BILL NUMBER: AB 2176 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Logue
Members Logue and Bill Berryhill
( Coauthor: Senator La Malfa
)
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Section 512 of the Labor Code, relating to
employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2176, as amended, Logue. Employment: meal periods.
Existing law requires an employer to provide a meal period or
periods to an employee who works a specified number of hours in a
shift. The meal periods may be waived by mutual consent under
specified circumstances. Existing law provides exemptions from these
requirements for specified occupations and employees covered by
collective bargaining agreements.
This bill, in addition, would provide an exemption from the meal
period requirements for commercial drivers operating a vehicle that
is required to display placards pursuant to a specified statute.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 512 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
512. (a) An employer may not employ an employee for a work period
of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with
a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total
work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the
meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and
employee. An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of
more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a
second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the
total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period
may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee only
if the first meal period was not waived.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the Industrial Welfare
Commission may adopt a working condition order permitting a meal
period to commence after six hours of work if the commission
determines that the order is consistent with the health and welfare
of the affected employees.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an employee in the wholesale
baking industry who is subject to an Industrial Welfare Commission
wage order and who is covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement that provides for a 35-hour workweek consisting of five
7-hour days, payment of one and one-half times the regular rate of
pay for time worked in excess of seven hours per day, and a rest
period of not less than 10 minutes every two hours.
(d) If an employee in the motion picture industry or the
broadcasting industry, as those industries are defined in Industrial
Welfare Commission Wage Order Numbers 11 and 12, is covered by a
valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for meal periods
and includes a monetary remedy if the employee does not receive a
meal period required by the agreement, then the terms, conditions,
and remedies of the agreement pertaining to meal periods apply in
lieu of the applicable provisions pertaining to meal periods of
subdivision (a) of this section, Section 226.7, and Industrial
Welfare Commission Wage Order Numbers 11 and 12.
(e) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not apply to an employee specified
in subdivision (f) if both of the following conditions are
satisfied:
(1) The employee is covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement.
(2) The valid collective bargaining agreement expressly provides
for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees,
and expressly provides for meal periods for those employees, final
and binding arbitration of disputes concerning application of its
meal period provisions, premium wage rates for all overtime hours
worked, and a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent
more than the state minimum wage rate.
(f) Subdivision (e) applies to each of the following employees:
(1) An employee employed in a construction occupation.
(2) An employee employed as a commercial driver.
(3) An employee employed in the security services industry as a
security officer who is registered pursuant to Chapter 11.5
(commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code, and who is employed by a private patrol operator
registered pursuant to that chapter.
(4) An employee employed by an electrical corporation, a gas
corporation, or a local publicly owned electric utility.
(g) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not apply to a commercial driver
operating a motor vehicle that is required to display placards
pursuant to Section 27903 of the Vehicle Code who has a commercial
driver's license and endorsements, as required by Sections 15275 and
15278 of the Vehicle Code.
(h) The following definitions apply for the purposes of this
section:
(1) "Commercial driver" means an employee who operates a vehicle
described in Section 260 or 462 of, or subdivision (b) of Section
15210 of, the Vehicle Code.
(2) "Construction occupation" means all job classifications
associated with construction by Article 2 (commencing with Section
7025) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions
Code, including work involving alteration, demolition, building,
excavation, renovation, remodeling, maintenance, improvement, and
repair, and any other similar or related occupation or trade.
(3) "Electrical corporation" has the same meaning as
provided set forth in Section 218 of the Public
Utilities Code.
(4) "Gas corporation" has the same meaning as provided
set forth in Section 222 of the Public Utilities
Code.
(5) "Local publicly owned electric utility" has the same meaning
as provided set forth in Section 224.3
of the Public Utilities Code.