The California Court of Appeals recently ruled in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services that an employer’s failure to pay meal or rest period premium pay for an employee who is denied a meal period does not trigger derivative (a) waiting time penalties under Labor Code §203, or (b) pay stub violation penalties under Labor Code §226.
This is a significant decision because it will limit employers’ liability in wage-and-hour litigation matters. Because it limits an employee’s ability to bring derivative claims for waiting time and pay stub violation penalties, it necessarily also limits plaintiffs’ counsel’s ability to recover attorneys’ fees on theses now-defunct claims, which then deters plaintiffs’ lawyers from bringing class actions and PAGA cases.
Given the significance of this decision, the losing plaintiff in Naranjo is may appeal to the California Supreme Court. We will keep you posted, of course, but for now employers are celebrating a rare victory in California.
You can read the full opinion in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services here.
