On November 30, 2016, the California Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Driscoll v. Granite Rock Company. The opinion provides guidance to California employers who enter into on-duty meal period agreements with their employees.

In Driscoll, the trial court had certified a class of approximately 200 concrete-mixer drivers who alleged they were not provided off-duty meal periods pursuant to California law. Those claims proceeded to a bench trial and the trial court found in favor of the employer. The employees then appealed.

The Court of Appeal upheld the employer’s on-duty meal period agreements, noting that the employer’s “policies regarding meal periods [we]re particularly appropriate in the context of the ready mix concrete industry.” The Court of Appeal cited the 2012 decision in Brinker, where the California Supreme Court held that “[w]hat [off-duty meal practices that] will suffice may vary from industry to industry, and we cannot in the context of this class certification proceeding delineate the full range of approaches that in each instance might be sufficient to satisfy the law.” Relying on Brinker, the Driscoll Court concluded that “the issue of different industry practices is a factual determination. Here, while on the job, mixer drivers manage a rolling drum of freshly batched concrete at any given time throughout their work day. When a driver is able to take a duty-free lunch period is dependent on the state of the concrete in his or her truck, and the nature of the construction job to which the driver is attending.”

The Court of Appeal also rejected the employees’ arguments that the employer required employees to enter into on-duty meal period agreements. The trial court had “found that when a concrete-mixer driver requested to have an off-duty meal period, Graniterock granted that request, and relinquished all control of the employee for the 30-minute off-duty period.” The Court of Appeal concluded that doing so satisfied the Brinker standard.

The Driscoll decision is a welcome one for employers – especially those facing class actions – that use on-duty meal period agreements as it reaffirms their validity.