Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC (Feb. 25, 2021, S253677)
Nearly a decade ago, See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 889 concluded that employers may use time rounded time entries—that is, entries adjusted to the nearest preset time increment—to calculate regular and overtime wages if the rounding policy is neutral on its face and as applied.
In Donohue, the California Supreme Court held that “employers cannot engage in the practice of rounding time punches . . . in the meal period context.” The Court reasoned that “meal period provisions are designed to prevent even minor infringements on meal period requirements, and rounding is incompatible with that objective.”
The Supreme Court also held that time records showing noncompliant meal periods raise a rebuttable presumption of meal period violations, including at the summary judgment stage.
