Feb. 16, 2011
The Court of Appeal Rules in Favor of Employer in Another Meal and Rest Break Case
The Court of Appeal has weighed in once again on the issue of missed meal and rest periods. In Tien v. Tenet Healthcare Corporation, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification, finding that employers are only required to provide meal and rest periods and not ensure they are taken. In denying class certification, the Court of Appeal noted the “commonsense notion that individual questions about the reasons an employee might not take a meal period are more likely to predominate if the employer need only offer meal periods, but need not ensure employees take those periods.” As a result, the court deemed the case unsuitable as a class action.
Of course, the issue of whether employers must ensure that employees take their meal and rest periods is expected to be resolved by the California Supreme Court in its long-anticipated decisions in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) and Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc.