Frequently Asked Questions
about Employment Law
Wage and Hour Questions
Q: I worked for my company for three years and never took a single vacation day. When I quit two months ago, my boss refused to pay me for it. What are my rights?
A: In California, vacation time, once accrued, cannot be lost. A company has the right to put a cap on it so that no more will accrue until some of it is used, but the time already earned cannot be taken away. When an employee separates from a company, all earned but unused vacation time must be paid to the employee. Failure to do so can result in the employer having to pay up to a maximum of thirty days' additional pay!
Q: Can I skip my two fifteen-minute breaks and add them to my lunch so that I get a full hour instead?
A: No. While a lunch break must at least thirty minutes, an employer that provides a one-hour lunch break must still allow its non-exempt employees two ten-minute breaks for each four hours that the employee works.
Q: Can an employee take off two hours one day and make them up the next?
A: It depends. California laws regarding so-called "comp time" are complicated, but generally speaking, if an employer allows an employee to work the extra hours on a different day, the employer will have to pay time and a half for all hours worked in excess of eight hours, etc.
Q: Things got really busy at the store today and I wasn't able to give my crew a lunch break. Can I just let them go home half an hour early to make up for it?
A: No. In California, most employees are covered by a wage order that requires the employer to provide a meal period of no less than thirty minutes. For each day that an employer fails to provide that meal break, the employer must pay the employee one extra hour of pay.
Q: Can employers make me take an hour for lunch?
A: Yes. In California, employers are required to provide most employees a meal period of at least 30 minutes, but nothing prohibits the employer from requiring the employee to take a meal period of one hour. (However, if your employer requires you to take several hours, then it is possible that you are really working a "split shift" and may be entitled to additional compensation.)