# Rest Break Attorney | Sue For Rest Breaks Pay Lawyer > Rest break pay must be paid out at your regular hourly rate plus commissions, bonuses, penalties and attorney fees Source: https://employeelawca.com/rest-break-law/ Firm: Employment Lawyers Group — employee-side employment lawyers since 1993. Serving Los Angeles County, California. Phone: (323) 525-1600 (calling is the fastest way to reach the legal team) Office: 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 Contact form: https://employeelawca.com/contact/ Consultations are free and confidential; cases are taken on contingency. --- California's rest break law is different than Federal law, and underwent major changes due to a recent California Supreme Court case. Our rest break lawyers have obtained significant rest break case results including won arbitrations, trials, and court approved class action settlements for rest break violations. Each missed rest breaks may be worth an hour of pay, create paystub violations worth $100 a paystub, and PAGA penalties entitling the employee to $50-$100 per pay period. The damages add up fast! Rather than trying to decipher the complexities of California rest break law *please call (323) 525-1600* so our wage lawyers can evaluate whether you and/or a large group of your workers were subjected to rest break violations. For information on California meal break violations [click here](https://employeelawca.com/meal-break-law/) California Rest Break Law Basic concepts of California rest break law include: Nonexempt employees are entitled to rest breaks. Nonexempt might mean you are paid by the hour, but not necessarily. Nonexempt employees include workers with supervisory or managerial job titles if they earn less than twice California minimum wage. Employees may be nonexempt even if they earn twice minimum wage, but neither regularly supervise two or more full-time employees or otherwise engage in supervisory or managerial work where they have independent discretion 51% of the time. Rest Breaks must be uninterrupted for 10 minutes. A late 2016 California Supreme Court decision clarified rest breaks must be uninterrupted. This means the employee must be relieved of all duty during their rest break. During a valid rest break the employee should not be required to answer calls, or look after the employer's property. Employers cannot prevent entitled employees to rest breaks. Employers are not required to police the workplace to make sure employees take rest breaks. However, employers cannot discourage, prevent, or make the taking of rest breaks impossible. In 2016 firm founder, Karl Gerber won an arbitration that led to a $400,000 recovery against an employer who knew it prevented, discouraged, and made impossible the taking of rest breaks. Employees do not have to take their rest breaks. Presuming the employer has not prevented, discouraged, or made the taking of rest breaks impossible they are not liable if an employee chooses not to take a rest break. Likewise, employers are not legally liable when employees decide to take rest breaks of less than 10 minutes. Rest Breaks can be taken in a variety of places. If an employee wishes and their employer allows it rest breaks may be taken at the employee's usual work location whether it is a desk, truck, or warehouse. Rest breaks can also be taken off premises. *If you have questions about at what point in your shift rest breaks must be taken, please call our rest break lawyers at (323) 525-1600 to see if you have a case. We do not advise employees to make their own calculations about when rest breaks are due to them based upon when they started their shift and when their meal break might be. Moreover, it is very dangerous for employees make incorrect assertions of the law to their employers.* ### Unpaid Wages Failure to allow eligible employees to take their daily rest breaks results in potentially two penalties a day. California Labor Code Section 226.7 requires an employer to pay an employee one hour of pay for every missed rest break. An important California Supreme Court decision suggests employees may be entitled to up to two hours of a pay a day for missed rest breaks. If an employee also missed a meal break they are still entitled to only two hours of pay for the day. The Supreme Court suggested an employee can either receive two hours of pay for one missed meal break and one rest break. For purposes of determining how far back an employee can go for rest break violations the California Supreme Court has determined missed rest break penalties are wages so the employee can go back four years. However, other penalties associated with [unpaid wages](https://employeelawca.com/los-angeles-unpaid-wages-lawyer/) However, California Labor Code Section 226 and PAGA (Private Attorney General) penalties may exist if the employer was denied meal or rest breaks. In 2016 our law firm achieved the following significant results in cases involving rest break violations: $800,000 class action settlement for a small class of emergency service workers $400,000 post-arbitration result when rest breaks were discouraged, prevented, or made impossible for 4 actual plaintiffs and then a PAGA settlement of $50,000 occurred We have offices in Bakersfield, Downtown Los Angeles, Oxnard, Riverside, Sherman Oaks, and Tustin, but regularly handle cases in all parts of Southern California. Because we seek to represent important labor interests, and receive hundreds of case inquiries a month we travel throughout California. We are not a general practice law firm. Our only