What are the compensation requirements for rest and recovery periods for piece-rate employees?
Labor Code section 226.2, subdivision (a), paragraphs (1) and (3) provide that:
- Employees must be compensated for rest and recovery periods separate from any piece-rate compensation, and
- The rate of compensation for rest and recovery periods shall be the higher of:
- An average hourly rate determined by dividing the total compensation for the workweek, exclusive of compensation for rest and recovery periods and any premium compensation for overtime, by the total hours worked during the workweek, exclusive of rest and recovery periods.
- The applicable minimum wage.
This means that piece-rate employees must be paid compensation for rest and recovery periods that is separatefrom their piece-rate compensation. An employer may not treat the piece-rate compensation as including compensation for rest and recovery periods, no matter how the piece-rate was determined.
The hourly rate of compensation for rest and recovery periods must be the same as the hourly rate (averaged over the workweek) that an employee earned during the workweek for time during which he or she was performing work. If, for some reason, this average hourly rate comes out to less than minimum wage, then the employee must be paid at minimum wage.
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