Court sides with Taco Bell that meal period was appropriately unpaid
In what is becoming a rare event, the courts have sided with employers on this decision — Taco Bell offered a discounted meal for employees but required employees to eat their discounted food on the premises. The plaintiffs tried to claim that since they were eating on the premises they weren’t “free from the employer’s control” and therefore should be compensated for their meal period. Taco Bell (and the court) disagreed. Since the provided meal was an offered optional benefit, employees weren’t required to eat the food, they could bring their own food, go buy something else, and they weren’t required to stay on the premises — just eat the discounted food on the premises, they weren’t under the employer’s control and the employer wasn’t obligated to pay them an on-duty meal period.
So, take a break and go enjoy a taco, burrito or crunchwrap supreme (my dad’s favorite!), and know that the employees get a chance for a discounted meal if they eat it on the premises but they aren’t working while they eat.
If you have questions about meal periods within your business, let’s chat. Contact me via email at sharon@hredgeonline.com