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Meal & Rest Breaks in Alaska (AK)

Alaska generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks, except as follows:

Special Requirements for Minors

• Minors under age 18 who are scheduled to work 6 or more consecutive hours must be given a 30-minute unpaid rest period.
  • The rest period must be after the minor's first hour and a half of work, and before the start of the minor's last hour of work.
• Employers are also required to give minors under age 18 who work for 5 consecutive hours a 30-minute rest period before resuming work.
• These requirements may be altered by a collective bargaining agreement or by agreement between the minor and employer.

Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development

Meal & Rest Break in Arkansas (AR)

Arkansas generally does not require private employers to provide employees breaks or rest periods.

• Employers that provide meal periods are generally not required to pay for them so long as the employee is completely relieved of duties during the meal period.
• A rest period of 20 minutes or less must be counted as time worked.

 Arkansas Department of Labor

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in California

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. California law complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements for California employers. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), part of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Compensable time

Generally, employers must pay their employees for every hour of compensable time. Compensable time usually includes every hour (or portion of an hour) an employee is required or allowed to be on duty. An employee is on-duty when the employer controls how he or she uses his or her time, including:

• Any time the employee is permitted or required to work;
• Any periods the employee must wait for an assignment; and
• Mandated recovery periods.

In certain circumstances, compensable time may include periods of time when an employee was not performing any activities but was still engaged to wait. Compensable time does not include off-duty periods, where the employee is completely relieved from all work responsibilities or assignments and is free to pursue his or her own interests.

Security Screenings

With its decision in Frlekin v. Apple, Inc. (Frlekin) the California Supreme Court clarified that, under state law, compensable time includes the time an employee spends  on the employer’s premises waiting for, and undergoing, mandatory exit searches of bags, packages, or personal technology devices (such as iPhones) that are voluntarily brought to work purely for personal convenience.

In Frlekin, the plaintiffs sued their employer, Apple Inc. (Apple), for unpaid minimum and overtime wages for the time they spent waiting for and undergoing Apple’s exit searches. Apple required its employees to clock out before submitting to thorough security screenings at the end of their work shift and leaving Apple’s premises. The screenings could be lengthy and required employees to wait for extended periods of time.  

Under California’s Wage Order 7 (the controlling law in this case), “hours worked” is defined as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, and includes all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.” (Emphasis added.)

The court in this case concluded that an employer is controlling an employee’s time when it requires the employee to submit to an exit search before exiting the employer’s premises. As a result, the court determined that the time employees spend undergoing exit searches is compensable as “hours worked” under California labor law.

Even though security screening cases are uncommon under federal law, this court decision seems to contradict the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, holding that time spent awaiting bag checks was not compensable time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers will want to understand the difference between these two cases and determine whether state or federal law applies, based on their specific circumstances.

Finally, the California Supreme Court also indicated that the Frlekin decision applies retroactively, meaning that employers that adjust their security screening and other off-the-clock practices may also need to go back a few years to determine whether they are liable for unpaid wages to their employees.

Preemployment Drug Tests

On June 13, 2022, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held in Johnson v. WinCo Foods, LLC (WinCo) that job applicants are not entitled to compensation for time spent undergoing drug testing as part of their job application process. The WinCo decision was issued on the ground that, under California law, this job applicant was not yet an employee when drug testing took place. 

Traveling Time

An employee’s commute, or regular home-to-work travel time, is generally not compensable time. Home-to-work travel is a normal incident of employment, regardless of whether the employee works at a fixed location or at different job sites. This is the case even if employees commute in a vehicle that is owned, leased or subsidized by the employer and is used for ridesharing (as defined by the California Vehicle Code).

Time Off

Employers cannot require employees to work beyond their regular schedules without first obtaining a permit or other authorization from the DLSE. These permits, which are valid for up to one year, specify the terms and conditions of additional employer-required work hours. Employers that do not make good faith efforts to comply with the permit requirements will not be allowed to renew the permit.

In addition, employers cannot discharge or in any other manner retaliate against any employee who refuses to work beyond his or her regularly scheduled hours or the scheduled authorized by the DLSE.

