Definition and Example. Imagine that you are walking along the sidewalk of a busy road with a group of friends. It's a hot, humid, and sunny day. Everyone is wearing shorts and loose clothing to battle the heat. You look to your left and see a man in a long fur coat and a tall pair of winter boots.
A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies or governments may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United States law restricted the size of banks, but when banks exceeded these sizes, they obtained waivers.
It noted that the regulation provides that employers are required to provide an unpaid meal period between 2 and 5 hours into a shift, and that employees can waive that meal period if they so chose. It then reasoned that because an employee can waive meal periods, an employer cannot be held liable simply because an employee missed a meal period.