Can I sue my employer for not giving breaks even though I signed a waiver?

Employers may not encourage or coerce an employee from taking rest breaks as required by law.  (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1040.) An employee and an employer may mutually agree that the employee will waive a meal break. (Labor Code § 512(a).) There may be a number of reasons why the employer and employee agree to such a meal break waiver; for example, the employee may want the additional 30 minutes of pay, the employer might have a need for low staffing during the employee’s shift, or the employee simply may have lunch or dinner plans after work. However, even a meal break waiver is only allowed in very limited circumstances. If an employee’s shift is 6 hours or less, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee. So, if an employee works six-and-one-half hours, she and her employer are prohibited from a meal break waiver. Likewise, if an employee’s shift is 12 hours or less, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent only if the first meal break was not waived. This means that an employee who works, for example, 14 hours may not waive this second meal break, regardless of whether or not the first meal break was waived. If you are working the number of hours you indicated, your employer cannot require you to waive your breaks.  If you are in the North Bay Area of California, contact me for further information.