hey!

are you being denied your 10 minute breaks and or lunches by your employer?

as i found out it took only 5 weeks for the labor dept. to issue a demand for a hearing and help arrange a settlement.

what is wild, is that the law is on your side, and your employer will have to pay monetary penalties to you for violating your rights.

it is so easy to do.

collect your penalties, keep records, and fight for truth!!!!

print your claim and mail it in. know your rights and stand up for them.

the law is on your side.

check it out!!!!!!

http://165.235.90.100/dlse/dlseWagesAndHours.html

you get a 10 minute break every 4 hours ( or significant portion thereof) worked. after 5 hours you get a lunch. for a typical 7.5-8.5 hour shift you should get a lunch and two ten minute breaks. if any of your breaks are denied, your employer will be fined an extra hour's pay per day for each day your breaking rights are violated.

at the hearing you stand to recover this amount per day worked as well as hefty fines to further reaffirm the employer's responsibility to the law and you.

in many cases where the law is habitually violated, you, the worker stand to gain thousands of dollars for your suffering.

let's send a message to california businesses that we are not slaves and will not tolerate sweatshop-like conditions.

if you are operating a business in california, read up on the law before your name gets dragged through the mud. learn exactly what is required and if the terminology is too difficult for you to understand, get an employment lawyer to interpret for you.

my particular problems involved denied breaks.

if you are denied overtime pay after 8 hours worked per day or have wages denied, file a wage claim. the bureau of labor standards enforcements will help you defend you against abuses.

please note that immigration status is of no concern to the labor dept.

the laws governing your labor rights will be enforced for all persons regardless of status.

i have worked in one too many oblivious, abusive, or negligent establishments to let this persist. keep records, assert your rights. when necessary educate your bosses and co-workers.

the following exerpts cover the main issues.

in my case it was rather funny because even after emailing the sections of the law to my former employer in an attempt to elucidate what violations occurred, my employer was clueless and confused in the conference with the labor commissioner.

not only did my employer not keep records of the breaks (which were never taken), but my employer acted like there was no basis for my claim and the law doesn't exist.

the labor commissioner admonished my employer to #1 give breaks and #2 keep records of them. the penalty which the commissioner helped enforce is to me a very funny thing.

i wasn't as interested in the money as in justice, and the future well-being of my former co-workers.

what is sad is that the abuse may continue there, and surely continues elsewhere when workers feel economically enslaved, grateful for a job, and ingratiated to abusive employers.

let's break the cycle of abuse.

read up:



In California, an employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. A second meal period of not less than thirty minutes is required if an employee works more than ten hours per day, except that if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee only if the first meal period was not waived. Labor Code Section 512. There is an exception for employees in the motion picture industry, however, as they may work no longer than six hours without a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, nor more than one hour. And a subsequent meal period must be called not later than six hours after the termination of the preceding meal period. IWC Order 12-2001, Section 11(A)If an employer fails to provide an employee a meal period in accordance with an applicable IWC Order, the employer must pay one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for each workday that the meal period is not provided. IWC Orders and Labor Code Section 226.7 This additional hour is not counted as hours worked for purposes of overtime calculations.

In California, the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders require that employers must authorize and permit nonexempt employees to take a rest period that must, insofar as practicable, be taken in the middle of each work period. The rest period is based on the total hours worked daily and must be at the minimum rate of a net ten consecutive minutes for each four hour work period, or major fraction thereof. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) considers anything more than two hours to be a "major fraction" of four." A rest period is not required for employees whose total daily work time is less than three and one-half hours. The rest period is counted as time worked and therefore, the employer must pay for such periods. Since employees are paid for their rest periods, they can be required to remain on the employer’s premises during such periods. With respect to the taking of rest periods, an exception exists under IWC Order 5-2001, Section 12(C) for certain employees of 24-hour residential care facilities who may have their rest period limited under certain circumstances. Another exception to the general rest period requirement is for swimmers, dancers, skaters, and other performers engaged in strenuous physical activities who shall have additional interim rest periods during periods of actual rehearsal or shooting. IWC Order 12-2001, Section 12 (C).If an employer fails to provide an employee a rest period in accordance with an applicable IWC Order, the employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is not provided. Labor Code Section 226.7 Thus, if an employer does not provide all of the rest periods required in a workday, the employee is entitled to one additional hour of pay for that workday, not one additional hour of pay for each rest period that was not provided during that workday.



In California, the general overtime provisions are that a nonexempt employee 18 years of age or older, or any minor employee 16 or 17 years of age who is not required by law to attend school and is not otherwise prohibited by law from engaging in the subject work, shall not be employed more than eight hours in any workday or more than 40 hours in any workweek unless he or she receives one and one-half times his or her regular rate of pay for all hours worked over eight hours in any workday and over 40 hours in the workweek. Eight hours of labor constitutes a day's work, and employment beyond eight hours in any workday or more than six days in any workweek is permissible provided the employee is compensated for the overtime at not less than:

One and one-half times the employee's regular rate or pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek; and

Double the employee's regular rate or pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.