RELEASE: Missed break complaints paint picture of how Mother’s Market targets most vulnerable

COSTA MESA, CA – Thirty-three former and current workers with Mother’s Market stores across the chain filed complaints with the California Department of Industrial Relations late last week. Workers said that Mother’s Market did not allow them to take their mandatory rest breaks because they were too busy due to inadequate staffing, they feared discipline for taking breaks, and because they had been directed by a supervisor to not take the breaks.

Union supporters from the HEARTS UNITED Committee have been gathering outside Mother’s Market stores staging “Take a Break” events. The pop-up events educate workers about rest break laws and encourage them to take them, while having a taco or a treat with co-workers. 

In California, employers must authorize and permit non-exempt employees to take their mandatory rest breaks for every four hours of work. If workers miss, are late for, or are interrupted during a required meal or rest break, they are legally owed one additional hour of pay at their regular hourly rate for each workday that a violation occurs.

The violations at Mother’s Market total more than $45,000 owed. 

Francisco Garcia, who works as a dishwasher in Mother’s Market Irvine, started at Mother’s a little more than one year ago. Early on, he asked the manager if he could take a break and was told “we don’t take breaks here.”

Garcia reported that after the union campaign went public the same manager approached him and said to start taking breaks. 

“I’m looking for fair pay, respect and dignity,” said Garcia, whose claim is worth $7,140. 

Stephanie Hernandez, 25, has worked in the Juice Bar at Mother’s Market Signal Hill for nearly three years. Hernandez said the culture at Mother’s is for workers not to take 10-minute breaks. 

Hernandez said working at Mother’s Market was nothing like she expected when she used to watch the affluent store from her nearby apartment. Hernandez moved to Long Beach to attend Cal State. 

“It is so high-intensity and you feel a lot of pressure,” said Hernandez. 

She said the workload is “constantly expanding” but workers are never compensated for it. 

“In fact, it’s the opposite, they add more work and then cut workers’ shifts,” she said. “We used to have better staffing.” For example, Hernandez said managers used to staff a juice bar morning shift, midday shift and evening shift, but about a year ago they eliminated the middle shift. 

Such staffing levels make taking breaks hard. 

But Hernandez said since the union drive launched, workers are standing up for their right to take breaks and the culture is shifting. She even said managers had recently begun staffing the midday juice bar shift again. 

“I feel like with our campaign for a union, it has brought to light a lot of issues at the store – one being we’re not taking our 10s. Each of us struggle with the pressure that’s put on us, but we realize we deserve rest.” 

Since April, workers at 7 of 12 Mother’s Market locations have been campaigning for a union to address chronic workplace issues like low pay, understaffing and last minute scheduling. Workers are asking for a union as a way to improve store conditions for themselves and customers. 

Instead of listening to workers’ calls for improvement and collaboration, Mother’s Market last week fired 15 union supporters from its flagship Costa Mesa store. 

The mass firing comes as Mother’s Market is courting a buyer for the 12-store chain. 

Formerly a local company, Mother’s Market was bought in 2016 by Mill Road Capital. Mill Road is a private equity company based in Connecticut that raises capital from pension funds and other investors to buy and control businesses from groceries to fast casual restaurants. 

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