PHRca - Professional in Human Resources - California (PHRca) CA Wage and Hour Laws 1

Question 1

Under California law, how many paid rest breaks is an employee entitled to during a standard 8-hour workday?

Accepted Answer

Two 10-minute breaks

Answer

California requires one paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked (or major fraction thereof). An 8-hour shift generates two such periods, making two 10-minute breaks the correct entitlement. Rest breaks, unlike meal periods, are paid and must be counted as hours worked.

Question 2

Under California's reporting time pay rule, if an employee is scheduled for an 8-hour shift but is sent home after only 1 hour of work, what is the minimum amount the employer must pay for that day?

Accepted Answer

4 hours at the regular rate of pay

Answer

California's reporting time pay rule (IWC Wage Orders) requires employers to pay employees for at least half of their scheduled shift when they are sent home early, with a floor of 2 hours and a ceiling of 4 hours. Half of an 8-hour scheduled shift is 4 hours, which falls within that range, so 4 hours is owed.

Question 3

What vote threshold must be met for California employees to legally adopt an Alternative Workweek Schedule (AWS)?

Accepted Answer

At least two-thirds (2/3) of affected employees in a secret ballot election

Answer

California Labor Code Section 511 requires that an Alternative Workweek Schedule be approved by two-thirds of affected employees in a secret ballot election conducted during regular working hours. This supermajority requirement protects workers from being pressured into schedules they do not want.

Question 4

Under California Labor Code Section 226.2, how must employers calculate the compensation owed to piece-rate employees for mandatory rest and recovery periods?

Accepted Answer

At a separate hourly rate equal to total compensation divided by total productive (non-rest) hours worked

Answer

LC 226.2 requires that rest and recovery periods for piece-rate workers be compensated at a separately calculated average hourly rate: total compensation earned (excluding rest-period premiums) divided by total productive hours worked during the pay period. Courts found that bundling rest pay into piece-rate totals was insufficient.

Question 5

A California employee gives her employer exactly 72 hours' written notice of resignation. Under the California Labor Code, by when must the employer provide her final paycheck?

Accepted Answer

On her last day of work

Answer

California Labor Code Section 202 requires that when an employee gives at least 72 hours' advance notice of resignation, all wages due must be paid on the employee's final day of work. Employees who resign without sufficient notice are entitled to final pay within 72 hours of quitting.

PHRca - Professional in Human Resources - California Practice Test

PHRca - Professional in Human Resources - California Practice Test

PHRca - Professional in Human Resources - California (PHRca) CA Wage and Hour Laws 1