Making up Work Time

Under California law, employers can allow employees to make up any regularly scheduled hours that are missed because of personal obligations. Make-up work time requests and authorizations should be issued in writing. However, employers are prohibited from encouraging or soliciting an employee to request personal time off and then use make-up time within the same week to compensate for time lost.

Employers that allow make-up work time must include make-up hours when calculating an employee’s compensable time for any particular workweek if make-up time causes the employee to work more than 11 hours during a workday or 40 hours during a workweek.

Required Break Periods

California law requires employers to provide rest and break periods in certain circumstances.

Day’s Rest

Employers may not require employees to work more than six days per workweek if the employee’s work schedule is for more than 30 hours per week or six hours per day. However, this restriction does not apply to agricultural occupations. The DLSE may also exempt any employer or employees from this restriction during times of emergency or hardship, including situations where work is performed to protect life or property from loss or destruction.

When an exception applies, employees may be entitled to receive the accumulated number of rest days they were unable to use during that time. Violations of this restriction constitute a misdemeanor.

Recovery Period

Unless an exemption applies, employers cannot require employees to work during a recovery period. A recovery period is a break provided to certain employees to prevent heat illness. The prohibition on employers applies to recovery periods mandated by law or required by:

• The Industrial Welfare Commission;
• The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board; or
• The Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Employers must count mandated recovery periods as compensable time and must compensate their employees accordingly. Employers that fail to provide a required recovery period to their employees must compensate their employees with an additional hour of work, at the employee’s regular wage rate, for each workday when the recovery period is not provided. On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court ruled in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC that employers must use the regular rate of pay rather than the hourly wage rate when paying employees for noncompliant meal and rest periods.

Meal Breaks

Employers cannot allow their employees to work more than five hours without taking a 30-minute meal break. The meal break requirement can be waived by the employee’s and the employer’s mutual consent if the employee’s shift lasts fewer than six hours. A second 30-minute meal period is required if the employee’s shift is longer than 10 hours. The second meal period can also be waived by mutual consent if the employee’s shift lasts fewer than 12 hours and the first meal period was not waived.

In certain industries, state law also dictates when employers must provide this meal break. For example, employers must provide a meal break between the third and fifth hour of the shift for employees that operate a sawmill, shakemill, shinglemill, logging camp, planing mill, veneer mill, plywood plant or any other type of plant or mill which processes or manufactures any lumber, lumber products or allied wood products. Violations of this requirement constitute a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of between $100 and $400.

Employers are generally not required to compensate their employees for this 30-minute break, unless it is impractical for the employees to take an uninterrupted meal break because of the nature of the business activity or other circumstances. In these cases, employees must also be allowed to consume a meal while “on the job.” The DLSE may allow some exceptions to this rule if it determines that the exception will not jeopardize the health and welfare of the affected employees.

Meal break requirements do not apply to:

Wholesale Baking: Employee must be:

• Subject to a California wage order;
• Covered by a collective bargaining agreement that requires a 35-hour workweek of five 7-hour workdays;
• Paid at least one and one-half their regular wage rate for any overtime hours worked; and
• Allowed to take at least one 10-minute break every two hours.

Motion Picture or Broadcasting: Employee must be covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that:

• Provides for meal periods; and
• Includes a monetary remedy if the employee is not allowed meal breaks.

Construction, Commercial Driving, Security Services and Electric, Gas or Local Publicly Owned Electric Utilities: Employee must be covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that:

• Specifies employee wages, work hours and working conditions;
• Specifies employee meal periods;
• Requires final and binding arbitration for disputes related to meal periods and overtime wage rates; and
• Guarantees a regular hourly wage rate of at least 130 percent of the state minimum wage rate.

Trucking and Transportation Employees: Commercial motor vehicle drivers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations.

Nursing Mothers

California law requires employers to provide nursing mothers with reasonable time each day to express breast milk for her infant child. The break can run concurrently with any other break already provided to affected employees. Break times that do not run concurrently with a rest time required by a wage order must be unpaid.

Employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a location close to the employee’s work area, other than a toilet stall, where the employee may take this break in privacy. This may include the employee’s work area, if all the criteria are met.

