Legal Requirements for Lunch and Break Times

With working lunches and lunch meetings becoming common, it may feel like you never get a proper break from work. This is all the truer as people continue to work from home after the pandemic. Since work consumes much of our adult lives, it’s good to stay informed on your employment rights and how these laws affect you.

This page gives a broad overview of the legal requirements for meal and break times. Because employment laws vary by state, we suggest consulting an employment law attorney in a city near you to give you the best advice about your unique circumstances.

Overview of Break Requirements

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that ensures employers treat their workers fairly. The FLSA covers most types of employees, but not all employees receive the same protections. For example, white-collar executives, sales professionals, and artists do not receive protection.

The FLSA, however, does not require employers to provide breaks to employees. Instead, states make and enforce break laws. Generally, break laws only apply to non-exempt (hourly) employees.

While employers can require their employees to take a rest or meal break, they cannot dictate what an employee does on their break. For instance, your boss cannot make you eat your meal during a long break or go to the bathroom only during a designated break.

Rest Periods

Although not required by all states, most employers give employees short rest breaks ranging from five to 20 minutes. This helps prevent employee burnout and keeps the workplace from turning toxic.

By law, employers must pay their employees for these breaks. That means these short breaks count toward regular and overtime wages. On the other hand, unauthorized break time does not count as work time. So, if you take an unauthorized break or take longer than allowed, you can have your wages reduced for the extra time you took. However, employers must first explain that unauthorized breaks will result in this type of punishment.

Rest break laws differ by state. Under California law, employees get one paid rest break for every four hours worked. In Oklahoma, rest break requirements apply only to minors under 16.

Bathroom Breaks

Although federal law does not require employers to provide rest or meal breaks, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to provide bathroom breaks. Additionally, the bathroom must be in working condition and easily accessible.

Generally, employers cannot discriminate if you want to use the bathroom, especially if you have a protected medical condition. However, you may face repercussions for abusing bathroom breaks.

Meal Breaks

Like rest breaks, meal break laws differ by state. Some states, such as New Mexico, do not require employers to provide breaks, while others require at least one meal break, often called a lunch break, during a full workday.

Despite state requirements or lack thereof, it has become standard practice to provide employees with a meal break when they work a certain number of hours.

For example, workers in New York get a 30-minute or one-hour meal break, depending on their industry.

California employers must provide a 30-minute lunch break when an employee works five hours or more and a second meal break after 10 hours of work. Employers and employees can agree to waive the California meal period when the workday is less than six hours. Puerto Rico has a similar second meal period requirement to California’s.

The Nevada labor code requires a 30-minute meal break for an eight-hour shift. Minnesota only requires sufficient mealtime for employees who work eight hours or more to have a meal, but employers must pay employees for breaks shorter than 20 minutes.

Some states limit when employees can take a lunch break during a work period. Delaware, for instance, requires employees to take a 30-minute break sometime after the first two hours and before the final two hours of a seven-and-a-half-hour shift. Lunch breaks generally do not count as work time, so they are unpaid.

Some states only require meal breaks in specific industries. For example, Rhode Island only requires a 20-minute unpaid meal period for employees in a workshop, mechanical, manufacturing, or mercantile establishment working a six-hour or longer shift.

Maryland’s break requirements only apply to minors under 18 and certain retail employees.

Do You Have to Work During Meal Breaks?

If you request an uninterrupted break, your boss must provide it. Again, since this is unpaid time, your employer should refrain from interrupting your meal breaks with phone calls or work assignments. If they do, you may be able to recover payment for the time spent working. However, there is an exception to this rule. If you are the only employee on duty, you may not have to be completely relieved of your duties during a long break. However, this requires your consent.

Are Hourly Employees Required to Take a Meal Break?

Whether an employee can skip a lunch break depends on state law. Generally, in states that require lunch breaks, employees must take them. Otherwise, it is at an employer’s discretion whether an employee may skip meal breaks.

Notable Exceptions to Rest Periods and Meal Breaks

There are a few notable exceptions to these rules for specific professions. For example, airline pilots have special rules governing their breaks. California labor law applies exceptions to movie industry employees. Other exceptions apply to protected classes of workers.

Collective Bargaining Agreements

Collective bargaining agreements can require rest and meal breaks in states that do not mandate them. For example, a unionized security guard may receive a 30-minute unpaid meal break, and two 10-minute rest breaks during an eight-hour shift.

Child Labor Laws

Children must typically have a rest break or, in some cases, may receive more or longer break periods than other workers. Generally, break requirements for children are determined by the federal minimums and by other state labor laws. Most states consider workers under 16 years old eligible for these special rules.

Mothers and Breastfeeding

The FLSA requires employers to provide nursing mothers with break time to breastfeed or pump for up to one year after giving birth. State law or the employer’s policy can expand those requirements.

Americans With Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations, including breaks. There is no objective standard for a “reasonable accommodation” because every disabled employee’s situation may differ. So, what is a reasonable accommodation is often left up to the employer and employee to decide.

The Benefit of a Lawyer

If you feel like your employment rights have been violated, you should speak to an experienced local employment law attorney as soon as possible. This complex area of law is made more complicated by the many variations in state laws. Local employment lawyers will have the knowledge and skill to provide you with the answers you seek.