What are the State-Specific Rules for Rest & Meal Breaks?
Eddy Team — July 2024
Running a small or medium-sized business comes with its fair share of challenges, and staying on top of labor laws is one of them. Each state has its own regulations regarding meal and rest breaks, and understanding these rules can be critical—especially if your state has penalties!
Take California, for example. If a business doesn't provide the mandated 30-minute meal breaks for employees working over five hours a day, they must compensate each affected employee with an additional hour of pay at their regular rate. Imagine this happening with multiple employees over several months – the financial hit can be significant. Moreover, such violations can lead to lawsuits and increased scrutiny from labor boards, which can be a heavy burden for a small business to bear.
Knowing and following state-specific meal and rest break regulations is more than just a legal obligation. It helps in creating a supportive and productive workplace. Employees who get their breaks are generally happier and more efficient, leading to better overall performance and lower turnover rates. By making compliance a priority, you can protect your business and foster a more positive work environment.
Alabama
Alabama law doesn't require employers to provide meal or rest breaks.
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Alaska
Alaskan employers are required to provide break periods of at least 30 minutes for minors ages 14 through 17 who work 5 or more consecutive hours and are going to continue to work.
Employers are not required to give breaks for employees 18 and over. If your employer allows breaks, and they last less than 20 minutes, you must be paid for the break. If your employer allows meal periods, the employer is not required to pay you for your meal period if it lasts more than 20 minutes and you do no work during that time.
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Arizona
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
A. An employer shall allow each employee to take at least one thirty minute meal break during every continuous eight hours of labor performed.
B. An employer shall allow each employee to take at least one ten minute rest period during every four hours of labor performed. The employer shall not deduct any wages from the employee for the period of time that the employee is participating in a rest period.
C. This section does not apply to either of the following: 1. A location where only one person is employed. 2. Employees who are covered under a collective bargaining agreement.
D. An employer may apply to the industrial commission for an exemption to this section. The industrial commission shall conduct a hearing regarding the exemption request and may grant the exemption if the employer provides sufficient evidence that business necessity precludes providing the benefits under this section. An exemption under this section shall apply to male and female employees.
E. The industrial commission shall adopt rules to implement subsection d.
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Arkansas
Arkansas state wage and hour laws do not require an employer to provide a break or a meal period. (State law does require rest breaks for children under the age of 16 employed in the entertainment industry.)
Rest periods for short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are common in industry and promote efficiency. State and federal minimum wage and overtime laws require that these short periods be counted as hours worked and that covered employees be paid for the time.
Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time. The employee, however, must be completely relieved of duty during this time. If the employee is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating, the meal period must be compensated as work time.
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California
Meal Breaks
Most California workers must receive the following breaks:
- An uninterrupted 30-minute unpaid meal break when working more than five hours in a day.
- An additional 30-minute unpaid meal break when working more than 12 hours in a day.
For a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee.
A second meal period of not less than thirty minutes is required if an employee works more than ten hours per day, except that if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and employee only if the first meal period was not waived.
Rest Breaks
Paid rest break with “minimum rate of a net ten consecutive minutes for each four hour work period.” A rest period is not required for employees whose total daily work time is less than three and one-half hours.
Penalties
If an employer fails to provide an employee a meal period in accordance with an applicable IWC Order, the employer must pay one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of pay for each workday that the meal period is not provided. This additional hour is not counted as hours worked for purposes of overtime calculations.
If an employer fails to provide an employee a rest period in accordance with an applicable IWC Order, the employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is not provided. Thus, if an employer does not provide all of the rest periods required in a workday, the employee is entitled to one additional hour of pay for that workday, not one additional hour of pay for each rest period that was not provided during that workday.
Colorado
For shifts of over 5 consecutive hours, all employees are entitled to uninterrupted, duty-free meal periods of at least 30 minutes (unless the COMPS Order makes them exempt).
Timing: Meal periods must be at least 1 hour after starting and 1 hour before ending a shift, to the extent practical.
Employers must authorize and permit paid 10-minute rest periods for each 4 hours of work, or major fraction of that time (i.e., more than 2 hours).
An additional rest period is required for any period that rounds up to four hours. For example, a shift of 2 hours or fewer requires no rest periods, a 2-hour and 1-minute shift requires one, and a 6-hour shift also requires one, but a 6-hour and 1-minute shift requires two breaks.
