A Benihana restaurant operator in Colorado is facing a proposed class action from workers who say they were required to keep working through paid 10-minute rest breaks and were not paid for that time.
The lawsuit, filed in Colorado state court, alleges employees routinely continued serving customers and carrying out other job duties during scheduled break periods. Workers say the practice repeated across shifts and added up to unpaid time for which they are now seeking wages.
Colorado generally requires employers to provide a paid 10-minute rest period for every four hours of work, or major fraction of four hours. A shift of more than two and up to six hours generally carries one paid break, while a shift of more than six and up to 10 hours generally carries two.
The rules are part of Colorado’s Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order, known as the COMPS Order. Those breaks generally should fall near the middle of each four-hour work period when practical and count as paid working time.
Colorado appellate courts have treated missed rest periods as unpaid-wage claims. In Pilmenstein v. Devereux Cleo Wallace, the Colorado Court of Appeals concluded that each required 10-minute break that was not provided resulted in 10 minutes of unpaid wages and allowed workers to pursue monetary damages for that time.
The state appeals court has also addressed whether similar claims can proceed as a class action. In Hicks v. Colorado Hamburger Company, the court directed certification of a class of fast-food workers pursuing rest-break claims after finding that time records could provide a class-wide way to prove liability and damages. The court reached a different conclusion on separate meal-break claims, which it found required more individualized review.
Under the COMPS Order, each missed 10-minute rest period is treated as additional work time for which wages may be owed.
The Benihana workers say the alleged practice denied them the time off required by state law and left additional wages unpaid. They are seeking to pursue the case on behalf of other employees who say they were treated the same way.
The case is pending in Colorado state court.
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