Almost four years ago, we wrote about how a California Court of Appeal’s decision exposed health care employers to litigation if they relied upon IWC Wage Order 5 for meal period waivers. That decision was Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (“Gerard I”), where the Court of Appeal concluded that IWC Wage Order 5 was partially invalid to the extent it authorized second meal period waivers on shifts over 12 hours.
Last year, we wrote about how the California Court of Appeal in Gerard II reversed its previous decision after the Legislature enacted SB 327 shortly after Gerard I. SB 327 amended Labor Code section 516 to state in pertinent part that “the health care employee meal period waiver provisions in Section 11(D) of [IWC] Wage Orders 4 and 5 were valid and enforceable on and after October 1, 2000, and continue to be valid and enforceable. This subdivision is declarative of, and clarifies, existing law.” In Gerard II, the California Court of Appeal held that SB 327 is effective retroactively. As a result, the second meal period waivers that the plaintiffs had signed were valid and enforceable.
The Gerard plaintiffs appealed to the California Supreme Court. Last week, the California Supreme Court issued its decision affirming the lower court’s decision in full. Not only did the California Supreme Court confirm that second meal period waivers are valid for employees in the health care industry who work more than 12 hours in a shift, but it also confirmed that the SB 327 is effective retroactively.
The Gerard decision is a welcome development for California health care employers who have relied upon IWC Wage Order 5 for second meal period waivers, reinforcing the use of such waivers for employees who work more than 12 hours in a shift.