Are California car salespersons entitled to paid rest breaks? Yes.
What is the paid rest break requirement in California for car salesmen and car sales women? California car salespersons are entitled to 10-minute paid rest break for every four-hour work period, or major fraction thereof. The Department of Labor Standards Enforcement considers anything more than two hours to be a “major fraction” of four. So, if a car salesperson works more than two hours, he or she is entitled to a paid rest break.
Most California car salespersons are paid solely on a commission basis. All California employees, including car salespersons, paid solely on a commission basis, must get separate compensation for paid rest periods. Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC., 9 Cal.App.5th 98 (2017). An employer that fails to separately compensate commissioned employees for paid rest periods violate California labor laws. If an employer, like car dealerships, fails to separately compensate its commissioned salespeople for paid rest breaks, the employer must pay the employee one additional hour of wages for each workday the employer violates the paid rest break requirement.
To determine if the employer is separately compensating commissioned employees for paid rest periods, the employee must look at the wage statement that accompanies the salespersons paycheck. If the wage statement does not contain a separate line item for paid rest breaks, it is very likely that the employer is violating the paid rest break requirement and the employee is entitled to additional wages.
If you are a commissioned employee, like a car salesperson, working in California, call the experienced employment attorneys at the JCL Law Firm, APC, to protect your rights! The San Diego wage and hour attorney at the JCL Law Firm can quickly determine if your employer is violating the paid rest period requirement and get you the compensation you are owed! Contact the office today to begin discussing your available options!