Hoping to confirm that what I've researched is accurate.
My new job is land surveying field work. Day one I was disappointed to find that the crews work all day with no scheduled breaks. However, unplanned breaks pop up when we have to wait for files from the office, and the crews will also go out for lunch without clocking out too, so it's very messy. The crew has a “cheif” and that person is basically in charge of the employees. It's at their descretion as to the schedule for the day.
Many days we are in a hurry to get the job done, so breaks aren't taken. I have to ask for a break, and, for examle yesterday, I was only given 1 ten-minute break for a 10-hour shift. The chief had a date after work and wanted to end quickly.
As I understand it in California, it is illegal for an employer to incentivize skipping breaks, but we are punished for not getting enough work done already with no breaks, so how does that not qualifiy as being bullied into skipping them?
More importantly: If the work day requires the employee to skip their meal, the law states that the employer has to pay an extra full hour of work. So in an 8-hour shift, the employee is compensated one extra hour, and skipping 2 meal breaks in an 8-hour shift would earn you 2 extra hours. Am I mistaken?
The HR/Manager said something along the lines of, “when you were hired you signed a document waiving your right to take breaks. It's up to you. You are allowed to take a 30 or 60 minute meal break and your cheif can't tell you not to. But we don't compensate for skipped breaks.”
This conversation was piggybacking off of me initially coming to tell her that I've only got about a third of my overtime on my paystub, and my double OT is missing. She didn't understand or have an answer because she doesn't know the basics of the labor laws. She said she'd call the payroll company and try to figure it out.
Head boss is PISSED. And, text went out to everyone saying come in early tomorrow for a meeting