Partners Russell Bruch and Alana Genderson spoke with Law360 about a proposed heat safety rule from the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Russell is curious about how laws regarding heat breaks will coordinate with other laws governing time off during the workday, such as the California mandate regarding paid rest and meal periods and a federal requirement specifying unpaid breaks to express breast milk.
“From an administrative perspective, how are they going to track this time?” Russell said. "Most employers do not track rest breaks because it’s paid time.”
Alana said break requirements in the proposal are not easy to understand, noting the language includes “fuzzy terms that make understanding the requirement a challenge.”
“That language is so broad and ripe to be abused, frankly,” Alana said. “You’re required for those rest breaks to be paid and seemingly there’s no limit to how many breaks you can take.”