The California Meal Break Premium Contiguous Rule is primarily used to implement legislation that dictates the maximum time an employee can work without a meal break and the duration of the breaks employees are entitled to receive.
Although the rule was created to help implement California’s meal break legislation, it's designed to be flexible to cover other business needs. In general, it pays out a premium whenever an employee works a specified amount of time without taking a meal break of a specified duration.
The rule treats consecutive clock entries as part of the same period of work. For example, employees receive a meal break premium after working five hours without a meal. An employee works two four-hour shifts on the same day with a one-hour gap in between. If the rule is configured to consider shifts within two hours of each other as contiguous time, Dayforce pays out a meal break premium because the employee is considered to have worked an eight-hour shift.
This rule can also be used to enforce a rolling requirement, where employees are entitled to a second meal within a certain amount of time after the end of the previous meal. For example, cases where employees are entitled to a second meal no more than five hours after the end of the first meal.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Gap threshold at which periods are no longer contiguous | Enter the number of minutes at which shifts are no longer considered contiguous. For example, if two shifts with a two-hour break between them shouldn't be considered as one shift, enter 120. |
| Evaluate contiguous shifts crossing BDA | When selected, the rule counts contiguous shifts in a 24-hour period that cross business day alignment as one contiguous shift when determining qualifying premiums. |
| Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid | Enter the number of minutes into a shift before which employees must take a meal break to satisfy the guarantee. For example, if employees must take a meal break before five hours into a shift, enter 300. Employees who don't receive a meal break before 300 minutes (five hours) are paid the meal penalty premium. |
| Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid |
Enter the number of minutes into a shift before which employees must take their second meal break. Employees who don't take their second meal break before the specified number of minutes into their shift receive a meal penalty premium. For example, if employees must take a second meal break before working 10 hours in a shift, enter 600. Employees who don't get a second meal break before 600 minutes are paid the meal penalty premium. Employees who work shifts shorter than the specified duration aren’t guaranteed a second meal break. For example, enter 10 and an employee who works an eight-hour shift wouldn't be guaranteed a second meal break. |
| Time worked to disable permanent waiver - first penalty | Enter the number of minutes an employee must work to receive a meal penalty premium for their first meal break, even if they have signed a permanent meal waiver. For example, to pay employees who have signed a permanent meal waiver a premium for their first meal after six hours, enter 360 in this field. |
| Time worked to disable permanent waiver - second penalty | Enter the number of minutes an employee must work to receive a meal penalty premium for their second meal break, even if they have signed a permanent meal waiver. For example, to pay employees who have signed a permanent meal waiver a premium for their second meal after six hours, enter 720 in this field. |
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Note: For a comparison of the following two settings’ functionality, see Comparison of the Maximum Number of Penalties Settings . |
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| Maximum number of penalties per shift | Enter a number in this field to specify the maximum number of penalty premiums employees can earn per shift. |
| Maximum number of penalties per day | Enter a number in this field to specify the maximum number of penalty premiums employees can earn per day. |
| Meal penalty duration | Enter the duration, in minutes, of premiums that the rule pays out for employees who didn't receive enough meal breaks. Dayforce pays out a premium of the specified duration for each meal that is missed. |
| Meal penalty rate type |
Select Multiplier to configure the rule to pay out premiums at a rate that is a multiple of their regular pay rate. To pay employees time and a half, you would select Multiplier and enter 1.5 in the Rate value field. Select Incremental to configure the rule to pay the employee a premium at the specified flat rate. To pay employees $3.50 an hour extra in premiums for a missed meal break, you would select Incremental and enter 3.50 in the Meal penalty rate value. |
| Meal penalty rate value | Enter the premium’s rate value. Whether this a multiplier of the employee’s regular pay rate, or a flat rate, depends on the Meal penalty rate type value. |
| Meal penalty pay code | Select the pay code the rule assigns to the premiums it pays out. |
| Meal penalty pay category | Select the pay category the rule assigns to the premiums it pays out. |
| Pay codes eligible as meal | Select the pay codes which mark eligible meal breaks. Pay details with one of the selected pay codes are considered eligible meal breaks by the rule and count towards the guaranteed meal break duration. |
| Pay code ineligible as meal | Select the pay codes which mark ineligible pay details. Ineligible pay details aren’t eligible meal breaks and don't count toward the guaranteed meal break duration. |
| Pay categories eligible as meal | Select the pay categories which mark eligible meal breaks. Pay details with one of the selected pay categories are considered eligible meal breaks by the rule and count towards the guaranteed meal break duration. |
| Pay categories ineligible as meal | Select the pay categories which mark ineligible pay details. Ineligible pay details aren’t eligible meal breaks and don't count toward the guaranteed meal break duration. |
| Pay codes eligible as work | Select the pay codes which mark eligible work. Pay details with one of the selected pay codes are considered work and count towards the thresholds defined in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid and Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid fields. |
