California's employee break laws recently scrutinized

A recent California Court of Appeal decision has brought clarity to a common question for employees: can your employer make you sign away your right to a meal break for shorter shifts right when you start a job? In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., decided on April 21, 2025, the court ruled that these "prospective" or "blanket" written waivers can be legal for shifts between five and six hours. This means an employer might ask you to sign a form at the beginning of your employment agreeing to skip your 30-minute meal period on those shorter workdays. While this might seem like a setback for employee protections, the court's decision added language and reasoning to their decision that will hopefully make legal questions around this less ambiguous.

The court reasoned that neither the Labor Code nor IWC Wage Orders explicitly forbid these advance waivers. As to an argument regarding Bradsbery precedent, the judges analyzed why the specific waivers in the Bradsbery case were upheld: there was no evidence presented that the employees were forced into signing, didn't understand what they were signing, or that they couldn't cancel the waiver later. Significantly, the court stated they "would have serious reservations regarding the validity of prospective written waivers of meal periods under such circumstances" if there had been signs of coercion or misunderstanding. This is a crucial point: the waiver is only valid if it's truly your choice.

What about unspoken pressure?
On a practical basis, we all know that when an employer plops papers in front of you to sign away your rest break at the start of new employment, there is unspoken pressure. However, the court did not give this weight. They reasoned:

"Plaintiffs' interpretation of the timing of waivers thus
lacks a “textual basis in the wage order or statute.' (Brinker,
supra, 53 Cal.4th at p. 1038.)"

If your employer presents you with a meal break waiver, read it very carefully. Ensure you understand that signing it is optional and that you have the absolute right to change your mind later and revoke the waiver in writing without any negative consequences. If you feel pressured, if the waiver language is unclear, or if your employer doesn't honor your decision to revoke a waiver, you may want to speak to an employment attorney.