Work Hours Rest Periods Required
- 2 or fewer work hours requires 0 breaks
- Over 2 and up to 6 work hours requires 1 break
- Over 6, and up to 10 work hours requires 2 break
- Over 10, and up to 14 work hours requires 3 breaks
- Over 14, and up to 18 work hours requires 4 breaks
- Over 18, and up to 22 work hours requires 5 breaks
- Over 22 work hours requires 6 breaks
Rest periods must not include work, but employers don’t have to let employees leave the work site. Rest periods should be in the middle of each 4-hour work period, to the extent practical. Employers must authorize and permit their employees to take all required rest periods. This does not mean that employees must actually have a rest period, if they choose to keep working. However, the choice to skip a rest period must be entirely voluntary and made without employer coercion.
Penalties
Rest periods are considered time worked, including for purposes of calculating minimum wage and overtime.
Pay is owed for rest periods not provided: A rest period requires 10 minutes of pay without work, so work performed during a rest period is additional work requiring additional pay. That means a failure to authorize and permit a duty-free, 10-minute paid rest period is a failure to pay 10 minutes of wages at the employee’s agreed-upon or legally required rate of pay (whichever is higher).
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Connecticut
State law requires employers to offer at least one 30-minute meal break to employees who work 7 ½ consecutive hours or more. The break must occur sometime after two hours and before 5 ½ hours.
The law exempts situations when: (1) compliance could harm public safety; (2) the employer has fewer than five employees on a shift; (3) the position may only be performed by one employee; and (4) the work is continuous such as chemical production or research experiments and employees must be able to respond to urgent conditions at all times and they are compensated for break and meal periods.
The Labor Commissioner can impose a $150 penalty on employers who violate this law. The law does not apply to State Board of Education certified professionals who work in schools. Employers and employees can agree to establish meal periods that do not conform to the law.
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Delaware
All employees must receive a meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes if the employee is scheduled to work 7.5 or more hours per day. Meal breaks must be given sometime after the first two (2) hours of work and before the last (2) hours of work.
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D.C.
Q. Are breaks and lunches required by law?
A. No. The FLSA does not require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. However, all employers covered by the FLSA must comply with the Act's break time for nursing mother’s provision.
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Florida
In Florida, employers are not required by state law or federal law to provide their employees with any rest breaks through the workday or during the 8-hour shift.
Additionally, meal breaks, for adult employees, are also not mandated according to the law.
Georgia
Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor Georgia law require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. However, many employers do provide breaks and meal periods. Breaks of short duration (from 5 to 20 minutes) are common. The FLSA requires workers be paid for short break periods; however an employer does not have to compensate for meal periods of thirty minutes or more, as long as the workers are free to use the meal period time as they wish and are not required to perform work during that time.
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Hawaii
In Hawaii, the only requirement for breaks is found in the Hawaii Child Labor Law under Section 390-2(c)(3), Hawaii Revised Statutes, which requires that employers provide to minors fourteen or fifteen years of age a thirty minute rest or meal period after five consecutive hours of work.
There is no law that requires rest or meal breaks for other employees. However, if an employer does provide a break for the purpose of a meal, the period is not compensable if the period is thirty minutes or more and the employee is completely relieved of duty. Therefore, it is possible to be scheduled at the place of business for 8 1/2 hours with 8 hours of work and one unpaid 30-minute meal period.
Rest breaks of five to twenty minutes are counted as hours worked and are compensable.
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Idaho
Idaho law does not require employers to give breaks or meal periods. Employees would only be entitled to breaks if it is the employer’s policy to provide them.
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Illinois
Employees must be permitted to take a meal break for every 7.5 hours worked no later than 5 hours after the start of the shift. An additional 20-minute meal break must be permitted if working a 12-hour shift or longer. If an employee works through a meal break, they must be paid.
Penalties: Employers with fewer than 25 employees are subject to damages payable to the employee of up to $250 per offense, and a penalty payable to the Department of up to $250 per employee per offense. Employers with 25 employees or more are subject to damages payable to the employee of up to $500 per offense, and a penalty payable to the Department of up to $500 per worker per offense.
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Indiana
The State of Indiana has no breaks or lunch laws currently.
