May 12, 2022 | Labor & Employment Law

Note – This story was shared by a gentleman in another state who was impacted by a fairly common employment law issue.  Although he is not our client, he did seek the help of an attorney in his state who was able to help him.  This is his story…

“When you work hard all day long, you look forward to your breaks. If you’re exhausted, even a ten-minute break brings relief and helps you get through the day.

I’ve had plenty of jobs over the years, and I’ve never had a problem getting my breaks. Most of my employers scheduled everyone’s breaks, but some would give breaks depending on how the day was going.

If I worked an eight-hour shift, I got two ten-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal break. If I worked a six-hour shift, I received one ten-minute rest break and one 30-minute unpaid meal break.

My last job was different. It was a busy, drive-thru coffee shop and we didn’t have any downtime, so we rarely got our rest breaks. We were expected to push through our shifts; our boss looked down on us if we asked for a break. We were also required to agree to waive our 30-minute meal break – without compensation – as a condition of employment.

Sometimes, we were required to work alone or with one other person. For safety reasons, nobody was allowed to leave the building at night, so breaks were impossible. If we tried to take a break in the store, customers would see us and expect to be served.

I sarted to wonder: can my boss force me to give up my breaks?

After about a year of working at this coffee shop, I started to wonder if it was even legal for my boss to deny us breaks. It didn’t seem fair.

I requested a meeting with my boss to find out if there was any possibility of scheduling our breaks so we could get some downtime. Our drive-thru happened to be the company’s busiest location and we hustled hard. We got everyone in and out in under 2 minutes and had a constant line from 6am-11am.

My boss said he was sympathetic to my situation, but said he can’t afford to put an extra person on shift to cover us for breaks. He reminded me that we were all told before being hired that rest breaks would be sporadic, if at all, and all meal breaks would be waived.

I left our meeting wondering if I should find another job, but then I decided to contact a lawyer. At least that way I’d have a definite answer.

I had a free consultation with a rest and meal break violation lawyer

After calling a few different employment law attorneys, I found one who wanted to have a consultation with me about my situation. I explained the situation – that we were required to waive our meal breaks and rarely got a rest break.

The attorney I spoke with said I had the grounds for a lawsuit and told me he’d take my case on a contingency. If I didn’t win, I didn’t owe him anything. If I won, he’d take a percentage from the judgment. I agreed to the terms and we started building my case.

My attorney asked for some information

To prepare my case, my attorney needed some information about my employer and my employment situation. He asked for this information:

• How many people were employed with the company
• What my boss’ reasoning was for not providing breaks
• If we were allowed to take breaks on our own, and just chose not to – or if breaks were specifically prohibited
• Whether the building could be safely secured (and temporarily closed) to allow employees to take a break outside of the store
• How often I did receive 10-minute rest breaks
• If my shifts were more than 6 hours
• If I was asked to sign a waiver at the start of each shift to waive my 30-minute unpaid meal break
• If my boss said anything to me, or printed anything in company documents that indicated he knew he was violating rest and meal break law
• If there were other employees who might want to form a class action lawsuit

My attorney told me that under some circumstances, meal breaks can be waived, but only when the employee works 6 hours or less and a waiver is signed daily. He told me it wasn’t legal to require meal break waivers as a condition of employment.

My attorney also told me that I would be entitled to an hour of pay for every day I didn’t receive my proper rest and/or meal breaks.

My rest and meal break violation settlement

Like most cases, mine never went to trial. Instead, it was settled out of court. My lawyer ended up negotiating a sweet deal for me that made it worth every ounce of effort.

Since I worked 5 days per week for a year, I was entitled to around 261 hours of pay. At $9/hour, that would amount to $2,349. However, that’s what I would have gotten by filing a complaint with the labor board. My attorney got my employer to settle for $14,000.

In the end, the company was forced to change its policies to provide rest and meal breaks to employees. Most other employees were too scared to file a lawsuit or complaint, but at least everyone will get their breaks going forward.

You should never have to forfeit your rest and meal breaks because your employer is too cheap to schedule someone to cover you. If you believe you’ve been denied proper rest and meal breaks, contact an employment law attorney right away.”

Employment Law Attorney