The California Supreme Court has granted review of the California Court of Appeal's decision in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court, which interpreted California's meal and rest break requirements. As reported in our July 24, 2008 Legal Alert, the California Court of Appeal previously held that: (1) employers need only provide, not ensure, that rest periods are taken; (2) employers need only authorize and permit rest periods to be taken for every four hours or major fraction thereof worked (and that the rest periods are not required to be taken in the middle of the four hour period); (3) employers are not required to provide a meal period for every five consecutive hours worked; (4) employers need only provide, not ensure, that meal periods are taken; and (5) employers can only be held liable for employees working off-the-clock if the employer knew or should have known employees were doing so. See Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court (7/22/08).

Please see full alert for more.