California Wage Order 5-2001 requires employers to relieve employees of all duties during required meal periods. Taco Bell adheres to those policies, complying with state law with 30-minute meal breaks. As an additional incentive of employment, the restaurant, on a purely optional basis, allows employees to purchase discounted meals from the restaurant provided they remain on the premises during consumption. Taco Bell enacted the policy to prevent employees from abusing the employee discount to purchase meals for friends and family which the restaurant considers a form of theft.
It was concluded that the discounted meal policy was strictly optional and that Taco Bell’s policy properly relieves employees of all duties during their breaks. If an employee wanted to leave the premises during their lunch break but still purchase food from Taco Bell, they had the option to purchase it from the restaurant at full price and bring the food to their desired location for their meal break.