California Assembly Bill AB2078

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/18/26
• Refer: 3/2/26
• Report Pass: 4/23/26
• Refer: 4/23/26
• Report Pass: 5/6/26
• Engrossed: 5/14/26
• Refer: 5/14/26
• Refer: 5/27/26
• Report Pass: 6/10/26
• Refer: 6/10/26

Caption

An act to amend Section 512 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.

Summary

AB 2078 would amend Labor Code Section 512, which governs meal periods, to add a new collective-bargaining-based exception for employees who perform building maintenance work as stationary engineers. Under current law, most employees working more than five hours in a day must receive a 30-minute meal period, subject to specified exceptions for certain industries and occupations. This bill would place stationary engineers performing building maintenance work into the group of employees who may be exempt from the standard meal-period rule if they are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that meets detailed requirements. The bill’s new exception would apply only when the collective bargaining agreement expressly covers wages, hours, working conditions, meal periods, final and binding arbitration for meal-period disputes, premium overtime rates, and a regular hourly wage at least 30 percent above the state minimum wage. In practical terms, AB 2078 would align stationary engineers with other occupations already subject to similar labor-code carveouts, such as construction workers, commercial drivers, security officers, and utility employees, while leaving the general meal-period protections in place for workers not covered by qualifying agreements.

Impact

AB 2078 would narrow the reach of Labor Code Section 512 by expanding the list of employees for whom the standard meal-period requirement does not apply when a qualifying collective bargaining agreement exists. The bill specifically adds employees who perform building maintenance work as stationary engineers to the existing statutory exception in subdivision (f), thereby affecting employers and unions in facilities operations, building maintenance, and related skilled-trades settings. The Labor Commissioner would continue to enforce the meal-period law, but the statute would now recognize this additional occupation as eligible for the collective-bargaining exemption.

Sentiment

The available voting record suggests the bill has been received favorably, with the committee vote reported as 7-0 for do pass and re-referral to Appropriations with a recommendation to the Consent Calendar. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate opposition or detailed support arguments. Based on the vote and the bill’s limited scope, the measure appears to have been viewed as a targeted labor-relations adjustment rather than a broad policy change.

Contention

The main policy issue is the balance between meal-break protections and collectively bargained flexibility. Support would likely come from employers and labor organizations in the stationary engineer/building maintenance sector that prefer contract-based scheduling rules, while potential concern would come from worker-protection advocates who may worry that another exemption could weaken default meal-period rights. Because the bill conditions the exemption on a strong collective bargaining agreement with wage and arbitration safeguards, the contention is less about eliminating protections altogether and more about whether stationary engineers should be added to the list of occupations allowed to opt out of the standard rule through bargaining.