Washington Employers Must Pay Piece Rate Workers Additional Rest Break Compensation

With some limited exceptions, Washington State wage and hour rules require that workers receive a paid 10 minute rest break for every four hours worked. The Washington Supreme Court has now expanded employer obligations in this regard by ruling that employers must pay piece rate workers additional compensation for the required rest periods. The July 16, 2015 decision in Demetrio v. Sakuma Brothers Farms, Inc. states that the rest break time cannot be folded into the piece rate, and instead must be paid separately. While this case arose in the agricultural-worker context, its key holding likely applies to all industries that use piece rate compensation plans – plans under which an employee's pay is based on the number of "pieces" he or she generates or completes.