Employers that fail to provide premium pay for missed meal and rest periods in California face additional monetary penalties under the state’s Labor Code, according to a unanimous decision from the California Supreme Court.
Spectrum Security Services provides custodial services to federal agencies, transporting and guarding prisoners and detainees who require outside medical attention or have other appointments.
A guard for Spectrum, Gustavo Naranjo, was suspended and later fired after leaving his post to take a meal break in violation of a Spectrum policy that required custodial employees to remain on duty during all meal breaks.
Naranjo filed a putative class action on behalf of Spectrum employees, alleging that the employer had violated state meal break requirements under the Labor Code and the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) wage order.
The complaint sought an additional hour of pay—known as “premium pay”—for each day on which Spectrum failed to provide employees with a legally compliant meal break.
Naranjo also alleged two Labor Code violations related to Spectrum’s premium pay obligations: failure to report the premium pay on employees’ wage statements and failure to timely provide the pay to employees upon their discharge or resignation.
The trial court initially granted summary judgment in favor of Spectrum, but the California Court of Appeal reversed. On remand, the trial court certified a class for the meal break and related timely payment and wage...
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