Meal Penalties Tracking & Compliance

Meal penalties (formally called liquidated damages) are financial penalties assessed when a production fails to provide timely meal breaks to cast or crew. Both SAG-AFTRA (for performers) and IATSE (for crew) enforce strict meal break timing rules, and violations can add up to thousands of dollars per day if left untracked. According to SAG-AFTRA's official guidelines, the first meal period must be called no later than 6 hours from the call time, and all subsequent meal periods are due no later than 6 hours after the end of the preceding meal period. Damages for violations are $25.00 for each of the first and second half hours, and $50.00 for each half hour thereafter. IATSE locals enforce similar or identical timing requirements under the 2024 IATSE Basic Agreement. Proper tracking is not optional. It is a contractual and legal obligation.

Under standard SAG-AFTRA and IATSE contracts, a meal break must be called within 6 hours of the performer's or crew member's call time (5 hours under some contracts). Once that 6-hour mark passes without a meal break, penalties begin accruing in 30-minute increments. Each increment triggers an additional penalty at an escalating rate.

In production paperwork, meal penalties are written using slash notation: the first number represents penalties on the first meal, and the second number represents penalties on the second meal. A day with no violations is recorded as 0/0. You only write the number of violations, never dollar amounts, time increments, or narrative explanations. Payroll calculates the escalating dollar values from the violation count.

Meal penalties appear in multiple production documents, each serving a different purpose. The legally binding record is always the SAG-AFTRA Exhibit G for cast and union timecards for crew. Call sheets are proactive documents issued before the day begins, so they never contain meal penalties. Those are tracked reactively.

• Exhibit G (SAG-AFTRA): The official union document for background performers. Has a dedicated MP (Meal Penalties) column where you record the total number of violations as a whole number. If an actor had 2 first-meal penalties and 1 second-meal penalty, you write 3 in the MP column.
• Daily Production Report (PR): The 2nd AD transfers meal penalties to the PR at wrap. The PR summarizes penalties by department or cast member (e.g., "Cast #2 - 2 MPV").
• Crew Timecards: Individual crew members record meal penalty violations on their daily timecards, which go to payroll for processing.
• Hot Costs Report: G-Casper Pro's Hot Costs tab aggregates meal penalty costs alongside overtime and other financial data for real-time budget visibility.

If a production pushes a meal by 12 minutes or less to finish a setup, and the delay is approved by the union representative or cast, this is called "Grace." No penalty is incurred, and you record 0/0. Record the grace in the remarks section of the Exhibit G or Production Report (e.g., "12 Min Grace"). Grace is not automatic and requires union acknowledgment. Pushing past the grace window without an approved meal break triggers full penalty accrual from the original meal-due time, not from the end of the grace period.

The structure of recording meal penalties (the 0/0 notation) stays the same across all contracts. What changes is the timing trigger, the dollar amount, and specific local provisions. SAG-AFTRA contracts include Theatrical, Television, Low Budget, Ultra Low Budget, and Commercial agreements, each with slightly different meal timing and penalty rate structures. IATSE meal penalty rules are governed by the IATSE Basic Agreement and supplemented by local agreements. Different IATSE locals may have different escalation rates and crew-vs-driver distinction for overtime thresholds.

• SAG-AFTRA Theatrical/Television: 6-hour first meal, $25/$25/$50 escalation
• SAG-AFTRA Low Budget: May allow 5-hour first meal under certain conditions
• IATSE crew: 6-hour first meal, penalties per the Basic Agreement and local supplements
• IATSE drivers: Often have separate overtime and meal penalty thresholds from general crew

G-Casper Pro is built from the ground up for SAG-AFTRA and IATSE compliance. Instead of manually cross-referencing call times, meal break times, and wrap times across multiple spreadsheets, G-Casper Pro connects your call sheet data directly to your Exhibit G and Hot Costs reports. Here is how the system works:

• Exhibit G Integration: Background performer call times, meal breaks, and wrap times flow directly from your call sheet into the Exhibit G. The MP column is right there in the form, so there is no separate spreadsheet or duplicate data entry needed.
• Hot Costs Overview: The Hot Costs tab auto-populates from your Production Report Front and Back timing data. Meal penalty costs appear alongside overtime calculations, giving producers and UPMs real-time financial visibility.
• Hot Costs Detail: The Detail sub-tab breaks down crew rows by department with computed financial columns including meal penalty costs, work hours, budgeted rates, and over/under cost variance.
• Configurable OT Thresholds: Production-level settings for crew and driver overtime thresholds (stored in Globals) so Hot Costs calculations match your state labor laws and contract terms.
• Excel Export: The Hot Costs Excel export generates a two-sheet workbook (Overview + Detail) that production accountants can use directly.

The best meal penalty is the one that never happens. Assistant Directors can use several strategies to stay ahead of meal timing:

• Set meal break reminders: Track meal-due times from the moment crew is called. G-Casper Pro's call sheet shows call times for every department, making it easy to calculate the 6-hour window.
• Schedule NDBs (Non-Deductible Breakfasts): An NDB does not start the meal clock. Providing breakfast upon arrival gives crew time to settle in before the 6-hour countdown begins at the general crew call.
• Build buffer into your shooting schedule: If your last setup before lunch is complex, consider moving it to after the meal break to protect your penalty record.
• Communicate with department heads: Warn departments 30 minutes before meal-due time so they can plan their work accordingly.
• Track both meals: The second meal is often where productions get caught. After a long afternoon, it is easy to lose track of the second 6-hour window.

Clean, numeric documentation protects your production. The meal penalty field on Exhibit G and crew timecards should contain only the violation count, nothing else.

• Never write dollar amounts (payroll calculates those from the violation count and contract rate)
• Never write "late meal" or narrative explanations in the MP field
• Never write fractional penalties like "1.5 penalties". Each 30-minute increment is a whole number
• Never write time durations ("45 minutes late"). Convert to violation count instead
• Never leave the field blank when penalties occurred. A blank field implies 0/0

For authoritative contract language and detailed penalty schedules, consult these official union resources directly:

• SAG-AFTRA: When Are Meals Due? What Are Liquidated Damages If Not Fed on Time?: Official SAG-AFTRA meal timing and penalty rate guidance
• 2024 IATSE Basic Agreement (PDF): The full IATSE Basic Agreement memorandum including meal penalty provisions
• IATSE Local 80 FAQ: Frequently asked questions from IATSE Local 80 covering meal breaks, overtime, and working conditions
• IATSE Local 728 Meal Penalty Computation Spreadsheet: A computation resource from IATSE Local 728 for calculating meal penalty costs