The lactation room must:

• Be safe, clean and free of hazardous materials;
• Contain a surface for a breast pump and personal items;
• Contain a place to sit; and
• Have access to electricity or alternative devices (extension cords, charging stations) needed to operate breast pumps. 

Employers must:

• Provide lactating employees with access to a sink with running water and a suitable place for storing expressed milk, such as a refrigerator. Water and storage access must be in close proximity to the employee’s workspace. 
• Implement a lactation policy (with required specified information) and include it in their employee handbook or other set of policies made available to employees. The policy must be distributed to new employees upon hiring and when an employee asks about or requests parental leave.

Employers with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for an exemption from one of the requirements listed above if they can prove that providing the accommodation would cause the employer significant difficulty or expense in relation to the size, financial resources, nature or structure of the employers’ business. Click here for more information about lactation accommodations. 

Premium Pay for Missed Breaks

Under state law, an employer must compensate an employee with one additional hour of pay for each workday the employee misses a meal or rest break. This premium must be paid at the employee’s regular wage rate.

On May 23, 2022, in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services Inc. (Naranjo), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that meal and rest period premium pay is subject to the same wage statement and final pay requirements as other wages earned by employees.

The dispute in Naranjo arose when Gustavo Naranjo was terminated from his position as a guard at Spectrum Security Services Inc. (Spectrum) after he abandoned his post to take a meal break. Spectrum required employees to remain on duty during meal periods. Naranjo sued, claiming Spectrum violated state wage and hour laws by failing to:

•  Compensate employees with premium pay for missed meal and rest periods;
• Accurately report these premium payments in wage statements; and
• Pay these premiums in a timely manner upon termination. 

The Naranjo decision clarifies that employers must ensure that meal and rest period premium pay is accurately and timely included in wage statements and employee final paychecks. In practice, this also means that employers in California need to ensure that their payroll, time tracking and wage payment processes accurately identify and account for missed meal and rest periods.

More Information  

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the California Labor Commissioner's Office.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Colorado

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. The Colorado Wage Act complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements for employers in the state. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) enforces these state-law provisions, which are summarized below.

Work Hour Requirements

Employers must pay employees:

• Their regular wages for all work time up to 40 hours per workweek; and
• One and a half times their regular wages for any work in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.

Under Colorado law, a workweek is a fixed period of 168 hours or seven consecutive 24-hour workdays. A workweek may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day, without coinciding with a calendar week. The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks.

Calculating Work Hours

To determine the number of hours an employee works during a workweek, the employer must consider any time during which the employee was subject to the employer’s control. This includes any time the employee is:

• Allowed to work (regardless of whether he or she is required to work);
• Waiting for a job assignment;
• Waiting to begin work;
• Cleaning or performing other “off the clock” duties; or
• Traveling under the request, control or direction of the employer (excluding normal commuting time to and from work).

Sleeping Time

In general, an employee’s work hours include time that the employee is allowed to sleep while on the job.

If an employee’s shift is less than 24 hours long, periods during which the employee is allowed to sleep are considered compensable work time as long as the employee is on duty and must work when required.

However, employers may exclude up to 8 hours of sleeping time from overtime compensation if:

• The employee’s shift lasts at least 24 hours;
• The employer and employee have an express agreement excluding sleeping time;
• The employee can sleep for at least 5 hours during the scheduled sleeping time;
• The employer provides adequate sleeping facilities for an uninterrupted night’s sleep; and
• Any interruptions to perform duties are considered time worked.

Required Break Periods

Colorado law requires employers to provide employees with rest and break periods as described below.

Meal Breaks

Employers must allow their employees to take an uninterrupted 30-minute meal break during any shift that is at least 5 hours long. During this break, employees must be relieved of all duties and must be allowed to pursue personal activities and interests. Employers do not have to compensate employees for this 30-minute break, unless the nature of the business activity or other circumstances make it impractical for an employee to take an uninterrupted meal break. Under these circumstances, employees must be allowed to consume a meal while “on the job.”

