The Labor Code affords employees a right to off-duty meal breaks, not just permission to eat while on-duty. The applicable Wage Order requires employers to provide every non-exempt employee who works more than five hours with daily “off duty meal periods,” consisting of an uninterrupted 30-minute period during which the employee is relieved of all duty. Wage Order 4-2001, 8 C.C.R. § 11040(11), reads as follows:
“No employer shall employ any person for a work period of more than five (5) hours without a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that when a work period of not more than six (6) hours will complete the day’s work the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee. Unless the employee is relieved of all duty during a 30 minute meal period, the meal period shall be considered an “on duty” meal period and counted as time worked.”
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