CA Supreme Court Holds Employers Cannot Require Employees to be “On-Call” During Legally Required 10-Minute Rest Breaks and Affirms $90 Million Judgment Against Security Company

A few weeks ago, the California Supreme Court in Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc. affirmed a $90 million judgment in favor of a class of more than 14,000 security guards, finding that their employer failed to provide legally compliant 10-minute rest breaks where the guards were required to remain “on call” during their breaks – they needed to keep their radios and pagers on, remain vigilant, and respond when needs arose. The court held that these requirements posed a “broad and intrusive degree of control” over the employees such that they were unable to take the duty-free breaks required by law.

By way of background, California law entitles non-exempt employees to take periodic 10-minute paid, duty-free and uninterrupted rest breaks throughout the workday. Employers who fail to permit employees to take these breaks must pay a penalty of one hour of pay for each day that a legally compliant break is not provided.

In Augustus, the court said, “An employee on call cannot take a brief walk — five minutes out, five minutes back — if at the farthest extent of the walk he or she is not in a position to respond. Employees similarly cannot use their 10 minutes to take care of other personal matters that require truly uninterrupted time — like pumping breast milk or completing a phone call to arrange child care.” Ultimately, the court stated that California’s rest break obligations require employers to relieve their non-exempt employees of all work-related duties and employer control or otherwise be subject to penalties, as in the case of ABM.

This ruling should come as a wake-up call to employers who require their non-exempt employees to be on-call during breaks. At a minimum, employers should not require non-exempt employees to respond to cell phones, pagers, radios, or other communications devices during breaks or otherwise require employees to be available at a moment’s notice. Employers should also revise their handbooks or other employment policies to memorialize the fact that employees need not be on-call during rest breaks. For assistance with this or any other employment-related matters, please feel free to contact us.

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The above summary has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

Friedland Employment Law is a boutique employment law firm in Los Angeles specializing in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unpaid wage and overtime matters.