Why BreakPlate

What no payroll company
can give you.

Rippling, Gusto, Paychex, and ADP all claim compliance. What they mean is tax compliance — W-2s filed, ACA reported. None of them can answer the one question that matters in California wage-and-hour litigation.

Can you prove, right now, that your employee was offered their meal break?
01

Biometric Attestation — Non-Repudiation

Employees confirm break offers via Face ID or Touch ID. The record is tied to their unique biometric identity — it cannot be denied or falsified. Flow B (employee tap) is the strongest legal evidence available short of a signed paper form. No competitor has this.

Unique to BreakPlate
02

Three-Flow Notification — Proof of Offer

Flow A: manager verbal attestation. Flow B: employee digital acknowledgment. Flow C: refused or unavailable with documented reason. Every possible outcome is captured with a timestamped, law-referenced record. Proving the break was offered is the entire game in CA litigation.

Unique to BreakPlate
03

AI Law Ingestion — Never Goes Stale

Competitors maintain static rule sets updated by a team of humans — eventually. BreakPlate's AI pipeline ingests new statutes directly from government sources, validates every field, and updates enforcement rules automatically when California law changes.

Unique to BreakPlate
04

LC §226.7 Premium Pay — Post-Naranjo Ready

After Naranjo v. Spectrum Security (CA Supreme Court, 2022), missed break premiums are wages and must appear on wage statements. BreakPlate flags the exact premium pay obligation the moment a break is missed — with the dollar amount and statute reference. No competitor does this.

Unique to BreakPlate
05

Waiver Attestation — Closes the Falsification Loophole

The 2024 TJ Maxx re-litigation was about employees being forced to mark timesheets compliant when they weren't. BreakPlate requires employees to initiate and biometrically sign waivers at the moment of the decision. No manager can apply a waiver retroactively.

Unique to BreakPlate
06

PAGA 2024 Cure Rights — 85% Penalty Reduction

The 2024 PAGA reforms allow employers to reduce penalties by up to 85% by demonstrating reasonable steps. BreakPlate's audit trail architecture is those reasonable steps — every flag raised, every break offered, every remediation note, all timestamped and exportable for legal proceedings.

Unique to BreakPlate
07

Real-Time at Clock-Out — Not Payroll Sync

Every payroll platform detects violations when payroll syncs — days later. BreakPlate's compliance engine runs the moment a shift closes. For time-sensitive obligations like premium pay on termination, this difference is legally material. It is often the difference between a curable violation and a PAGA filing.

Unique to BreakPlate

Payroll provider comparison

What they say vs.
what they actually do.

Every payroll platform has a "compliance" page. Here's what that compliance actually covers — and what it doesn't.

Rippling
Closest competitor — still misses the mark

"Automatically enforce overtime rules and meal break policies based on state and local labor laws."

Can flag a missed break. Cannot prove in court that the break was offered. No biometric attestation. No three-flow notification. No LC §226.7 premium pay flagging. Compliance detected at payroll sync — not at clock-out. Rules maintained manually by their team — not AI-ingested. Break compliance is a paid add-on module on top of an already expensive platform.

Gusto
Great payroll. Zero break enforcement.

"Built-in alerts and reminders for labor law changes, resources on wage laws and overtime pay."

Alerts and reminders. Resources. Their compliance is educational and informational — they tell you what the law says. They do not enforce it in real time, create an attestation record, or build the PAGA defense documentation. Compliance = tax filings. California meal break enforcement is not in their architecture at all.

Paychex
Reactive advice, not proactive prevention

"Automated payroll compliance with real-time support from certified HR professionals."

Their compliance model is "call our HR team." BreakPlate's is "here is your court-ready audit trail." Reactive advice vs. proactive prevention — completely different value. An HR advisor on the phone cannot produce a biometrically-authenticated break offer record for a PAGA plaintiff's attorney.

ADP
Enterprise tax compliance — not break enforcement

"Compliance-first payroll — ACA, COBRA, WOTC, wage garnishment, multi-jurisdiction tax."

Compliance = tax, benefits, multi-state filings. They protect you from the IRS. They do not protect you from a PAGA class action attorney. Completely different legal risk category. ADP is also priced for 50+ employee enterprise — not affordable for the restaurant or retail operator who needs BreakPlate most.

Every payroll platform
protects you from the IRS.

BreakPlate is the only platform built to protect you from a PAGA class action attorney.

See pricing →