| Pay codes ineligible as work | Select the pay codes which mark ineligible pay details. Ineligible pay details don't count toward the thresholds defined in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid and Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid fields. |
| Pay categories eligible as work | Select the pay categories which mark eligible work. Pay details with one of the selected pay categories are considered work and count towards the thresholds defined in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid and Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid fields. |
| Pay categories Ineligible that do not count as work | Select the pay categories which mark ineligible pay details. Ineligible pay details don't count towards the thresholds defined in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid and Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid fields. |
| Permanent meal waiver includes | Select the volunteer list that contains employees that have signed a permanent meal waiver to agree to work through their meal breaks without being paid meal penalties. Permanent meal waivers aren’t tied to the jobs that employees are scheduled to work. |
| On duty meal waiver includes | Select the volunteer list that contains employees that have signed an on duty meal waiver, to agree to work through their meal breaks without being paid meal penalties. |
| On duty meal type scheduled | Select the type of on-duty meal breaks that are scheduled: Break, Meal, or Both. |
| On duty meal scheduled job includes | Select the jobs that are considered on-duty meal jobs when employees are scheduled to them. The rule considers only employees scheduled to work one of the selected jobs as working on-duty meals. |
| On duty meal scheduled job excludes | Select the jobs that aren’t considered on-duty meal jobs when employees are scheduled to them. Employees working these jobs are paid a meal premium for working through their meals or breaks. |
| Include meal break in contiguous time |
Select the checkbox to configure the rule to count time associated with meal breaks when it calculates worked time. For example, an employee works four hours, takes a one-hour meal, and then works another four hours. With this checkbox selected, the employee’s contiguous worked time is nine hours. After summing the worked hours, Dayforce then compares the duration of any meals to the value entered in the Min Meal Length (for on-duty waiver or include in contiguous) field. If the meal was shorter than the specified duration, Dayforce pays out a premium. This setting is enabled by default. |
| Meal breaks excluded from threshold |
Select this checkbox to configure the rule so that meal breaks aren’t counted against the thresholds when they’re included in contiguous time. Consider an example where both this checkbox and the Include meal break in contiguous time checkbox are selected, and the thresholds for the first and second penalties are set to 300 minutes and 540 minutes. If an employee works from 9:00 AM to 6:15 PM, with a meal break from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM, Dayforce doesn’t pay out a premium because the employee took their first meal break within the defined threshold, and their contiguous time (excluding their meal break) totals 525 minutes, which is under the 540 minute threshold. However, if the Meal breaks excluded from threshold checkbox was cleared, the employee’s meal break would be included in these calculations and Dayforce would pay out a premium. |
| Gaps count as meals (if included in contiguous) |
By default, if the Include meal break in contiguous time checkbox is selected, the rule doesn’t count gaps as meals. To configure the rule so that it considers gaps as meals if they don’t exceed the threshold defined in the Gap threshold at which periods are no longer contiguous field, select this checkbox. For example, with 120 entered in the Gap threshold at which periods are no longer contiguous field, and with both the Take location, department, job and rate from shift checkbox and the Include meal break in contiguous time checkbox selected, Dayforce considers gaps shorter than two hours as meals. This means that if the gaps between periods of work meet the meal break requirements as defined in the rule’s settings, the employee doesn’t receive a meal break penalty premium. |
| Min Meal Length (for on-duty waiver or include in contiguous) | Enter the minimum duration for meal breaks. If either of an employee’s meal breaks is shorter than this duration, the rule pays out the premium. |
| Take location, department, job and rate from shift |
Select the checkbox to take the employee’s location, department, job, and rate into consideration when calculating premiums and determining which department and location the pay is charged against. When this checkbox is selected, the rate is taken from the Rate field in the Work > Work Assignments screen in People. For example, if the rule is configured to pay premiums at 1.5 times the employee’s regular pay rate, when this checkbox is selected, the rule multiplies the rate employees are paid for the shift that earned the premium by 1.5, not the employee’s base rate. If an employee’s base rate is $8 but they’re paid $10 an hour for the shift that earned the meal break premium, the rule pays out premiums with a pay rate of $15 (10 multiplied by 1.5). Any premiums the rule awards when this functionality is enabled uses the location, job assignment, and rate values that are effective at the time when the rule’s threshold is exceeded and the employee earns a premium. For example, if employees earn a premium if they work five hours without a meal break, and an employee works three hours at their primary job, performs a job transfer and works another four hours at a secondary job, then the secondary job is effective at the time when the threshold of five hours is exceeded. As a result, the rule pays out the premium and records it against the employee’s secondary job (which was the job effective at the time the employee was awarded the premium). Clear this checkbox to pay premiums and charge pay based only on the defaults set for the employee, and not the location, department, job, or rate from that specific shift. |
| Award only if off duty at threshold |
