Construction Company Settles Allegations of Violating California Meal and Rest Break Laws

California meal and rest break laws are some of the most progressive in the country, requiring companies to compensate employees if they are forced to work through them. Under California meal and rest break laws, employees are guaranteed a 30 minute meal break every five hours and a 10 minute rest period every four.

Employers who are found to be in violation of these California meal and rest break laws could face legal action from the impacted employees, who may cite state and possible federal wage and hour violations.

In a recent class action California wage and hour lawsuit, BMC West LLC was hit with such violations and had recently agreed to pay a large settlement. BMC West LLC, a building materials manufacturer and construction services provider, agreed to settle these class allegations in the amount of $4.55 million.

According to the class action California wage and hour lawsuit, the company had allegedly underpaid certain workers and had violated California meal and rest break laws by denying the employees meal breaks and rest periods.

Overview of Class Action California Wage and Hour Lawsuit

According to the class action California wage and hour lawsuit, BMC West LLC had allegedly failed to pay workers for all hours worked, along with overtime rates and regularly denied rest periods and meal breaks.

Under California meal and rest break laws, companies must compensate employees an extra hour of pay on their paycheck per missing meal break or rest period. California labor laws also require employers to pay their employees an overtime rate of 1.5x their regular rate, if they work over 40 hours a week or eight hours in a single work day.

BMC West LLC allegedly failed to comply with California meal and rest break laws, along with other state wage policies. The proposed Class consists of current and former BMC West LLC employees, who asked the court for initial approval by pointing out the potential number of class members could consist of 9,358 non exempt employees who worked in California between November 2012 and January 2018.

The workers further stated that class certification would help prove the validity of their case when going to trial, should the deal be denied.

“In addition, even if plaintiffs were to succeed at trial, there is a significant risk that some or all of plaintiff’s recovery for the class could be reversed on appeal. [L]ikewise, if plaintiffs obtained class certification, the court would still retain authority to de-certify the consolidated action in the event the trial showed that common issues did not predominate,” the employees representative stated.

Originally, separate claims alleging violations against California meal and rest break laws were filed and were later moved to federal court in March 2017. These claims were eventually consolidated for settlement purposes in January 2018, after it was found that these claims consisted of similar wage and hour allegations. In addition, the company allegedly gave inaccurate wage statements during pay periods and allegedly failed to pay full wages for employees who left the company.

If the settlement is approved, approximately $3,064,888 of the settlement will be distributed to claimants, provided that deductions for attorney’s fees and other litigation costs.

The California Wage and Hour Lawsuit is Case No. 5:17-cv-00390, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now