Understanding how Verafi helps you maintain compliance with California meal and rest break laws.
The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), California Labor Code §2698 et seq., allows employees to file lawsuits on behalf of themselves and other employees for Labor Code violations. PAGA deputizes employees as "private attorneys general" to enforce labor laws and recover civil penalties.
PAGA claims can result in substantial penalties: $100 per employee per pay period for initial violations, and $200 per employee per pay period for subsequent violations. With class-wide liability, penalties can quickly reach millions of dollars, making PAGA one of the most significant risks for California employers.
The most frequently alleged PAGA violations include:
California law requires employers to provide:
Employees are entitled to:
Limited exceptions exist for certain work shifts and industries. First meal period may be waived if the workday is 6 hours or less. Second meal period may be waived if the workday is 12 hours or less and the first meal period was not waived. All waivers must be in writing and voluntary.
Verafi analyzes your timekeeping and payroll data to automatically identify potential meal and rest break violations. Our algorithms check for late meal breaks, missed rest breaks, and proper premium pay for violations, flagging issues before they become PAGA claims.
We calculate your estimated PAGA exposure based on identified violations, including both initial and subsequent violation penalties. This helps you understand potential liability and prioritize corrective actions.
Our AI analyzes violation patterns to identify systemic issues, high-risk departments, locations, or managers. This enables targeted interventions to address root causes rather than individual violations.
PAGA requires employees to provide 65 days' notice before filing a lawsuit. We help you track notice periods, calculate cure requirements, and manage timelines to take advantage of the cure period when applicable.
Generate detailed compliance reports for internal review or to share with legal counsel. Reports include violation summaries, exposure calculations, trend analysis, and recommended corrective actions.
Before filing a PAGA lawsuit, employees must provide written notice to:
To cure violations, employers must:
After receiving notice, the LWDA has 65 days to investigate. If the LWDA does not initiate an investigation within 65 days, the employee may proceed with a PAGA lawsuit. The LWDA rarely investigates, so the 65-day period is effectively a waiting period before litigation.
Verafi tracks notice periods, calculates amounts owed for cure, generates cure calculations, and provides timeline management to ensure you meet all deadlines during the notice period.
High-volume, shift-based environments with frequent break violations. Verafi identifies patterns like understaffing leading to missed breaks, late meal periods during rush hours, and inconsistent break policies across locations.
Healthcare workers face unique challenges with patient care responsibilities. We monitor for on-duty meal periods that don't meet legal requirements, interrupted rest breaks due to emergencies, and 12+ hour shifts with missed second meal periods.
Production environments with shift schedules and quotas. We track production pressure leading to skipped breaks, meal periods pushed past the 5-hour mark, and rest break timing issues during multi-shift operations.
Office environments where breaks may be overlooked. We identify working through lunch, no formal rest break structure, and exempt vs. non-exempt classification issues leading to break violations.
Verafi provides centralized monitoring across all California locations, with location-specific compliance scores, comparative analysis between sites, and identification of high-risk locations requiring intervention.
We help ensure consistent break policies across your organization, identify policy deviations between locations, and standardize compliance practices while respecting operational differences.
Role-based access allows regional managers to monitor their locations while corporate compliance teams maintain enterprise-wide visibility and control.
Conduct monthly compliance audits using Verafi to identify and correct violations before they become systemic. Review high-risk periods, locations, and employees.
Train managers on meal and rest break requirements, proper timekeeping practices, and the importance of compliance. Document all training provided.
Maintain written policies that clearly explain break entitlements, timing requirements, and procedures for reporting violations. Distribute policies to all employees and obtain acknowledgment.
Use reliable timekeeping systems that track break compliance. Implement alerts for late meal breaks and integrate timekeeping data with Verafi for automated monitoring.
Maintain a relationship with employment law counsel who specializes in California wage and hour law. Review Verafi reports with counsel and develop remediation strategies collaboratively.
California labor law evolves constantly through legislation, court decisions, and regulatory guidance. Verafi monitors these changes and updates our compliance algorithms accordingly.
We notify customers of significant legal developments that may affect their compliance obligations and provide guidance on implementing necessary changes.
For more information about California labor law and PAGA compliance:
Need Legal Advice?
Verafi provides compliance software, not legal counsel. For specific legal questions about your compliance obligations or PAGA exposure, please consult with qualified employment law attorneys who specialize in California wage and hour law.