Today marks the one-year anniversary of the California Supreme Court’s decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court.

The Brinker case was extremely important to all California employers. The court ruled that employers do not have to ensure that employees take their meal breaks, but must merely make meal breaks available. The court’s ruling also provided flexibility to employers with regard to the timing of meal and rest breaks.

In the year since the case was decided, meal and rest break claims have certainly not disappeared in California. Such claims may, however, be harder to get certified as class action lawsuits, especially when the employer has clear policies and practices and a good timekeeping system. 

Employers also need to make certain that supervisors do not schedule work shifts in a manner that prevents employees from having the ability to take breaks.

Meal and rest period cases continue to arise after the welcomed California Supreme Court decision in Brinker v. Superior Court. 

Related cases were placed on hold pending the Brinker decision, and some have been decided on review. In two of those cases, Flores v. Lamps Plus (Lamps Plus Overtime cases) and Hernandez v. Chipotle, courts issued decisions that were favorable for employers — in both, the courts denied class certification.

The Brinker court held that employers must only provide a meal break and not ensure it is taken. In light of this finding, the Lamps Plus and Hernandez courts found that whether the employer was liable for a meal break violation required an individualized inquiry as to why any particular employee missed a specific break. 

As a result, class certification was not appropriate because courts would have to consider individual issues and facts to make a determination about employer liability. These cases were both initially published. 

However, the employee plaintiffs asked the California Supreme Court to review the decisions. The Supreme Court denied review, but at the same time depublished the cases. The decision to depublish these cases is an indicator that the Court disagreed with the underlying analysis on the class certification issue. 

California employers still face a tough legal landscape. Wage-and-hour class action suits will not disappear any time soon.