An employer fails to provide a legally required meal period. What is the premium the employer owes the employee for that violation?
Explanation
Labor Code §226.7(c) fixes the remedy at one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday a compliant meal period was not provided. (a) pays the premium at minimum wage; the statute ties it to the employee's own rate, which for a journeyman is far higher. (b) treats a late meal as a cure - it is not; a meal period pushed past the fifth hour is itself a violation. (d) doubles the premium. One meal violation and one rest violation in the same day can each carry their own hour, for a maximum of two premium hours per day, but a single meal violation carries one.
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