Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, has
agreed to pay $4.75 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the hospital of violating
the state's wage and hour law, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The lawsuit accused the hospital of overtime violations and failing to compensate
workers for missed meal and rest periods.
The newspaper notes that California has proposed new rules governing meal and
rest breaks. Under current rules, employees must be allowed a half-hour meal
break during any work period of more than 5 hours per day. The proposed rules
would require a 30-minute meal period beginning before the end of the sixth
hour of the work period for employees whose work period is more than 6 but less
than 10 hours per day.
The settlement covers more than 1,000 current and former employees who worked
for the hospital from October 1999 through July 2004. Payments will range from
$100 to more than $25,000, depending on length of service and pay level, the
newspaper reports.