If the worker is under age of 18 there is a law that protects child laborers: Indiana employer must provide a 30 min. lunch to teens, under the age of 18 who are scheduled to work six or more consecutive hours. The law a break between their third and fifth hour of work. Law exempts camps, health educ., or sectarian related activities, nonprofit entity, farm laborers, domestic srvs, golf caddies, newspaper carriers, or high school graduates, or teens withdrawn from school. If you have further questions regarding Child Labor law you may call 317-232-2676.
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Iowa
Iowa Law Doesn't Require Meal or Rest Breaks
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Kansas
Kansas law does not require meal breaks or rest breaks
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Kentucky
Employers shall grant their employees a reasonable period for lunch, and such time shall be as close to the middle of the employee's scheduled work shift as possible. In no case shall an employee be required to take a lunch period sooner than three (3) hours after the work shift commences, nor more than five (5) hours from the time the work shift commences. This section shall not be construed to negate any provision of a collective bargaining agreement or mutual agreement between the employee and employer.
MInors: Minors under the age of eighteen (18) are required to take a thirty (30) minute documented lunch break for each five (5) hours of continuous work. No period of less than thirty (30) minutes will be considered sufficient.
Rest Breaks: No employer shall require any employee to work without a rest period of at least ten (10) minutes during each four (4) hours worked. This shall be in addition to the regularly scheduled lunch period. No reduction in compensation shall be made for hourly or salaried employees.
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Louisiana
Adults: no rule
MInors: No minor shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work for any five-hour period without one interval of at least thirty minutes within such period for meals. If the period of work before the interval exceeds five hours by ten minutes or less, that difference shall be considered de minimis and shall not be considered a violation of this Section. Such interval shall not be included as part of the working hours of the day. This interval shall be thirty minutes. If the length of the meal break is at least twenty minutes, the difference between the actual break time and the required thirty-minute break time shall be considered de minimis, and shall not be considered a violation of this Section.
The break shall be documented, using the employer's normal timekeeping system. If a minor fails to clock in or out for a work period or meal break, and a time edit is necessary, the time edit shall be documented and acknowledged in writing by the minor and the manager who performs the time edit.
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Maine
In a business with three (3) or more employees working at one time, employees have the right to take a 30-minute break after six (6) hours of work unless there is a written agreement otherwise.
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Maryland
Unless an employee works in a retail establishment and meets the requirements of the Healthy Retail Employee Act, there is no law requiring an employer to provide breaks, including lunch breaks, unless the employee is under the age of 18.
Minors under 18 must receive a 30-minute break for every 5 hours of work. In addition, State law does not guarantee days off for holidays or any special holiday pay for private sector employees, except an unpaid religious day of rest each week for retail employees who give prior written notice to their employers.
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Massachusetts
Workers have a right to at least a 30-minute meal break if they work more than six hours during a calendar day. During their meal break, workers must be free of all duties and free to leave the workplace. This break may be unpaid. Employers may require workers to take their meal breaks.
Section 100. “No person shall be required to work for more than six hours during a calendar day without an interval of at least thirty minutes for a meal.”
“Any employer, superintendent, overseer or agent who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than three hundred nor more than six hundred dollars.”
Michigan
There are no requirements for breaks, meal or rest periods for employees 18 years of age or older. Employees under the age of 18 may not work more than five hours without a documented 30-minute uninterrupted break. Daily time records should reflect the starting and ending of shifts as well as the 30-minute uninterrupted break.
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Minnesota
State law requires employers to provide employees with restroom time and sufficient time to eat a meal. If the break is less than 20 minutes in duration, it must be counted as hours worked.
Time to use the nearest restroom must be provided within each four consecutive hours of work. Meal time must be provided to employees who work eight or more consecutive hours.
The employer can set the hours an employee works, including when a meal or rest break can be taken. For the time to be unpaid, the employee has to be completely relieved of duties for at least 20 minutes.
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Mississippi
In Mississippi, employers don't have to give employees meal breaks or rest breaks.
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Missouri
Missouri law does not require employers to provide employees, including youth workers, a break of any kind, including a lunch hour. These provisions are either left up to the discretion of the employer, can be agreed upon by the employer and employee, or may be addressed by company policy or contract.
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Montana
There is not a federal or Montana state law that requires an employer furnish a meal break; however, if provided the following criteria would need to be met for it to be a bona fide period in which the time is not work time: completely relieved of duty, and at least 30 minutes in duration.
There is not a federal or Montana state law that requires an employer furnish a rest break (coffee break); however, if provided the time spent on the break is work time.
