By Betsy Johnson
California employers have been waiting since October 2008 for the California Supreme Court to issue it decisions in Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court (review granted Oct. 22, 2008 and Brinkley v. Public Storage (review granted Jan. 14, 2009) on the issue of whether California law requires employers to ensure that non-exempt employees take meal periods or to merely make meal periods available to these employees. While these cases are pending, the California appellate courts issued rulings going both ways on this issue. Recently, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District Court, issued positive decision for employers and held that employers are not required to force employees to take meal periods: “It is an employer’s obligation to ensure that its employees are free from its control for thirty minutes, not to ensure that employees do anything particular during that time.” Lamps Plus Overtime Cases (CA2/8 B220954 5/10/11). http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B220954.PDF