Rest Periods

Employers must allow their employees at least one paid 10-minute break for every four hours of work time. Employees are not required to leave the employer’s premises to make use of their rest periods. These rest periods must be scheduled as closely as possible to the midpoint of the four-hour work period.

Employer and employees may agree to break down the 10 minutes of rest into smaller breaks, as long as they add up to 10 minutes during the 4-hour work period.

Colorado law considers these 10-minute rest periods “hours worked” and are, therefore, compensable. When an employee does not have a required 10-minute rest period, his or her shift is effectively extended by 10 minutes. Because a rest period requires 10 minutes of pay without work being performed, work during a rest period is additional work for which additional pay is required. Therefore, a failure by an employer to authorize and permit a 10-minute compensated rest period is a failure to pay 10 minutes of wages at the employee’s agreed-upon or legally required (whichever is higher) rate of pay.

Breaks for Nursing Mothers

Under Colorado’s Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act, employers must provide nursing mothers with reasonable, unpaid break time each day to express breast milk for their infant children. These breaks must be provided for up to two years after an employee’s child is born. Employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a location close to the employee’s work area, other than a toilet stall, where the employee may take this break in privacy.

Dangerous Employment

Employees working in dangerous employment are subject to special work-hour rules. Dangerous employment includes employment in underground mines, underground workings and smelters. Employees who do these types of jobs may work more than eight hours in a 24-hour period only if the operator of the dangerous employment:

• Sets acceptable terms and conditions for overtime work; and
• Notifies employees at least one week in advance of the proposed increases in their regular work schedule (except in case of emergency or upset conditions) and allows affected employees sufficient time to comment on the proposed overtime requirement.

More Information

Contact the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for more information. 

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Delaware (DE)

Delaware requires private employers to provide employees meal breaks as follows:

• Unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement, all employees must receive a meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes if the employee is scheduled to work 7.5 consecutive hours or more per day.
  • The break must be given sometime after the first 2 hours of work and before the last 2 hours.
  • The break may be unpaid, but employees must be completely relieved from their duties during the break and the break time must be free and uninterrupted time.

Exemptions

• Employees in the following circumstances do not have to be given a meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes, but the employer must allow the employees to eat meals at their work stations or other authorized locations and to use the restroom facilities as reasonably necessary:
  • Compliance with the law would adversely affect public safety (i.e., there is a possibility that injury, harm or damage could occur to any person or property if an employee were to be given the required 30-minute break);
  • Only one employee may perform the duties of a position;
  • The employer has fewer than 5 employees on a shift at one location (the exception would only apply to that shift); or
  • The continuous nature of an employer's operations, such as chemical production or research experiments, requires employees to respond to urgent or unusual conditions at all times.
• Employees covered by these exemptions must be paid for the time spent eating at their work stations and using restroom facilities.

More Information

Please contact the Delaware Department of Labor for more information.

Meal & Rest Breaks in the District of Columbia (DC)

The District of Columbia requires private employers to provide employees a reasonable amount of break time (which may be unpaid) on a daily basis to express breast milk for their infants, subject to the following:

• Employers may require employees to use other available break time, whether paid or unpaid, to express breast milk.
• Employers are required to make reasonable efforts to provide a sanitary room or other location in close proximity to the work area (including a childcare facility in close proximity to the employee's work location), other than a bathroom or toilet stall, where an employee can express her breast milk in privacy and security.
• Employers may be excused from providing break periods for employees to express breast milk if doing so would cause an undue hardship on the employer's operations.

District of Columbia Department of Employment Services

Florida Meal & Rest Breaks

Florida generally does not require private employers to provide employees who are not minors meal or rest breaks.

For more information, please contact the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Georgia Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates minimum wage, overtime pay and work hour requirements for most employees. The Georgia Minimum Wage Law (GMWL) supplements federal regulations and, in some instances, provides more stringent requirements that employers must follow. The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) directs individuals to address their wage and hour concerns to the United States Department of Labor (DOL). 

Specifically, Georgia has adopted FLSA regulations on work hours. The FLSA uses the 40-hour workweek (seven consecutive calendar days) as the basis to calculate overtime pay. The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks.