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Nebraska
Breaks are allowed at the discretion of the employer, no matter the length of the shift.
- There is no state or federal law requiring employers to provide coffee breaks, smoke breaks, or rest periods.
- Nebraska’s lunch period law requires a 30 minute unpaid break for every 8 hour shift for employees working in the following industries: workshops, manufacturing plants, and assembly lines.
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Nevada
Employees are entitled to an unpaid, 30 minute meal period for each 8 hour period of work (NRS 608.019).
An employee must be given a paid, 10 minute break for each 4 hour period of work.
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New Hampshire
An employer cannot require that an employee work more than five consecutive hours without granting a thirty minute lunch or eating period. If the employer cannot allow thirty minutes the employee must be paid if they are eating and working at the same time (RSA 275:30-A).
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New Jersey
The mandatory break law only applies to minors under the age of 18. Minors must be given a thirty (30) minute meal period after five (5) consecutive hours of work. Company policy dictates break and lunch periods for anyone over the age of 18.
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New Mexico
There is no statute that requires an employer to provide such breaks; however, deductions cannot be made from wages if less than 30 minutes is allowed for the breaks.
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New York
Labor Law Section 162 sets forth the required meal periods for employees in New York State.
Factory Workers are entitled to a 60-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and a 60-minute meal break at the time midway between the beginning and end of the shift for all shifts of more than six hours starting between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and lasting more than six hours.
Non-Factory Workers are entitled to a 30-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for shifts six hours or longer that extend over that period and a 45-minute meal break at the time midway between the beginning and end of the shift for all shifts of more than six hours starting between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
All Workers are entitled to an additional 20-minute meal break between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. for workdays that extend from before 11:00 a.m. to after 7:00 p.m.
While the Labor Law does not require that employers provide rest periods of short duration, if they are provided to or taken by employees, they must be counted as working time. The Department follows Federal Regulation 29 CFR §785.18 which provides that rest periods of short duration, running from 5 minutes to about 20 minutes, are common in industry. They promote the efficiency of the employee and are customarily paid for as working time. They must be counted as hours worked. Compensable time of rest periods may not be offset against other working time such as compensable waiting time or on-call time. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that:
- The authorized break may only last for a specific length of time
- Any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules
- Any extension of the break will be punished
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North Carolina
The North Carolina Wage and Hour Act does not require mandatory rest breaks or meal breaks for employees 16 years of age or older. The WHA requires breaks only for youths under 16 years of age. Youths under 16 years of age have to be given at least a 30-minute break after 5 hours, and no break of less than 30 minutes shall be deemed to interrupt a continuous period of work. Again, there are no required rest breaks or meal breaks at all for employees 16 years of age or older. The North Carolina law on breaks for youths under 16 years of age generally applies only to enterprises that have gross sales or receipts of less than $500,000 a year and to private non-profit organizations. It is our understanding that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require that an employer give its employees mandatory rest breaks or meal breaks regardless of an employee's age.
Generally, if an employer does give breaks, then the break must be at least 30 minutes for the employer to be able to deduct the time from an employee's pay. An employer does not have to let its employees leave the employer's premises as long as the employee is completely relieved of duty during the 30-minute break, and the employer does not have to provide a breakroom. An example of an employee "completely relieved of duty" is one who is completely relieved from having to wait for customers to come in or to call. Waiting for customers to come in or to call is clearly work time even if the employee is free to eat or read a magazine while they are waiting for customers or calls. Generally, breaks of less than 30 minutes, such as a 15-minute rest break, have to be paid by the employer.
Also, there is no North Carolina law requiring an employer to give its employees a smoke-break or to provide a place for its employees to smoke. There is a North Carolina law making it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee for the employee's lawful use of lawful products, such as tobacco, during non-working hours (N.C.G.S. §95-28.2). However, it is entirely up to an employer to set its own rules for its employees during working hours concerning breaks and if its employees are allowed to smoke in its premises or not during the workday. For more information about workplace rights, please contact our toll free number at 1-800-NC-LABOR (800-625-2267).
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North Dakota
A minimum 30-minute meal period must be provided in shifts exceeding five hours when there are two or more employees on duty.
Employees may waive their right to a meal period upon agreement with the employer. Employees do not have to be paid for meal periods if they are completely relieved of their duties and the meal period is at least thirty minutes in length. Employees are not completely relieved if they are required to perform any duties during the meal period.
