waivable parameters. In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc. a California appellate court addressed the enforceability of these written meal break waivers.

In this case, the employer provided, and the employees signed a written agreement that prospectively waived all waivable meal periods throughout their employment. The agreement provided that the employees could revoke the agreement at any time. The Plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit claiming that these prospective waivers permitted the employer to circumvent the statutory meal break requirements and denied the employees a meaningful opportunity to exercise their right to meal breaks.

The Appellate Court disagreed, finding that the revocable, prospective waivers Plaintiffs signed are enforceable in the absence of any evidence that the waivers are unconscionable or unduly coercive. It was significant to the Court that there was no evidence that the employees unknowingly signed the waivers, that the employer coerced them into signing the waivers because it had greater bargaining power, or that the employees could not freely revoke the waivers at any time. The Court stated that if any such facts were present, the outcome of the case may have been different. In addition, the Court noted that the Legislature did not categorically disallow the use of prospective written waivers.

This case is welcome affirmation of written meal period waivers that employers commonly use. However, in accordance with the parameters outlined by the Bradsbery court, employers should ensure that any such waivers are revocable, voluntary, and clearly written. Any employers seeking to implement such waivers should have them drafted and/or reviewed by employment counsel.