Are meal break penalty waivers legal? This is a “blanket” waiver for all days worked if we don’t clock out for lunch

Question

California: I work in an event heavy position where it’s difficult to take 30 min lunches every 5 hours - it has been typically fine for us hourly employees to rarely clock out during these 10-16 hour days due to always having to be on-call or needing to be available.  
 
Our boss recently told us to sign a meal penalty waiver so they don’t have to pay us the penalty but also that we don’t have to clock out for lunch. So pretty much we eat when we can, we don’t clock out but employer doesn’t pay the penalty. He sited 226.7 section of CA Labor Law. He then said if we don’t sign it then we MUST take a lunch. We all know this means sometimes we won’t take a lunch but on the time sheet it must say we took a lunch. Or we risk taking a lunch without backup or anything.  
 
What are your thoughts on this? What are our rights here? For context, during “busy season” we average about 45-55 hours a week and these events usually occur once or twice a weeek

Brad S Kane · Answer

You can only waive the first meal period if the total work day is no more than six hours. Thus, the meal waivers appear in invalid. 
 
According to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement,  
 
In California, an employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. A second meal period of not less than thirty minutes is required if an employee works more than ten hours per day, except that if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee only if the first meal period was not waived. Labor Code Section 512. There is an exception for employees in the motion picture industry, however, as they may work no longer than six hours without a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, nor more than one hour. And a subsequent meal period must be called not later than six hours after the termination of the preceding meal period. IWC Order 12-2001, Section 11(A). 
 
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_mealperiods.htm

James L. Arrasmith · Answer

In California, meal break penalty waivers may not be legal if they lead to regular violations of required meal breaks. While on-duty meal periods are possible under certain circumstances, they must be voluntary agreements. Coercion to sign such waivers or falsify time records could potentially infringe upon your rights. Consulting a legal professional is recommended to understand your options. 
 
Sincerely, 
James L. Arrasmith 
Founding Attorney and Chief Lawyer of The Law Offices of James L. Arrasmith

Q: Are meal break penalty waivers legal? This is a “blanket” waiver for all days worked if we don’t clock out for lunch