Other breaks (such as 15 minute “coffee” breaks) are not required by law, but must be paid breaks if they are offered by the employer.
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Ohio
- (1) Normal daily work hours for one hundred per cent full-time equivalency hourly employees span eight and one-half hours and allow for eight hours of paid time and a half-hour unpaid mealtime. Two fifteen-minute paid rest periods are permitted during each full eight-hour shift. Mealtime and rest period times are arranged by the supervisor.
- (2) Rest periods are provided to break the work routine, increase efficiency, and reduce fatigue. In some instances, by agreement, supervisors permit employees to combine their rest periods with their lunch periods. This practice is acceptable as long as it does not interfere with efficiency or result in fatigue for individuals whose work is excessively strenuous, dirty, dusty, hot, or cold. When these conditions exist, a rest period is essential.
- (3) The half-hour meal period is not included in computing hours worked.
- (4) Unused rest periods are not cumulative. A one-hour meal period plus rest periods is not permissible.
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Oklahoma
Employees take at least a 30-minute non-paid meal break during each six-hour period on duty which is not counted as time worked. Employees are relieved of all duties during their meal breaks and are encouraged to leave their desk or work areas during their meal breaks to take advantage of the relief from duties. Employees record any work-related interruptions of meal breaks and advise their supervisor as they occur. This is necessary to accurately track actual time worked. Occasional exceptions to the requirement for employees to take a meal break may be made by the supervisor or local administrator for good cause shown, but an exception should not be part of a regular schedule.
Employees are generally provided a 15-minute paid break during each four-hour period on duty which is counted as time worked. Since breaks are counted as work time, employees are not permitted to save or use break time and count it towards late arrivals, early departures, extended meal periods, flex time, work week adjust, or any other work time offset. Specific break times and lengths are adjusted as necessary due to staffing or business necessities.
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Oregon
For each 8-hour work period you get these breaks free from work responsibilities:
- Two 10 minute paid rest breaks
- One 30 minute unpaid meal break
Your employer can give you longer breaks. These are the minimum requirements. If your work period is longer or shorter than 8 hours, please refer to the chart below for more information about the breaks you get.
- <2 hours: 0 rest breaks, 0 Meal Breaks
- >2 hours, <6 hours: 1 rest breaks, 0 Meal Breaks
- 6 hours: 1 rest breaks, 1 Meal Breaks
- >6 hours, <10 hours: 2 rest breaks, 1 Meal Breaks
- >10 hours, <14 hours: 3 rest breaks, 1 Meal Breaks
- 14 hours: 3 rest breaks, 2 Meal Breaks
- >14 hours, <18 hours: 4 rest breaks, 2 Meal Breaks
- >18 hours, <22 hours: 5 rest breaks, 2 Meal Breaks
- 22 hours: 5 rest breaks, 3 Meal Breaks
- >22 hours, <24 hours: 6 rest breaks, 3 Meal Breaks
Meal periods of at least 30 minutes must be provided to non-exempt employees who work 6 or more hours in one work period. No meal period is required if the work period is less than 6 hours. Additional meal periods are required to be provided to employees who work 14 hours or more in a shift.
Employees are required to be relieved of all duties during the meal period. Under exceptional circumstances, however, the law allows an employee to perform duties during a meal period. When that happens, the employer must pay the employee for the whole meal period.
Employers must provide employees who perform work under high heat index conditions with heat illness prevention rest breaks. (OSHA’s rule provides three options for scheduling these, regardless of the length of the shift.)
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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania employers are required to provide break periods of at least 30 minutes for minors ages 14 through 17 who work five or more consecutive hours. Employers are not required to give breaks for employees 18 and over. If your employer allows breaks, and they last less than 20 minutes, you must be paid for the break. If your employer allows meal periods, the employer is not required to pay you for your meal period if you do not work during your meal period and it lasts more than 20 minutes. A collective bargaining agreement may also govern this issue.
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Rhode Island
A twenty-minute meal period must be given during a six-hour shift, and a thirty-minute meal period must be given during an eight-hour shift. This does not include healthcare facilities or companies employing less than three employees at one site during a shift.
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South Carolina
There is no requirement under South Carolina law for an employer to provide employees with breaks or a lunch period.
