BILL NUMBER: AB 569	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 27, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 2, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Emmerson

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2009

   An act to amend Section 512 of the Labor Code, relating to
employment.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 569, as amended, Emmerson. Meal periods: exemptions.
   Existing law prohibits, subject to certain exceptions, an employer
from requiring an employee to work more than 5 hours per day without
providing a meal period and, notwithstanding that provision,
authorizes the Industrial Welfare Commission to adopt a working
condition order permitting a meal period to commence after 6 hours of
work if the order is consistent with the health and welfare of
affected employees.
   This bill would exempt from these provisions  construction
 employees  in a construction occupation  and
commercial drivers in the transportation industry who are covered by
a valid collective bargaining agreement containing specified terms,
including meal period provisions. It would specify that its
provisions do not affect the requirements for meal periods for
employees or employers in industries other than those described in
the bill.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 512 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
   512.  (a) An employer may not employ an employee for a work period
of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with
a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total
work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the
meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and
employee. An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of
more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a
second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the
total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period
may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee only
if the first meal period was not waived.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the Industrial Welfare
Commission may adopt a working condition order permitting a meal
period to commence after six hours of work if the commission
determines that the order is consistent with the health and welfare
of the affected employees.
   (c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an employee in the wholesale
baking industry who is subject to an Industrial Welfare Commission
wage order and who is covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement that provides for a 35-hour workweek consisting of five
7-hour days, payment of one and one-half times the regular rate of
pay for time worked in excess of seven hours per day, and a rest
period of not less than 10 minutes every two hours.
   (d) If an employee in the motion picture industry or the
broadcasting industry, as those industries are defined in Industrial
Welfare Commission Wage Order Numbers 11 and 12, is covered by a
valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for meal periods
and includes a monetary remedy if the employee does not receive a
meal period required by the agreement, then the terms, conditions,
and remedies of the agreement pertaining to meal periods apply in
lieu of the applicable provisions pertaining to meal periods of
subdivision (a) of this section, Section 226.7, and Industrial
Welfare Commission Wage Order Numbers 11 and 12.
   (e) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not apply to an employee employed
in the construction industry   a construction
occupation  or to an employee employed as a commercial driver in
the transportation industry if both of the following conditions are
satisfied:
   (1) The employee is covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement.
   (2) The valid collective bargaining agreement expressly provides
for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees,
and expressly provides for meal periods for those employees, final
and binding arbitration of disputes concerning application of its
meal period provisions, premium wage rates for all overtime hours
worked, and a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent
more than the state minimum wage rate. 
   (f) The following definitions apply for the purposes of this
section:  
   (1) "Commercial driver" means an employee who operates a vehicle
described in subdivision (b) of Section 15210 of the Vehicle Code.
 
   (2) "Construction occupation" means all job classifications
associated with construction by Article 2 (commencing with Section
7025) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions
Code, including work involving alteration, demolition, building,
excavation, renovation, remodeling, maintenance, improvement, and
repair, and any other similar or related occupation or trade. 
  SEC. 2.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subdivision
(e) of Section 512 of the Labor Code does not affect the nature or
scope of the law related to meal periods, including the timing of
commencement of a meal period, for employees or employers not
specifically covered by subdivision (e) of Section 512 of the Labor
Code.