← California meal and rest break premium checker
In California an employer owes more than a wage for a shift. It owes a 30-minute meal period that begins on time and paid ten-minute rest breaks, and when it does not provide them it owes one extra hour of pay per workday for each kind. The premium never shows on a schedule or a timecard summary, which is why it is found in payroll audits and class claims rather than in the week it accrues. The timecards usually already show it.
First meal. Required when an employee works more than five hours. It must be at least 30 minutes, and it must begin before the end of the fifth hour of work. A six-hour shift or shorter can waive it by mutual consent.
Second meal. Required after ten hours of work, beginning before the end of the tenth hour. Waivable on a shift of twelve hours or less if the first meal was not waived.
Rest breaks. Ten paid minutes per four hours or major fraction: none under three and a half hours, one up to six, two up to ten, three up to fourteen.
Premium. One hour of pay at the regular rate of compensation, once per workday for meals and once per workday for rest.
Five timecards from the checker's example. All employees are invented.
| Employee | What happened | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Ana Reyes | 8h 30m shift, meal 12:45-13:10 is 25 minutes (at $20) | $20.00 |
| Ben Okoye | Meal 13:30-14:00 starts 4h 30m in, 30 minutes, two rests | $0.00 |
| Cy Dahl | 06:00-17:00, one meal, so 10h 30m of work and no second meal; 2 of 3 rest breaks (at $14) | $28.00 |
| Dee Park, Oct 21 | 5h 30m with no meal, signed waiver on file | $0.00 |
| Dee Park, Oct 22 | 5h 30m with no meal and no waiver (at $16) | $16.00 |
Total premium: $64.00. Cy Dahl's day costs two hours because meal and rest are separate premiums; Ana's costs one even though the meal was both short and late.
When an employer does not provide a required meal period or rest break, California Labor Code section 226.7 requires it to pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday on which a meal period was not provided, and one more hour for each workday on which a rest break was not provided. That is at most two premium hours per employee per workday.
A 30-minute uninterrupted meal period must begin before the end of the fifth hour of work, and a second one before the end of the tenth hour. A shift of six hours or less can have the first meal waived by mutual consent, and a shift of twelve hours or less can have the second waived if the first was taken. A meal that starts late, runs short or is interrupted counts as a missed meal period.
Ten paid minutes for every four hours worked or major fraction of four hours. In practice that is none under three and a half hours, one up to six hours, two over six and up to ten, and three over ten and up to fourteen. The page counts the rest breaks you record and flags a shortfall; if you leave the column blank it only notes what was owed.
Paste one line per shift with the clock-in, clock-out, meal start and end, the rest breaks taken and the hourly rate. The page flags every late, short or missing meal, every rest break shortfall, and totals the premium pay owed with at most one meal premium and one rest premium per employee per workday.
The statute says regular rate of compensation, which can be higher than the base hourly wage when the employee also earns shift differentials or non-discretionary bonuses. The page uses the rate you type for each line, so enter the regular rate of compensation if it differs from base pay and confirm the figure with your payroll provider.
No. Everything is calculated in your browser, nothing is sent to a server, and there are no accounts. Employee names stay on your device.