# Bakersfield Meal & Rest Break Lawyer | Unpaid Break Pay > Denied meal breaks or rest periods in Bakersfield? Our attorneys handle meal break violations and PAGA class actions for Kern County workers. Case evaluation. Source: https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/lunch-break-law/ Firm: Employment Lawyers Group — employee-side employment lawyers since 1993. Serving Kern County, California. Phone: (661) 412-9600 (calling is the fastest way to reach the legal team) Office: 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield, CA 93309 Contact form: https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/contact/ Consultations are free and confidential; cases are taken on contingency. --- Nonexempt employees are entitled to an uninterrupted 30 minute lunch break before the 5th hour of their shift ends. They are also entitled to a second meal break if they work more than ten hours. If you have questions what nonexempt means, or whether you are nonexempt please contact us at (661) 412-9600. If a meal break is interrupted, or given too late in the shift the employer must pay the employee one hour of pay at their regular rate of pay. Regular rates of pay including piece rate pay and added for based upon guaranteed bonuses. Some employers attempt to have their employees sign meal break waivers. It is a complex legal problem for an experienced wage lawyer whether a meal break waiver is valid. Please contact our experienced wage attorneys if you have not been paid for missed meal breaks, and you were forced to sign a meal break waiver. Situations with unpaid lunch breaks may involve off-the-clock work. This occurs when the employer makes the employee clock out as if they took a 30 minute [meal break](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/meal-break-lawyer/), but they continue to work. Our meal break violation lawyers have won cases in which employees are clocked out for meal breaks and/or forced to falsely sign that they took their meal breaks. Although there were other issues in a trial we did, there was a total of $300,000 in compensation for three employees who were forced to sign that they took rest breaks they were prevented from taking. Fact finders may view these situations as especially egregious on the part of the employer. The standard for a meal break violation is the employee must be prevented from taking the meal break. ## MEAL BREAK VIOLATION CLASS ACTION Unless an employee has missed virtually all of their meal breaks, worked at the employer for years, and makes a relatively high salary it may be infeasible to bring a meal break lawsuit for only one employee. If the damages for missed meal breaks are low, because we are in the field, our firm can make a referral to a smaller firm. If the meal break lawsuit is coupled with a failure to allow rest breaks that may be enough. Moreover, many meal break violation causes of action are added into employee lawsuits for other issues such as various unpaid wages including [overtime](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/overtime-lawyer/), [wrongful termination](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/wrongful-termination/), or [sexual harassment](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/best-sexual-harassment-lawyer/). Find out if you have a meal break violation case we can take. CALL (661) 412-9600 today and let our meal break lawyers start asking you the right questions Group and class actions for meal break violations are powerful ways to collect the maximum amount of money for unpaid meal breaks. Our firm has been able to collect large amounts of money when small meal break cases are brought by multiple employees. Our meal break case results include: • $800,000 for 8 employees who missed meal and rest breaks, but were also owed overtime & PAGA penalties • $400,000 for 5 employees in a won binding arbitration about unpaid meal and rest breaks and off-the-clock work while clocked out for meal breaks • $360,000 for three employees with meal break and [rest break violations](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/bakersfield-rest-break-lawyer/) violations who also filed PAGA charges • $150,000 paid to one employee who did not get rest breaks and $50,000 to a PAGA group for missed rest breaks • Multiple cases in which groups of employees clear $10,000 a piece after attorney fees when they sue for meal and rest breaks worth $3,000-$5,000 Our class action results for meal break cases include: • $800,000 for missed meal and rest breaks • $750,000 for missed meal and rest breaks ### MEAL BREAK LAW California meal break law begins in the California Labor Code. California Wage Orders also deal with employee rights to meal breaks. Different Wage Orders apply to different industries. Some wage orders have different rules for meal breaks. There is also case law on meal breaks including several important California Supreme Court cases. Amongst other things, there are exceptions for truckers and persons who take care of disabled people at their residences. Rather than trying to figure out what the law is on meal breaks, we suggest you just pick up the phone and call (661) 412-9600. We only represent employees on a contingency which means we are only paid when and if we can collect money from the employer. All calls are confidential. California meal break law assumes there is an employment relationship. If the relationship has been misclassified meal break laws apply. Some of our largest cases involving meal breaks involving mis-classified employees. Although the case had other issues, one person received $350,000 in a Bakersfield case we brought for only one employee. In another California case, eight people received $800,000. The ability to settle or collect does, however, depend on the size and economic ability of the employer. Our meal break lawyers have handled hundreds of meal break cases. When you contact our firm let them ask the right