Missed Rest Breaks Do Not Give Rise to a Wage Claim – Oregon Supreme Court Rules
May 22, 2008
Louis Santiago - Portland
On May 15, 2008, the Oregon Supreme Court held in Gafur, et al. v. Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center, et al. that although an Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries’ administrative rule requires employers to provide minimum rest breaks during work periods, violation of that requirement does not give rise to a claim for additional wages based on missed rest breaks. The decision overruled a contrary determination by the Oregon Court of Appeals issued in November 2007.1
The Gafur case was a class action wage and hour case in which the plaintiffs, employees of hospitals owned by Legacy Health Systems, sought compensation for required rest breaks they contended the defendants did not provide them. The relevant administrative rule, OAR 839-020-0050(1)(b), requires an employer to provide a “period of rest of not less than ten minutes for every segment of four hours or major part thereof worked in one work period without deduction from the employee’s pay.” The plaintiffs argued that the rule entitles them to four hours pay for every three hours and 50 minutes worked. Because the defendants failed to provide them the required 10-minute rest period, the plaintiffs claimed they actually worked 10 minutes in each four-hour period for which they were not compensated.
The defendants argued that Oregon’s wage claim statute does not authorize the Bureau of Labor and Industries to promulgate rules that create wage claims for violations of minimum conditions of employment. Also, one of the amici argued that the statute that authorizes the bureau to adopt rules regarding rest breaks does not even require that rest breaks be paid, much less create an entitlement to additional wages for missed rest breaks.
Missed Rest Breaks Do Not Equal More Compensable Work
After considering the text of the relevant statute and rule, the Oregon Supreme Court concluded that an employee who takes a rest break does not stop working for wage and hour purposes. Thus, the Court concluded, an employee who works four hours and takes a 10-minute rest break within that four-hour period “works” the same amount of time (for Oregon wage and hour purposes) as an employee who works four hours and does not take a rest break. In each circumstance, the Court stated, the employee is entitled to four hours pay and no more. Therefore, in Oregon, an employee who is not provided rest breaks during a four-hour shift but is paid for four hours of work has not been paid “less than the wages to which the employee is entitled” and may not pursue a wage claim under Oregon law.
Employers should be aware that while their Oregon employees do not have a wage claim for missed rest breaks, Oregon law authorizes the Bureau of Labor and Industries to “assess a civil penalty not to exceed $1000 against any person who willfully violates” the rest break statute “or any rule adopted thereunder.” In addition, the bureau has the authority to seek criminal prosecution of employers who violate the rest break requirements. See ORS 653.991 (“Violation of any provision of this section or ORS 653.010 to 653.545 or of any rule adopted by the Wage and Hour Commission under ORS 653.307 shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.”).
For more information, email Louis A. Santiago at louis.santiago@hklaw.com or call toll free, 1.888.688.8500.
1 The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Oregon Court of Appeals’ holding that missed meal breaks do not give rise to a wage claim.