So as the title says, one of the places I work at hasn't been giving ANY of us 10 minute breaks for shifts over 3.5-4 hours. (California btw). I've been working there for a few years and I've never been offered a ten.
I was having an unrelated problem and the manager asked me to read through the handbook to see the policy instead of answering my question. Well, while I was reading the handbook I came across a section that states that everyone who works over a 3.5 hour shift is owed a 10 minute rest break. And if they are not provided, the employee is owed compensation.
I looked up the law in California and saw that the penalty for missed rest breaks is a full hour of pay at the employees hourly rate. Is this true? And how would I prove that none of the employees have taken tens when tens are paid breaks?
I'm worried about filing a wage claim and being retaliated against. I did the math and the amount of missed tens in the last 2.5 years would be thousands of dollars. I'm also worried that if the place I work for has to pay all of us for missed breaks then the business might suffer. I really like working for this place and care about the people a lot. I'm also pregnant and moving in to a new apartment soon so I can't afford to lose this job.