Effective January 1, 2014, California employers will be required to pay an additional hour of wages for each day the employer fails to provide a required “recovery period” (shade break) to avoid heat-related illness to employees who work outside when the temperature exceeds 85 degrees.

Cal-OSHA regulations require California employers to protect their outdoor employees from the hazard of heat illness when the temperatures exceed 85 degrees. Under the regulations, California employers must allow, encourage and in effect provide their outdoor employees with access to shade when the temperature exceeds 85 degrees for at least five minutes on an as needed basis as often and whenever an employee feels the need to do so to protect him or herself from overheating.

The regulations do not set forth how often employees can take such 5 minute cool-down rest periods. Further, the regulations do not specify under what, if any, conditions the employer could deny a request for an additional shade break. It is therefore presumed that the 5 minute shade “recovery periods” must be provided to outdoor employees when the temperature exceeds 85 degrees as often as the affected employee requests it.