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North Dakota
The North Carolina Wage and Hour Act does not require mandatory rest breaks or meal breaks for employees 16 years of age or older. The WHA requires breaks only for youths under 16 years of age. Youths under 16 years of age have to be given at least a 30-minute break after 5 hours, and no break of less than 30 minutes shall be deemed to interrupt a continuous period of work. Again, there are no required rest breaks or meal breaks at all for employees 16 years of age or older.
The North Carolina law on breaks for youths under 16 years of age generally applies only to enterprises that have gross sales or receipts of less than $500,000 a year and to private non-profit organizations. It is our understanding that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require that an employer give its employees mandatory rest breaks or meal breaks regardless of an employee's age.
Generally, if an employer does give breaks, then the break must be at least 30 minutes for the employer to be able to deduct the time from an employee's pay. An employer does not have to let its employees leave the employer's premises as long as the employee is completely relieved of duty during the 30-minute break, and the employer does not have to provide a breakroom. An example of an employee "completely relieved of duty" is one who is completely relieved from having to wait for customers to come in or to call. Waiting for customers to come in or to call is clearly work time even if the employee is free to eat or read a magazine while they are waiting for customers or calls.
Generally, breaks of less than 30 minutes, such as a 15-minute rest break, have to be paid by the employer. There is no North Carolina law requiring an employer to give its employees a smoke-break or to provide a place for its employees to smoke. There is a North Carolina law making it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee for the employee's lawful use of lawful products, such as tobacco, during non-working hours (N.C.G.S. §95-28.2). However, it is entirely up to an employer to set its own rules for its employees during working hours concerning breaks and if its employees are allowed to smoke in its premises or not during the workday.
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Tennessee
State law requires that employees must be provided a thirty (30) minute unpaid meal or rest period if scheduled six (6) consecutive hours, except in workplace environments that by their nature of business provides for ample opportunity to rest or take an appropriate break. An example would be a person employed in the food/beverage industry or security guards.
The failure to provide a thirty (30) minute meal or rest period is a violation of state law. There are no state requirements for additional breaks. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-2-103 (h)
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Texas
Neither the FLSA nor Texas law requires employers to give breaks during the workday, but if breaks are given, certain rules apply under federal law, and employers can impose their own conditions on the use of break time. Some cities in Texas may have their own ordinances on breaks, such as Austin, which in 2010 began to require at least one ten-minute break per four-hour shift for construction workers in that city.
Meal breaks, on the other hand, are not compensable, as long as they are at least 30 minutes in length and the employee is "completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating a regular meal" (see 29 C.F.R. 785.19). Shorter meal breaks may be considered valid under special circumstances. Such breaks are a matter of company policy. Since they are optional, an employer can allow meal breaks, or not. If meal breaks are allowed, the employer can impose conditions on them, such as when they occur, how long they are, where they may or may not be taken, and whether any particular consumables are disallowed (such as alcoholic beverages). The most frequent pitfall for employers is thinking that employees have true meal breaks if they are allowed to eat at their desks while answering phones, opening mail, sorting files, and so on. Such duties performed while trying to eat will render the time spent during the meal break compensable. While employers should not insist that an employee actually eat something during a meal break, they may prohibit any kind of work during such time and may require employees to leave their desks or work stations during the allotted meal break times. Employers may control unauthorized work during meal breaks, or excessive or unauthorized breaks, by the disciplinary process. Rest or coffee breaks, defined as 20 minutes or less, are compensable hours worked under 29 C.F.R. 785.18, since they are regarded as being for the benefit of both the employer and the employee. Smoking breaks are not required under Texas or federal law, but if a company allows such breaks, they count as rest breaks. Companies can adopt whatever policies they want to regarding smoking breaks. No matter how many rest/coffee/smoking breaks an employees takes, they are compensable, even if the employee took more breaks than allowed.
Only one type of break is actually required under the law. Under the 2010 health care reform law, the FLSA now requires employers to allow reasonable break times for a nursing mother for the purpose of expressing breast milk for her baby during the first year following the birth of the child. Presumably, the same law would allow the mother to nurse her child if employees' children are allowed in the workplace. The law applies only to non-exempt employees, i.e., those who are entitled to overtime pay if they work overtime, and it exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees if to provide such breaks would be an undue hardship for the business. Such breaks do not have to be paid. DOL will need to adopt regulations defining what is meant by "reasonable" in terms of break time. For more information, see "Nursing Mothers" in this book.
