Hello. I work in the construction industry in California. One of my employees (non-exempt) routinely works at remote job sites, unsupervised. Oftentimes, it's impractical for him to come back and clock in and out for lunch. On those days, he invariably denies taking a lunch, claiming that he works straight thru. I have ample reason to believe he's lying, but my question is, can I legally assume he does take the 30 minute break I'm required to furnish?

Legally, you'd be hard pressed to prove he didn't take a lunch. What evidence do you have that he's lying?

A phone call from the homeowner two hours after "Joe" left the shop, asking if we'd forgotten her. (Joe left for the job at 10:30; she called abt 12:35. Job site was 15 minutes away, tops. Getting lost not an issue.). When simply asked (as opposed to demanded an explanation) about it later, he shrugged his shoulders and walked away, muttering unintelligibly.

Next, a clean truck at departure; a truck littered with empty food wrappers from a fast food place and a grocery store upon return. (I didn't say he was smart). Joe was the sole occupant. Truck was parked inside the homeowner's locked gate, 20 feet from their open garage door. The only people present were the homeowners, and Joe. That, and I'm hard-pressed to believe anyone would choose to work 11.5 hours without a lunch break, especially Joe. He's a big proponent of eating lunch and then catching a little nap. No one cares when he clocks out, but do we have to subsidize his zzz's because he's found a way to manipulate the system?

Thanks for your advice.

All sounds very suspicious to me. Honestly, I'd be writing up not-too-smart Joe for failure to meet his appointments. He could always say he ate while driving from appointment to appointment, which is, of course, compensable time. Good luck.

Thank you, Pattymd. I appreciate your sharing your knowledge. Very helpful. :)