California Lunch-break Rules May Loosen

Employees, not employers, will be responsible for taking their meal breaks under new California rules supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is throwing his political muscle behind a proposal that would reduce employers' responsibility for seeing that employees take daily meal breaks.

For the past several years, California business owners have complained that a law signed by former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 excessively punishes employers who fail to guarantee that workers take a break of at least one half-hour. Since the law passed, California businesses have been hit with investigations and class-action lawsuits, some of which have led to multimillion-dollar settlements.

Some workers' rights groups complain that tinkering with the existing rule would let some employers deny workers any lunch at all. The California Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, responds that the existing law has been applied too inconsistently.

The changes were first planned as an emergency measure, but several hearings were scheduled when labor and legal aid groups complained. The third and final hearing is set for Fresno on March 2.

If approved, the new rules will reduce from three years to one the period during which businesses can be fined for lack of compliance with the lunch rule. In addition, it would shift responsibility for taking breaks from the employer to employees.