Violations of any kind of break policy should be handled just like any other rule violation in terms of corrective action.
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Utah
An employer is required to pay wages to an employee for all hours that an employee is working. This includes when an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises ready to work, to be on duty, to be at a prescribed work place, to attend a meeting or training, and for time used during established rest or break periods excluding meal periods of 30 minutes or more where the employee is relieved of all responsibilities.
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Vermont
Under Vermont law, an employer must provide its employees with “reasonable opportunity” to eat and use toilet facilities in order to protect the health and hygiene of the employee. Federal law mandates that if an employer provides a lunch period, it is counted as “hours worked” and must be paid UNLESS the lunch period lasts at least thirty minutes and the employee is completely uninterrupted and free from work.
Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Effective July 1, 2008 Vermont’s Nursing mother’s legislation passed into law. This law provides the following protection for nursing mothers in the workplace: 1. For an employee who is a nursing mother, the employer shall for three years after the birth of a child; a) Provide reasonable time, compensated or uncompensated, throughout the day for the employee to express breast milk for her nursing child. The decision to provide compensation shall be in the sole discretion of the employer, unless modified by a collective bargaining agreement; and b) Make reasonable accommodation to provide appropriate private space that is not a bathroom stall. 2. An employer may be exempted from the provisions of the subsection (a) of this section if providing time or an appropriate private space for expressing breast milk would substantially disrupt the employer’s operations. 3. An employer shall not retaliate or discriminate against an employee who exercises the right provided under this section.
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Virginia
Supervisors or managers are responsible for scheduling lunch periods and/or breaks as described below:
Mandatory Lunch Period—Employees who work at least six consecutive hours shall be afforded a lunch period (meal break) of at least 30 minutes except in situations where shift coverage precludes such lunch breaks.
Employees who work a second consecutive shift shall be afforded a meal break after working four hours during the second shift. The lunch period shall not be included in the count of hours worked per day, except when the agency head or designee has designated the lunch break as part of the work schedule. When employees are required to work during their lunch, that period shall be counted as time worked.
Example: When necessary to provide staffing for client (patient or inmate) services and care, the lunch period shall be considered time worked. Agency managers may grant employees who work an eight-hour day or longer a maximum of one 15-minute rest break before and one 15-minute rest break after the required lunch period.
Rest breaks are included in the required hours of work per day.
Impermissible Use of Breaks The lunch period and the break(s) must be taken separately and breaks may not be used to extend the lunch period. Except with prior approval lunch breaks should not be adjusted to compensate for employees’ late arrival or early departure, or to cover time off for other purposes.
Note: Managers reserve the right to determine when or if lunch periods may be used
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Washington
Meal Periods
Employees must be allowed a meal period when they work more than five hours in a shift. A meal period must be at least 30 minutes long and start between the second and fifth hour of the shift. Depending on the length of the shift and the timing of the meal period provided, employees may also be entitled to additional meal periods. See WAC 296-126-092(2) and (3).
Paid meal periods Employees must be paid for meal breaks if:
- They are required to remain on duty.
- The employer requires them to remain on-call on the premises or work site in the interest of the employer, even if they are not called back to duty.
- They are called back to work, interrupting the meal period.
Employees who are required to work or remain on duty during a meal break are still entitled to 30 total minutes of mealtime, excluding interruptions. The entire meal period must be paid regardless of the number of interruptions. Work performed during meal breaks is considered “hours worked” when calculating paid sick leave and overtime.
Unpaid meal periods Employers are not required to pay for a meal break if an employee is free from all duties for their entire break. Employees can only be required to remain on the premises or work site during their meal period if they are completely free from work duties.
Unpaid meal breaks are not considered “hours worked.” Additional meal periods for employees working extra hours/shifts.
Employees working more than 3 hours beyond their scheduled shift are entitled to additional meal periods. Additional 30-minute meal periods must be given within five hours from the end of the first meal period and for each additional five hours worked.
Waivers and variances Employees can waive their meal break requirement if both they and their employer agree. Employees cannot waive rest break requirements. Employers may file a Variance Application (F700-089-000) to modify rest and meal break requirements.
Rest Breaks Employees must be allowed a paid rest period, free from duties, of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked. Additionally:
- Employees cannot be required to work more than 3 hours without a rest break.
- Breaks must be scheduled as close to the midpoint of a work period as possible.
- Employers can require workers to stay on the job site during a rest break.
