You talked. We listened.
You’ve told us navigating California’s Time and Labor management (TLM) compliance is of the utmost importance to you. Below is information on three key items related to California TLM: Meal period requirements, auto-deduct meals and meal rounding.
Since our records indicate you have employees working in California, below is information to help you best serve your business and your team.
Meal period requirements (Penalties/waivers/overrides)
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In California, employees may not work more than five hours without providing them with a meal period of no less than 30 minutes. This may be waived (with mutual consent) if the employee works less than six hours per day.
In addition, a second meal period of no less than 30 minutes is required if the employee works more than 10 hours per day, except if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent between the employer and employee.
Here are more details from the California Department of Industrial Relations.
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No auto-deduct meals
As you likely know, California requires meal periods to be recorded. Therefore, ADP TotalSource® is unable to set up automatic deductions for employees working in California.
In fact, we do not recommend setting up auto-deductions for meal periods in any jurisdiction. If you decide to set-up an automatic deduction for meal period, you should consider requiring employees to confirm in writing, at the end of each workweek, that the time is accurate and all meal periods were taken.
Meal rounding
Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that employers are prohibited from using rounding practices when tracking whether meal periods are provided in compliance with state requirements. As an employer in California, ensure you are tracking meal periods to the minute. If employees are recording rest periods, the same principle would apply.
If a meal period isn’t provided in compliance with the state rules, employees are entitled to one additional hour of pay at their regular rate, unless they voluntarily choose to shorten or delay the meal period. As each company’s configuration may vary, please review your current meal plan to ensure your meal premium is calculated at the employees’ regular rate of pay and contact us if you need to make any changes to your setup.
For more details, read this ADP TotalSource Insights & Solutions article.
We will continue to keep you informed of these, and other, important California regulatory and legislative matters.
As always, reach out to your Payroll Advisor or HR Business Partner if you have any questions.
Thank you for your partnership.