Serrano v. Aerotek, Inc.

Aerotek provided temporary employees to Bay Bread. The temporary employees worked “under [Bay Bread’s] management and supervision.” Bread agreed to comply with federal, state, and local laws. Aerotek’s meal break policies were contained in an employee handbook, which stated that any problems should be discussed with supervisors. Bread set the temporary employees' schedules; they took their meal breaks to “ensur[e] that everyone got an uninterrupted meal break by the time five hours of their shift elapsed” based on “when things needed to come in and out of the oven.” Aerotek’s on-site account manager, Scott, visited the production facility twice daily but did not look for meal break issues. Aerotek hired Serrano as a temporary Bread employee; she acknowledged receipt of Aerotek’s employee handbook and signed forms waiving a meal period on days she worked no more than six hours. When she worked more than six hours, she sometimes took her meal breaks more than five hours after beginning work or did not take them. She never discussed the issue with Scott. Serrano filed a putative class action for failure to provide meal periods (Labor Code 226.7, 512), failure to pay wages upon termination, unfair competition, and Private Attorneys General Act penalties. The court of appeal affirmed a judgment for Aerotek. Proof that an employer had knowledge of employees working through meal periods will not alone subject the employer to liability; an employer is not required to “police” meal breaks. View "Serrano v. Aerotek, Inc." on Justia Law