By law, you're entitled to 30 minutes of paid lunch for every 8 hours of work, and two 15 minute breaks per 4 hours of work. The Gov. wants to make it harder for those already defrauded out of this from complaining.
Have you ever been at a job, and realized that you've been denied your legal right to breaks and lunches, because of the way they messed with your schedule? Maybe they give you a nice 90 minute break, but don't pay for the half hour they owe you. Or maybe there is no lunch break. Or they let you take one, but don't pay for any of it. Or they don't let you take breaks.
Well, if this is the case, you can document it, and then demand payment. You have three years to make this claim...
But the Gov. is trying to shorten this period to one year.
This law, if passed, would reward some long-term exploiters, at the cost of thousands to regular working people.
--------
From Central Labor Council Alameda County AFL-CIO:
Tell the Governor: Don't take away our lunch breaks! We need your immediate help.
On Friday, December 10, 2004, the Schwarzenegger Administration, through the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement (DLSE), sent emergency regulations to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), with no public notification or distribution. These proposed regulations would take away the guaranteed lunch break for nearly every California private sector employee.
Under these emergency regulations proposed by the Governor, employers are only required to inform workers of their right to a meal period, but do not have to actually provide the lunch break. A worker could unknowingly or be pressured into signing away their right to take a lunch break. That is a travesty of the law and simply unacceptable for all workers.
California's workers have been entitled to a lunch break since 1947. In 1999, as part of AB60, the legislature codified this right into law. The governor cannot undo a California law. In particular, the governor cannot undo an employers legal responsibility to give a lunch break.
The proposed regulation is yet another take-away and "gift" to big business Republican friends, including Wal-Mart, who are being sued for cheating their workers out of meals and rest breaks. This regulation would declare that, when an employer owes back payment for missed meals or rest periods, payment would be considered a "penalty" and not a "wage." This change would limit workers' ability to collect their due wages by reducing the time allowed to bring such claims down from 3 years to 1 year.
Please immediately send a fax to the Office of Administrative Law within the next 24 hours via our Action Alert webpage.
Governor Schwarzenegger is trying to take away our guaranteed lunchbreaks! Please call (510) 632-4242 or email robert@alamedalabor.org for more information.
TO SEND A FAX ON YOUR BEHALF PLEASE GO TO OUR WEBSITE:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/lunchbreaks/
www.unionvoice.org/campaign/lunchbreaks/
Original: Gov. Wants to Steal Your Lunch