Client Alert
A Lunch Break from the Meal Period Law: Certain California Workers Now Exempted
October 04, 2010
Jeff Grube
Many California employers received relief September 30 from Californias meal period rules when Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 569. This bill which becomes law January 1, 2011 exempts from California Labor Code section 512 the following categories of employees: construction workers, commercial drivers, security officers, and gas and electrical workers who are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that (a) provides for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees, (b) expressly provides for meal periods for those employees, (c) expressly provides for binding arbitration of disputes concerning meal periods, (d) expressly provides for premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and (e) expressly provides a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage rate.