California Break Law Requirements

Your Manager/Supervisor must give you a rest break of at lest 10 consecutive minutes that are uninterrupted.

Rest breaks must be paid.

If you work at least 3.5 hours in a day, you are entitled to one rest break. If you work over 6 hours, you are entitled to a second rest break. If you work over 10 hours, you are entitled to a third rest break.

Rest breaks must, to the extent if possible, be in the middle of each work period. If you work 8 hours or more, you should have a separate rest break both before and after your meal break.

Your Manager/Supervisor may not require you to remain on work premises during your breaks.

You cannot be required to work during any required rest breaks. [Cal. Lab. C. 226.7]. BUT, you are free to skip your rest breaks provided your manager/supervisor isn't encouraging for forcing you to.

If you work over 5 hours in a day, you are entitled to a meal break of at least 30 minutes that must start before the end of the fifth hour of your shift. BUT, you can agree with your manager/supervisor to waive this meal period provided you do not work more than 6 hours in the workday. You can also agree with your manager/supervisor to an on-duty meal break which counts as time worked and is paid.  

If you work over 10 hours in a day, you are entitled to a second meal break of at least 30 minutes that must start before the end of the tenth hour of your shift. You can agree with your boss to waive the second meal break if you do not work more than 12 hours and you did not waive your first meal break.

You must be allowed to take your meal break off work premises and spend your break how you wish, since it is off the clock.

You cannot be required to work during any required meal break. [Cal. Lab. C. 512].

As of 2012, your manager/supervisor has an affirmative obligation to ensure that breaks are made available to you but the actual taking of meal breaks is left to the employee. In other words, you are responsible for “breaking” yourself. Note, rest breaks and meal breaks are supposed to be separate, they should not be combined. Your manager/supervisor cannot give you a single 1-hour break and say that that counts as all of your meal breaks and rest breaks.

Keep in mind, there are many exceptions to the above for certain industries, such as the construction, healthcare, group home, motion picture, manufacturing, and baking industries.