focus is quality legal representation to deserving employees. ## Our Firm: No Upfront Fees or Costs ### Contingency Fee Representation All employment cases for employees are taken on a **contingency basis**. We are only paid a fee **when and if we win** your case, and we **advance all litigation costs**. Our goal is to make expert legal representation accessible to every hardworking employee. ### Serving Los Angeles County We have proudly served all of Los Angeles County since 1993. Ready to discuss your case? (323) 525-1600 Submit A Contact Form The Employment Lawyers Group has successfully handled 2,000+ Separate California Employment Cases ## Media Engagements ## Sample Case Results breach of commission contract $1,150,000 Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs unpaid wages $875,000 For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call forced to work without pay standby pay case $800,000 Controlled stand by class action settlement Disclaimer: These results are based on the facts of these specific cases and do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case. ## Practice Areas [Discrimination Age, Disability, FMLA/CFRA, Gender, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race, and Sexual Orientation discrimination claims.](https://employeelawca.com/discrimination-lawyer-in-los-angeles/) [Unpaid Wages & Overtime Recovering earnings for overtime, bonuses, commissions, meal & rest break violations, and prevailing wage claims.](https://employeelawca.com/unpaid-wages/) [Sexual Harassment Compassionate and effective representation for sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.](https://employeelawca.com/sexual-harassment/) [Wrongful Termination Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and federal law.](https://employeelawca.com/wrongful-termination/) [Leaves & Retaliation Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.](https://employeelawca.com/absences/) [Whistleblowers Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse under California and federal whistleblower protection laws.](https://employeelawca.com/los-angeles-financial-whistleblower/) ## Our California Locations ### Bakersfield [BakersfieldLaborAttorney.com](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com) 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield CA 93309 [(661) 412-9600](tel:6614129600) ### Los Angeles [EmployeeLawCA.com](https://employeelawca.com/) 611 Wilshire Blvd, #1023, Los Angeles CA 90017 [(323) 525-1600](tel:3235251600) ### Orange County [WorkLawyerOC.com](https://worklawyeroc.com) 2522 Chambers Rd, #100, Tustin CA 92780 [(714) 210-8000](tel:7142108000) ### Riverside [RiversideEmploymentLawyer.com](https://riversideemploymentlawyer.com) 9496 Magnolia Ave, #208, Riverside CA 92503 [(951) 367-1000](tel:9513671000) ### Sacramento [SacramentoLaborAttorney.com](https://sacramentolaborattorney.com) 777 Campus Commons Rd, #200, Sacramento CA 95825 [(916) 340-0000](tel:9163400000) ### San Bernardino [EmploymentAttorneySanBernardino.com](https://employmentattorneysanbernardino.com) 337 N. Vineyard Ave, #400, Ontario CA 91764 [(909) 663-2100](tel:9096632100) ### San Diego [SanDiegoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://sandiegoemployeelawyer.com) 330 "A" St, #60, San Diego CA 92101 [(619) 320-3000](tel:6193203000) ### San Francisco / Bay Area [BayAreaEmploymentAttorney.net](https://bayareaemploymentattorney.net) 524 Union St, #400, San Francisco CA 94133 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### San Jose / Silicon Valley [SiValleyLaborLawyer.com](https://sivalleylaborlawyer.com) 111 N. Market St, #300, San Jose CA 95113 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### Sherman Oaks [WorkLawyerCA.com](https://worklawyerca.com) 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA 91423 [(818) 783-7300](tel:8187837300) ### Torrance / South Bay [JobTerminationLaw.com](https://jobterminationlaw.com/) 3655 Torrance Blvd, 3rd Floor, Torrance CA 90503 [(310) 842-8600](tel:3108428600) ### Ventura / Oxnard [VenturaEmploymentLawyer.com](https://venturaemploymentlawyer.com) 4030 West Hemlock St, Oxnard CA 93035 [(805) 200-0100](tel:8052000100) ### Additional Sites [BostonLaborLaw.com](https://bostonlaborlaw.com) [DcLaborAttorney.com](https://dclaborattorney.com) [FresnoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://fresnoemployeelawyer.com) [JobLawyer.net](https://joblawyer.net) [MarylandLaborAttorney.com](https://marylandlaborattorney.com/) [ModemStud.com](https://modemstud.com) [VintageLosAngeles.org](https://vintagelosangeles.org) [WorkplaceLawyer.org](https://workplacelawyer.org) ## About Firm Founder, Karl Gerber Firm Founder, **Karl Gerber**, has been an employment and wrongful termination attorney since **1993**. He has represented a wide range of employees throughout California. Mr. Gerber has won **51 of the binding arbitrations and jury trials** he first chaired, and a number of his appeals are published. This deep trial experience is the foundation of the firm's strategic approach to litigation. The employment attorneys employed by the Employment Lawyers Group have worked at the firm well in excess of five years, have also tried many different labor cases, and have all been **extensively trained on employment and wrongful termination law by Karl Gerber**. [Meet Karl Gerber](https://employeelawca.com/karl-gerber/) ## Ready to Discuss Your Case? Your rights as an employee matter. Submit a contact form and we'll get back to you. Submit A Contact Form [Call (323) 525-1600 Now](tel:3235251600)