questions. We will steer the conversation in a legally relevant matter while being cognizant of your time. Be prepared to make estimates about how many meal breaks you missed per week. You don't need a log, but you need to be able to make reasonable estimates that you stick with throughout the case. Offices in Bakersfield, Sherman Oaks, Downtown Los Angeles, Torrance, Oxnard, Tustin, Riverside, and Ontario. Only Representing employees ## Our Firm: No Upfront Fees or Costs ### Contingency Fee Representation All employment cases for employees are taken on a **contingency basis**. We are only paid a fee **when and if we win** your case, and we **advance all litigation costs**. Our goal is to make expert legal representation accessible to every hardworking employee. ### Serving Kern County We have proudly served all of Kern County since 1993. Ready to discuss your case? (661) 412-9600 Submit A Contact Form The Employment Lawyers Group has successfully handled 2,000+ Separate California Employment Cases ## Media Engagements ## Sample Case Results breach of commission contract $1,150,000 Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs unpaid wages $875,000 For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call forced to work without pay standby pay case $800,000 Controlled stand by class action settlement Disclaimer: These results are based on the facts of these specific cases and do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case. ## Practice Areas [Discrimination Age, Disability, FMLA/CFRA, Gender, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race, and Sexual Orientation discrimination claims.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/discrimination/) [Unpaid Wages & Overtime Recovering earnings for overtime, bonuses, commissions, meal & rest break violations, and prevailing wage claims.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/unpaid-wages/) [Sexual Harassment Compassionate and effective representation for sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/sexual-harassment/) [Wrongful Termination Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and federal law.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/wrongful-termination/) [Leaves & Retaliation Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/leaves-of-absence/) [Whistleblowers Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse under California and federal whistleblower protection laws.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/whistle-blower/) ## Our California Locations ### Bakersfield [BakersfieldLaborAttorney.com](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com) 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield CA 93309 [(661) 412-9600](tel:6614129600) ### Los Angeles [EmployeeLawCA.com](https://employeelawca.com/) 611 Wilshire Blvd, #1023, Los Angeles CA 90017 [(323) 525-1600](tel:3235251600) ### Orange County [WorkLawyerOC.com](https://worklawyeroc.com) 2522 Chambers Rd, #100, Tustin CA 92780 [(714) 210-8000](tel:7142108000) ### Riverside [RiversideEmploymentLawyer.com](https://riversideemploymentlawyer.com) 9496 Magnolia Ave, #208, Riverside CA 92503 [(951) 367-1000](tel:9513671000) ### Sacramento [SacramentoLaborAttorney.com](https://sacramentolaborattorney.com) 777 Campus Commons Rd, #200, Sacramento CA 95825 [(916) 340-0000](tel:9163400000) ### San Bernardino [EmploymentAttorneySanBernardino.com](https://employmentattorneysanbernardino.com) 337 N. Vineyard Ave, #400, Ontario CA 91764 [(909) 663-2100](tel:9096632100) ### San Diego [SanDiegoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://sandiegoemployeelawyer.com) 330 "A" St, #60, San Diego CA 92101 [(619) 320-3000](tel:6193203000) ### San Francisco / Bay Area [BayAreaEmploymentAttorney.net](https://bayareaemploymentattorney.net) 524 Union St, #400, San Francisco CA 94133 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### San Jose / Silicon Valley [SiValleyLaborLawyer.com](https://sivalleylaborlawyer.com) 111 N. Market St, #300, San Jose CA 95113 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### Sherman Oaks [WorkLawyerCA.com](https://worklawyerca.com) 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA 91423 [(818) 783-7300](tel:8187837300) ### Torrance / South Bay [JobTerminationLaw.com](https://jobterminationlaw.com/) 3655 Torrance Blvd, 3rd Floor, Torrance CA 90503 [(310) 842-8600](tel:3108428600) ### Ventura / Oxnard [VenturaEmploymentLawyer.com](https://venturaemploymentlawyer.com) 4030 West Hemlock St, Oxnard CA 93035 [(805) 200-0100](tel:8052000100) ### Additional Sites [BostonLaborLaw.com](https://bostonlaborlaw.com) [DcLaborAttorney.com](https://dclaborattorney.com) [FresnoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://fresnoemployeelawyer.com) [JobLawyer.net](https://joblawyer.net) [MarylandLaborAttorney.com](https://marylandlaborattorney.com/) [ModemStud.com](https://modemstud.com) [VintageLosAngeles.org](https://vintagelosangeles.org) [WorkplaceLawyer.org](https://workplacelawyer.org) ## About Firm Founder, Karl Gerber Firm Founder, **Karl Gerber**, has been an employment and wrongful termination attorney since **1993**. He has represented a wide range of employees throughout California. Mr. Gerber has won **51 of the binding arbitrations and jury trials** he first chaired, and a number of his appeals are published. This deep trial experience is the foundation of the firm's strategic approach to litigation. The employment attorneys employed by the Employment Lawyers Group have worked at the firm well in excess of five years, have also tried many different labor cases, and have all been **extensively trained on employment and wrongful termination law by Karl Gerber**. [Meet Karl Gerber](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/karl-gerber/) ## Ready to Discuss Your Case? Your rights as an employee matter. Submit a contact form and we'll get back to you. Submit A Contact Form [Call (661) 412-9600 Now](tel:6614129600)