Select the checkbox to configure Dayforce to ignore the On duty meal type scheduled setting and employees’ scheduled shifts, meals, and breaks, and to instead examine the jobs employees are working at the meal threshold times to determine whether to pay out meal break premiums. If the employee has one of the meal waivers from the existing On duty meal waiver includes setting assigned to their records (in the Work > Volunteer List screen in People) and is working an on duty meal job (a job selected in the existing On duty meal scheduled job includes setting) at the time of either the first or second meal penalty thresholds (as defined in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid and Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid settings), then the rule doesn’t pay a meal break premium. If the employee isn’t working an on duty meal job, then the rule does pay the meal break premium. For example, with the first meal penalty threshold set to five hours, when an employee works an eight hour shift, the rule examines the job the employee is working at the five hour mark to determine if the employee should be paid a meal break penalty. If the employee hasn't taken a meal break and isn’t working an on duty meal job, then the rule pays out the meal break penalty. |
| Use raw clocked time for calculating Shift length | Select this checkbox to configure the rule to ignore your time entry policy’s clock entry rounding settings and use raw clock entry times when determining an employee’s shift length. |
| Use raw clocked time for calculating Meals and Breaks length | Select this checkbox to configure the rule to ignore your time entry policy’s clock entry rounding settings and use raw clock entry times when determining meal and break lengths. |
Comparison of the Maximum Number of Penalties Settings
The following table illustrates the relationship between the Maximum number of penalties per shift and Maximum number of penalties per day fields:
| Maximum Number of Penalties per Shift Value | Maximum Number of Penalties per Day Value | Expected Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | For the first shift, employees can’t get more than two penalties. In the second and subsequent shifts, penalties can’t be more than two and are capped at four for the day. |
| 2 | 1 | Employees can’t get more than one penalty per day. |
| 2 | 2 | Employees can’t get more than two penalties per day. |
| 2 | 0 | If 0 is entered in the Maximum number of penalties per day field, Dayforce ignores this field and looks at the value entered in the Maximum number of penalties per shift field (in this example, employees can’t get more than two penalties per shift). |
California Meal Break Premium Contiguous Rule Example
Example 1: Business Needs
Employees are entitled to their first one-hour meal after working for five hours, and their second after working for eight hours. Employees who don’t receive the meal breaks they’re entitled to are eligible to receive a flat rate $7.50 premium per missed meal. Separate shifts on the same day are considered the same shift, as long as they’re within two hours of each other.
Example 1: Configuration
To configure the rule for this example:
- Enter 300 in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid field.
- Enter 480 in the Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid field.
- Enter 120 in the Gap threshold at which periods are no longer contiguous field.
- Enter 2 in the Maximum number of penalties field.
- Enter 60 in the Meal penalty duration field.
- Enter 7.5 in the Meal penalty rate value field.
- In the Meal penalty rate type drop-down list, click Incremental.
- In the Meal penalty pay code and Meal penalty pay category drop-down lists, select the pay code and pay category Dayforce should use to pay out meal penalty premiums.
- In the Pay codes eligible as meal setting, select the pay codes that mark meals.
- In the Pay codes eligible as work setting, select the pay codes that mark time that should count toward the meal break thresholds.
Example 1: Results A
An employee works a seven-hour shift without a meal break. As a result, the employee receives the premium:
Example 1: Results B
An employee works two shifts on the same day, the first from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and the second from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Because the shifts were less than two hours apart, Dayforce considers them as contiguous time and pays the employee a premium:
Example 2: Business Needs
Continuing the example above, some employees have signed a permanent meal waiver. However, these employees are still entitled to receive the first penalty premium if they work longer than seven hours, and the second if they work longer than ten hours.
Example 2: Configuration
- Enter 300 in the Time worked for first meal penalty to be paid field.
- Enter 480 in the Time worked for second meal penalty to be paid field.
- Enter 120 in the Gap threshold at which periods are no longer contiguous field.
- Enter 2 in the Maximum number of penalties field.
- Enter 60 in the Meal penalty duration field.
- Enter 7.5 in the Meal penalty rate value field.
- In the Meal penalty rate type drop-down list, click Incremental.
- In the Meal penalty pay code and Meal penalty pay category drop-down lists, select the pay code and pay category Dayforce should use to pay out meal penalty premiums.
- In the Pay codes eligible as meal setting, select the pay codes that mark meals.
- In the Pay codes eligible as work setting, select the pay codes that mark time that should count toward the meal break thresholds.
- Enter 420 in the Time worked to disable permanent waiver - first penalty field.
- Enter 600 in the Time worked to disable permanent waiver - second penalty field.
- In the Permanent meal waiver includes setting, select the volunteer list that corresponds to the permanent meal waiver.
Note: For this functionality to work, you must also configure and assign the appropriate volunteer lists to the necessary employees. See Work > Volunteer List.
Example 2: Results A
An employee with a permanent meal waiver works a six-hour shift. Because this shift doesn’t meet the seven-hour threshold to disable the permanent waiver, Dayforce doesn’t pay a penalty premium:
Example 2: Results B
An employee with a permanent meal waiver works an eight-hour shift. As a result, Dayforce pays out a penalty premium: