On April 21, 2025, the California Court of Appeals held that prospective written meal period waivers for shifts between five and six hours are lawful, rejecting the argument that meal period waivers must be signed for each shift. Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc. (“Bradsbery”) provides relief and clarification for many California employers who use this practice or have avoided it for lack of certainly.
What the Law Says
Meal breaks and meal break waivers are governed by two sources in California: California Labor Code Section 512 and wage orders promulgated by California’s Industrial Wage Commission (the “IWC”).
Section 512 states, in relevant part:
An employer shall 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 30 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.
What the Case Was About
In Bradsbery, the plaintiffs stipulated that they signed a “blanket” written meal period waiver that read:
I hereby voluntarily waive my right to a meal break when my shift is 6 hours or less. I understand that I am entitled to take an unpaid 30-minute meal break within my first five hours of work; however, I am voluntarily waiving that meal break. I understand that I can revoke this waiver at any time by giving written revocation to my manager.
The plaintiffs argued these waivers were only valid if they applied to a specific shift or schedule.
What the Court Said
The Court held that Section 512 and the applicable IWC Wage Orders do not require a certain form or a specific time for employers to obtain waivers. Therefore, these rules do not prohibit a written prospective waiver for meal periods for shifts between five and six hours.
The Court clarified that this decision does not apply to all professions and industries, particularly those governed by certain wage orders that specify different meal period waiver rules. It does not apply to other waivers mentioned in Section 512, such as shifts between ten and twelve hours. Finally, the Court expressly declined to rule on whether oral meal period waivers are permissible.
The Bradsbery Court reminded employers that meal period waivers must be compliant in other ways. For example, waivers are unlawful if an employer coerced employees into signing waivers, failed to clarify that employees could revoke the waivers at any time, or implemented waivers in such a way that discourages or impedes employees from taking meal breaks.
What to Do Now
California employers should ensure that all meal period waivers are written, voluntary, easy to understand, clear on revocation, and not delivered in a way that confuses employees. Employers should avoid any implication that employees are required to sign a waiver.
California employers should also revisit their recordkeeping practices for meal period waivers to ensure they have clear records of waived meal periods. Finally, effective policies and trainings for supervisors are crucial. Meal period issues may occur on a daily basis and supervisors should be prepared to answer questions regarding meal periods and waivers as they arise.
