California meal break premium: is one hour of pay owed?

When is a meal break premium owed?

A premium is owed for any workday over 5 hours when the first meal break was missing, under 30 minutes, or started after the end of the 5th hour of work. On a day over 10 hours, a missing or late second meal also owes one. The amount is one hour of pay at the regular rate, and at most one meal premium is owed per day (Labor Code 512 and 226.7).

Five ways a time card shows a premium

These are the patterns the calculator looks for. The first four are the grey examples in the empty form above.

• No meal at all. 8:00 am to 2:10 pm with no punch out is 6 hours 10 minutes of work. Over 6 hours, a meal cannot be waived, so one premium is owed.
• A late meal. In at 8:00, lunch at 2:00 for 30 minutes. The meal started after 6 hours of work, an hour past the deadline.
• A short meal. Lunch from 12:00 to 12:20 is 20 minutes. Under 30 minutes does not count as a meal break.
• No second meal. 7:00 to 12:00 and 12:30 to 6:30 is 11 hours of work with one meal. A second meal was due by the end of hour 10, unless it was waived.
• Two problems, one premium. A day with a late first meal and no second meal still owes one meal premium, not two.

How much is the premium?

One hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each day with a violation. At $18 an hour, that is $18 per day. Since the California Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, the regular rate here is the same one used for overtime. It includes nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions and shift differentials, not just the base wage. The calculator uses the rate you type, so add those in if they apply.

The premium is wages. It goes on the pay stub, in the paycheck for that pay period, and into the final paycheck when someone leaves (Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, 2022). Paying it late or leaving it off the wage statement can bring its own penalties.

Waivers: when a meal can be skipped

An employee who works more than 5 hours but no more than 6 can agree with the employer to skip the meal. On a day over 10 but no more than 12 hours, the second meal can be waived if the first one was taken. A waiver is a mutual agreement, best kept in writing. Tick "A signed meal waiver is on file" above and the calculator applies it only where the law allows.

A waiver never covers a day over 6 hours with no first meal, or a day over 12 hours with no second meal.

What "providing" a meal break means

The employer has to relieve the worker of all duty for 30 minutes and give up control over that time. It does not have to make sure the worker actually stops working (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 2012). But a time card that shows no meal is where a wage claim starts. If the worker chose to skip it, a note on the card at the time is far better evidence than a memory two years later.

Rest breaks are a separate premium

California workers also get a paid 10 minute rest break for every 4 hours worked, or major part of 4 hours. A missed rest break owes its own premium of one hour, separate from the meal premium, so one day can owe two. Because rest breaks are paid, workers rarely punch out for them, and a time card cannot show whether they happened. This calculator does not guess.

Checking a whole team

For an owner with a stack of punch cards, checking every day of every card by hand is slow. Run payroll reads a photo of the cards and lists each premium you owe by name and day, with its dollar amount, before you pay anyone. To just add up hours, use the time card calculator.

A calculator and checklist, not legal or tax advice. Rules from California Labor Code sections 512 and 226.7 and the DLSE, checked November 15, 2026. Some industries have their own meal break rules under their wage order.