On Wednesday the Oregon Court of Appeals held that employees may sue employers who fail to provide a paid rest period as required by state law. BOLI regulations mandate a ten-minute paid rest period for each four-hour segment worked. The court agreed with the class action plaintiffs' argument that employees are entitled to four hours' pay for every three hours and fifty minutes of work, and that for each rest period missed, employers owe employees an additional ten minutes' pay. See the court's opinion in Gafur v. Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital here.
This result is contrary to a 1999 ruling from Oregon's federal district court -- Talarico v. Hoffman Structures, Inc., 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20909 -- which held that, while a failure to provide paid breaks may result in administrative sanctions, it does not create a private right of action for lost wages.
In addition to wages for each missed break, an employee will presumably be entitled to penalty wages for failure to pay all wages due pursuant to ORS 653.055 and, if the employee's employment has ended, an additional final pay penalty under ORS 652.150. The Court of Appeals decision will undoubtedly result in a significant increase in class actions for missed break periods.
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