Meal and rest periods: hospital employees.

Existing law requires an employer to provide an employee with a meal period during a work period of more than 5 hours per day, except as prescribed. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. Existing law prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to work during a meal or rest or recovery period mandated pursuant to an applicable statute, or applicable regulation, standard, or order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, or the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Existing law requires an employer who fails to provide an employee a mandated meal or rest or recovery period to pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest or recovery period was not provided. Existing law provides certain exemptions from these requirements. This bill would entitle employees who provide direct patient care or support direct patient care in a general acute care hospital, clinic, or public health setting directly employed by specified public sector employers to one unpaid 30-minute meal period on shifts over 5 hours and a 2nd unpaid 30-minute meal period on shifts over 10 hours, as provided by specified existing law. The bill would authorize these employees to waive those meal periods and would provide for on-duty meal periods, as provided by specified existing law. The bill would entitle these employees to a rest period based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of 10 minutes net rest time per 4 hours or major fraction thereof, as provided. The bill would require these employers, if they fail to provide an employee a meal period or rest period in accordance with the bill, to pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest period is not provided. The bill would exempt employees who are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for meal and rest periods and, if the employee does not receive a meal or rest period as required by the agreement, includes a prescribed monetary remedy. By establishing these requirements, the violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.