Q&A: Are there any exceptions to California’s meal and rest break rules?

Yes. California’s meal and rest break rules generally apply to most employees, but there are limited exceptions, usually industry-specific, found in the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders. Examples include:

Residential care employees —Wage Order 5
Health care industry employees — Wage Orders 4 and 5
Motion picture industry employees — Wage Order 12
On-site construction, drilling, logging, and mining employees — Wage Order 16

Additional exceptions exist for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement in these industries:

Construction
Commercial driving
Security services (registered security officers employed by a private patrol operator)
Electrical, gas, water corporations, or local publicly owned electric utilities
Wholesale baking
Motion picture and broadcasting

Other special rules apply to petroleum industry employees, commercial drivers transporting feed to remote areas, registered security guards under the Private Security Services Act, and “emergency ambulance employees” under Proposition 11.

Employers should review the applicable wage order and consult legal counsel to determine whether any exceptions apply.

Read about Meal and Rest Break Exceptions in the HR Library.

Are there any exceptions to California’s meal and rest break rules?

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