- Rest breaks taken are considered “hours worked” when calculating paid sick leave and overtime.
In some jobs, “mini” rest breaks can be taken instead of a scheduled rest break. These “mini” rest breaks must total at least 10 minutes over a 4-hour period.
Nursing mothers may have additional rights under federal law. Health care workers may also have specific meal and rest period requirements.
Restroom breaks Employees must be provided “reasonable access” to bathrooms and toilet facilities. Employers cannot restrict use of bathroom or toilet facilities to rigid time schedules (e.g., only during scheduled breaks), or impose unreasonable time use restrictions. (DOSH Directive 5.98)
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West Virginia
EMPLOYEE MEAL BREAK REQUIREMENTS During the course of a workday of six or more hours all employers shall make available to employees at least twenty minutes for meal breaks at times reasonably designated by the employer. This provision shall be required in all situations where employees are not afforded necessary breaks and/or permitted to eat while working.
Who does it apply to? Employees working within the state of West Virginia that work six or more hours per day or shift.
What is the requirement? Employers are required to provide their employees that work six or more hours with the minimum of a twenty minute meal/break period unless the employee is already being provided a lunch or break period, or is allowed to eat while working. The break requirement remains at twenty minutes regardless of the total number of hours the employee works in excess of the required six.
When? The break may be given at any time throughout the employee’s work day at a time deemed reasonable by the employer.
How? The twenty minute requirement doesn’t have to be provided all together in one break period. It may be provided in smaller increments at the discretion of the employer.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE The requirement for a twenty minute meal break does not apply under the following circumstances. 1. The employee is already being afforded a lunch and/or break period. 2. The employee is allowed necessary restroom breaks, and is allowed to eat while working.
DOES THE REQUIRED BREAK PERIOD HAVE TO BE PAID? When considering whether a meal break or lunch period is to be paid or unpaid, the employer must consider the amount of time the employee is relieved from duty and the purpose for the break. Bona fide meal periods that typically last for a period of thirty minutes or longer may be paid or unpaid, based on the discretion of the employer. However, any meal break or rest period that lasts for twenty minutes or less must be paid.
- Whenever an employer authorizes one or more employee break times, or meal times, of twenty (20) consecutive minutes or less during a work day, the employer shall treat the break time or meal time as compensable time. §42CSR 8-11.3(a)
- Whenever an employer authorizes one or more employee break times or meal times that typically last for thirty consecutive minutes or longer during a work day, the employer may treat the break or meal period as non-work time. §42CSR 8-11.3(b)
- “Break time” or “break period”, when authorized by an employer, means a rest period of short duration lasting up to twenty minutes that must be counted as hours worked. §42CSR 5-3.3.
- Federal guidelines consider rest periods of short duration, usually twenty minutes or less, to be counted as hours worked. Bona fide meal periods, which typically last thirty minutes or more, generally need not be considered as work time.
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Wisconsin
Breaks and Meal Periods
Is my employer required to give me breaks?
Under 18 Yes. If you are under 18 years old, your employer must provide you with a 30-minute duty-free meal period for every six consecutive hours of work. Other breaks, including breaks of shorter duration are not required but may be offered by your employer.
Over 18 No. If you are 18 years old or older, your employer is not required to give you breaks or meal periods. We encourage employers to provide lunch breaks of at least 30 minutes at a time reasonably close to the usual meal period, however, the decision to offer breaks or meal periods is determined directly between you and your employer.
Is my break paid time? For breaks less than 30 minutes long, yes. If your authorized break is less than 30 consecutive minutes long, it is counted as work time and must be paid by your employer.
Breaks 30 minutes or longer Yes and No. If your break is more than 30 consecutive minutes long but you are "on duty" during your break, meaning you are not relieved on your work duties or free to leave the premises, your break is counted as work time and must be paid by your employer. However, if you are relieved of your work duties and free to leave the premises, breaks of more than 30 consecutive minutes are not counted as work time and therefore are not paid by your employer. Please note that your employer may not deduct from your wages for authorized breaks of less than 30 consecutive minutes.
Can my employer make me take a break? Yes. Employers can schedule employees as they see fit.
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Wyoming
Is an employer required to provide meal and rest breaks? Not under state statute.
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This article is not to be taken as tax, legal, benefits, financial, or HR advice. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, consult a lawyer or HR expert for specific guidance.
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