All 14 verifiable claims verified against Tier-1 sources: California Labor Code §226.7 + §512 + §226 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov), the IWC Wage Orders' rest-period formula as codified in the California DIR's published guidance, Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, 40 Cal.4th 1094 (2007) on the per-category premium cap, and the Magadia v. Wal-Mart Stores procedural history (district court 2019; 9th Circuit reversal of the §226 portion 2021). The five modeled-data thresholds (5th-hour rule, 10th-hour rule, rest-break increments, 1-hour-per-category cap, 2-hour daily ceiling) all match the underlying statutes and the controlling California Supreme Court interpretation. Wage Order 5's healthcare double-meal waiver is intentionally unmodeled and surfaced in the methodology's "What's not modeled" section.
5 claims
First-meal-break trigger — shifts over 5 hours require one meal break
Tool's data layer — first meal required when shiftHours > 5
Second-meal-break trigger — shifts over 10 hours require a second meal break
Tool's data layer — second meal required when shiftHours > 10
Rest-break thresholds — 3.5h / 6h / 10h / 14h yield 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 rest breaks
Tool's data layer — rest breaks required at the 3.5h / 6h / 10h / 14h thresholds
The "major fraction" rule means more than half of the next 4-hour block triggers an additional break. The tool's published breakpoints (3.5h, 6h, 10h, 14h) are the standard DIR-aligned expression of that rule.
Per-category premium cap — one hour for any meal violation that day plus one hour for any rest violation that day
Tool's data layer — premiumHours = (anyMealViolation ? 1 : 0) + (anyRestViolation ? 1 : 0)
The per-category framing was settled by the California Supreme Court in Murphy: "An employee is owed only a single premium each day for all meal periods missed during that day, plus a single premium for all rest periods missed." The tool's (anyMealViolation ? 1 : 0) + (anyRestViolation ? 1 : 0) implements this directly.
Daily ceiling of 2 hours of premium pay
Tool's data layer — premiumHours maxes at 2 (1 meal + 1 rest)
4 claims
Cal. Lab. Code §226.7 — "one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that the meal or rest or recovery period is not provided"
Methodology § "What's modeled" + FAQ: "How much is the meal-break premium under California law?"
Cal. Lab. Code §512(a) — first meal break required for shifts over 5 hours; second meal break required for shifts over 10 hours
Methodology § "What's modeled" + FAQ: 'What counts as a "late" meal break?'
Cal. Lab. Code §226 — wage-statement penalty cascade for missing premium pay ($50 first violation, $100 per subsequent pay period per employee, capped at $4,000)
FAQ: "What happens if the employer doesn't put premium pay on the pay stub?"
IWC Wage Orders rest-break formula — "ten (10) minutes net rest time per four (4) hours worked or major fraction thereof"
Methodology § "What's modeled" + FAQ: "How many rest breaks are required for a given shift?"
2 claims
Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., 40 Cal.4th 1094 (2007) — §226.7 premiums are wages (not penalties), subject to the 3-year statute of limitations under CCP §338, AND one premium per category per workday regardless of number of violations within the category
Methodology § "What's modeled" + FAQ: "Why does the calculator cap premium pay at 2 hours per day?"
Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, 11 Cal.5th 58 (2021) — electronic time records showing a short, late, or missed meal period raise a rebuttable presumption of a §226.7 violation
Methodology § "When this gets re-reviewed" + research-side fact-check log; informs the calculator's framing but not the math
Donohue is referenced in the methodology's re-review triggers and supplies background framing for the FAQ; it does not drive any calculator constant.
1 claim
Magadia v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. — ~$102M district-court judgment (2019) driven by §226 wage-statement cascade; 9th Circuit reversed the §226 portion (2021) on a class-rep Article III standing issue; the underlying §226 theory remained intact and PAGA penalties survived
FAQ: "What happens if the employer doesn't put premium pay on the pay stub?"
Magadia v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 384 F. Supp. 3d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2019) — district court judgment; 999 F.3d 668 (9th Cir. 2021) — partial reversal on standing
The FAQ's framing accurately surfaces the procedural arc — the case demonstrates the §226 cascade mechanic without overstating the headline dollar figure or conflating district-court entry with appellate outcome.
10 unique sources cited across the report — click to audit any claim directly against its evidence.
Magadia v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 384 F. Supp. 3d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2019) — district court judgment; 999 F.3d 668 (9th Cir. 2021) — partial reversal on standing
Every claim above is anchored to a clickable source — click any to verify what we said directly against the evidence.
See our fact-checking methodology for the standards this report follows.
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