When an employee is taken to lunch, and given their scheduled review, is this considered their lunch break (unpaid) or should they receive an additional break that day and be paid for the time during the review?

Rita Risser responds:

Assuming the employee is an hourly employee, the employee is entitled to be paid for "hours worked" which is defined as any time that is under the direction and control of the employer. So you do have to pay for this time. And if, as a result of working through lunch the employee works more than 8 hours that day, you must pay overtime. The employee also is entitled (under California law) to a half-hour meal break. However, the penalty for not giving the break is paying for the time, so I don't think you have to give an additional break.

From a management point of view, I think this is a questionable practice. Unless the review is perfect, the employee is probably going to get indigestion! I suggest that you give reviews at the office, and independent of that, maybe to celebrate the review, you have lunch together. If you make the lunch completely voluntary, you do not have to pay for the time. With my hourly employees, I occasionally have taken them to lunch, told them it was voluntary, and then waited to see what they put on their time cards. The good employees never put that time on their cards, the poor employees always did! I paid the ones that asked for it.