Regarding meal periods on duty:

1. "In all places where employees are required to eat on the premises, a suitable place for that purpose must be designated."

What if we work in a small box that doesn't have anything to sit on no chairs, no tables, the only eating surface would be your lap or a counter you can't eat on per health code regulations...

2. What if my employer's handbook says we don't get a meal break unless we work MORE than 6 hours? Doesn't section 512 require a meal break to be given for shifts over 5 hours? Is this going to be helpful when I submit a wage claim?

3. Finally - if my only claims are the meal break violation (as documented above), unpaid wages that I can prove I worked and can prove my employer willfully refuses to pay for in his own writing - and waiting time penalties for a few days for an incomplete final paycheck and no wage deduction slip - am I better off filing a wage claim with the DLSE or sending it to my lawyer? The wages owed are less than $100 gross. That's WITHOUT the penalties. I'm thinking just DLSE for this one.

But at the same time I don't believe that we even qualified for the on duty meal period where we were. Not at night. It was always so slow and dead that the two of us could read a whole book if we wanted to. My lawyer says that if someone is able to cover you while you take an unpaid meal break, then you don't qualify for the on duty meal period. If there is a small store and only one person working, that person could lock up the store and take a break. But security guards would be an exception. They would truly qualify for the on duty meal period.

Has anyone ever won a case against an employer who forced them to take an on duty meal break when they didn't even really qualify for one?

rebdomine: Finally, if my only claims are the meal break violation (as documented above), unpaid wages that I can prove I worked and can prove my employer willfully refuses to pay for in his own writing - and waiting time penalties for a few days for an incomplete final paycheck and no wage deduction slip - am I better off filing a wage claim with the DLSE or sending it to my lawyer? The wages owed are less than $100 gross. I'm thinking just DLSE for this one.

I'm thinking you should move on with your life. I notice that you have posted over 100 times on this board - complaining about everything from, what I perceive as, ostensible ticky tack violations of the labor law to landlord-tenant problems you have.

The purpose of this board is to answer general questions. If you don't have an answer or for some reason don't choose to, you are free to disregard the poster.

However, rebdomine, since you evidently have a number of issues with your employer, it might not be a bad idea to discuss them with an employment attorney. I"m not saying don't post them here, you are free to do so. But a consultation with an attorney where you can raise all the issues at once might benefit you.

cbg: If you don't have an answer or for some reason don't choose to, you are free to disregard the poster

I don't know if that comment was directed at me, but my advice to the poster was clear - move on with your life.

Yes, it was directed at you. And I think my message was also clear.

lose the attitide sweetheart

Barry, your response to the poster was completely inappropriate. Your response to me was equally inappropriate.

If you have anything further to say to me, do it by PM.

cbg: Barry, your response to the poster was completely inappropriate

Not at all! And even if you thought was the case, you should have merely stated your opinion. What's completely inappropriate is your nit picking of my response to the OP and the queen bee approach you take to moderating this forum.

cbg: If you have anything further to say to me, do it by PM

Anything I have to say, I'll say in open forum since that is where you have chosen to speak to me.

I'll "move on" when they pay me for all the hours I've worked that they refuse to pay me for and when I receive all the money I'm owed, thanks.

I work for myself now, I am no longer a slave. But I will be damned if I'm going to let my slavery time that I've already done go to waste for the pissant companies I did work for.

You're a jerk, but that's your problem not mine.

I do have an attorney. I'm looking for the law to be cited so I can research better before I make a move. I'm also looking for case examples so I can see what came out of them. No one has any, so thanks for the non-help. That tells me that most people here aren't even really lawyers.

I've got angry people behind me wanting to start a class action and I need to know before I move with it with my attorney. There are people who have been screwed by this company sine 1993. And they're all ignorant slaves, trading time for money year after year afraid to stand up - no breaks, no meal breaks, no compensation for mileage when they have to drive and get product 3x a week for years, etc.

If you don't want to discuss the issues I present just because I've posted a lot of times then that defeats the purpose of this board.

As for the landlord thing I love her, I have no problem with her, I just want to make sure I do things right because I need my deposit! What the hell is wrong with asking questions?

You people make others feel like IDIOTS here. Not me, but others. With the bickering, the arguing, the putting down... get a life people! Real lawyers don't waste their time on boards like these unless they're desperate for clients. Which tells a lot.

If you don't have any experiences to share or laws to cite, stop posting.

Let's see. I made a stupid mistake and became a slave for someone else with three companies who screwed me over. The first one owes me $11,000 just in unpaid wages not including the violations for not giving any of my employees breaks or meal breaks for 3 years. The second owes me $580 in commissions that they stole from me like they did other people as well. The third one owes me for a smaller amount but it's still time that I stupidly traded for money.

That is money I have earned fair and square. What is wrong with fighting for my rights and pursuing money that I am rightfully owed?

If you're a lawyer, on this board, then you obviously do the same thing but you fight for other people who have been screwed over.

What a contradiction, don't you think? Telling me to "move on" with my life just because I've posted some questions here so that I can better understand what I'm dealing with legally?

What makes you think that this takes any of my effort other than sending documents to my lawyer and the labor board? Because I post questions here you assume that this is my life and that I need to "move on?"

Why the hell would you tell someone who is owed money by an employer to "move on?"

I'm not stupid like most people. I have done my fair share of getting walked on. I've done my time as a slave to others. But no longer. If I worked it, they owe it. If I've earned it, they owe it.

PERIOD.

And if other people are stupid enough to continue working for companies that treat them like dirt, then that's their problem, not mine.

Believe me once they pay up, I'll think nothing of these pissant little companies.

PS: My posts are not "complaining about issues" because complaining is what you do when you just want to whine and do nothing about it. I'm doing something about all of it. Thanks to some of the answers I've got from the more sane and courteous people here (like patty) I have been able to do my own research enough to make my own decision on what to do.

The people I worked with? They are "complaining" because they still work for the ****ty employer. I don't. I "moved on."

See the difference?

Okay, calm down. I'm on your side here.

Wasn't necessarily directed toward you... no worries.

rebdomine: If you don't have any experiences to share or laws to cite, stop posting.

Rebdomine, I suspect I am more versed in California labor law and have more experience dealing with the DLSE than anyone one this board.

Sorry if you didn't like my advice. Not all medicine is easy to swallow.

I've already won 2 cases for exactly the same issues I'm having with this former employer I'm currently filing claims against. I just don't want to waste my lawyer's time if it will be quickly resolved with the DLSE.

Okay, this stops here. Nothing is going to be accomplished if the thread deteriorates into personalities.

Rebdomine, if you are already working with an attorney, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further. You really need to get your answers from him, in that case. We cannot second guess what he tells you since he knows far more about your situation than we can.

Given both the way this thread has already begun to break down and the fact that we cannot, in good conscience, provide any additional answers, I'm going to shut this one down. Rebdomine, you can PM me if you have any major objections and we can talk about it.