An employer must compensate a worker for meal and rest break time. When the employer pays the employee on a commission basis, the employer must separately pay the worker the minimum wage for the meal and rest break time. Here, the employer’s compensation plan violated state law by merely advancing employees compensation for meal and rest break time. Compensation for that time was then recouped from commissions that the employee earned either the same week or in the future. Thus, the so-called compensation for meal and rest break time was more like an interest-free loan, not the required separate compensation.
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7 (Segal, J.); February 28, 2017; 2017 WL 770635