Premium pay - the additional hour of pay non-exempt employees are entitled to if their employer fails to provide them with timely, full, and uninterrupted meal and rest periods - constitutes wages for purposes of pay stubs and timing of payment at separation from employment.
Wage statements furnished to California employees must reflect premium pay.
California employees may recover waiting time penalties for unpaid premium payments upon discharge or resignation.
The decision is likely retroactive.
California employers whose workforce includes nonexempt employees should audit their break and final pay policies and practices as well as their wage statements to ensure that they reflect premium payments.
Last year, the California Supreme Court held that premium pay for non-compliant meal and rest breaks must be paid at the “regular rate of pay” rather than the employee’s base hourly rate of pay. On 23 May 2022, the California Supreme Court raised the stakes again by holding that premium pay for missed breaks constitutes “wages” rather than penalties, such that they must be reported on wage statements during employment and paid within the statutory deadlines when an employee leaves the job.
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