The FLSA allows some limited exemptions for the 40-hour workweek.

Meal and Rest Periods

Georgia generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks. As a result, employer must follow FLSA requirements. 

Lactation Breaks

State law requires employers to provide employees with a paid break period of reasonable duration to express breast milk. The break must be provided at the employee’s worksite and during work hours. Employees must be able to express breast milk in a location that provides privacy, other than a restroom.

The break period must be compensated at the employee’s regular rate of compensation. Employers cannot require salaried employees to use paid leave to offset these breaks nor reduce salaried employees’ compensation for using these breaks.

However, private employers with 49 or fewer employees are exempt from this lactation break requirement if providing these breaks would impose an undue hardship. An undue hardship is one that causes significant difficulty or expense in relation to the employer’s size, financial resources or the nature and structure of the employer’s business.

Employers are not required to provide these breaks to employees on any day that the employees are working away from the employer’s worksite.

Work Hours in the Cotton and Wool Industries

Georgia prohibits individuals working in the production of cotton and wool to work more than 10 hours per day, or 60 hours per week. This regulation does not extend to engineers, firefighters, watchmen, mechanics, teamsters, yard employees, clerical force and other help necessary to maintain a clean and functional production process. Another exception enables affected employees to work hours over the 60-hour limit to make up to 10 days of lost time caused by accidents and other unavoidable circumstances.

Accommodation of Religious Needs

Employers who operate business on Saturday or Sunday are required to make reasonable accommodations to the religious, social, and physical needs of employees who worship.    

More Information     

Please contact the Georgia Department of Labor for more information on the state's wage and hour laws. 

Meal & Rest Breaks in Hawaii (HI)

Hawaii generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks, except as follows:

Special Requirements for Minors

• Employees who are 14 or 15 years old must receive a 30-minute meal or rest break after 5 hours of continuous work.

Nursing Mothers

• Employers are generally required to provide:
  • Reasonable break time for an employee to express milk for the employee's nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time the employee has a need to express breast milk; and
  • A location, other than the restroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public that may be used by an employee to express breast milk.
• Every employer covered by the law must post a notice in a conspicuous place accessible to employees and use other appropriate means to keep employees informed of the protections and obligations under the law.
• Employers with fewer than 20 employees who can show that providing the time and place to express breast milk would impose an undue hardship by causing the employer significant difficulty or expense in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer's business are not subject to the law’s time and place requirements.

Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations  

Meal & Rest Breaks in Idaho (ID)

Idaho generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.

Idaho Department of Labor  

More information

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the Illinois Department of Labor. 

Indiana Meal & Rest Breaks

Indiana generally does not require private employers to provide employees who are not minors with meal or rest breaks. However, minors who are 17 years of age or younger generally must be given a 1-2 rest breaks that total 30 minutes if they work at least 6 continuous hours. For these minors, employers are required to maintain break logs to document all paid and unpaid breaks. For more information, please contact the Indiana Department of Labor. 

Please Note: The state laws summaries featured on this site are for general informational purposes only. In addition to state law, certain municipalities may enact legislation that imposes different requirements. State and local laws change frequently and, as such, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information featured in the State Laws section. For more detailed information regarding state or local laws, please contact your state labor department or the appropriate local government agency.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Kansas (KS)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. Kansas law also offers some guidance to employers on how to calculate hours of work or compensable time. The Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Meal and Rest Periods

Kansas generally does not require private employers to provide employees with meal or rest breaks.

Compensable Time

Employers in Kansas are required to compensate their employees for any period of time the employees are performing services for the employer. Compensable time includes periods of time where employees are required to wait or remain on call by an employer and are prevented from using their time for personal benefit.

Generally, employers are not required to compensate employees for any time they are free to pursue their own interests and make independent use of their time. The scenarios below exemplify how to distinguish compensable from non-compensable time.

Compensable Time

• When employees are required to report for work at a specific time or place
• Sleeping time of less than eight hours during a work period (or at least 24 hours, if the employee is not permitted to work for at least five hours under a previous agreement between the employer and the employee)
• Work breaks of up to 30 minutes long during required hours of work
• Implied or inferred requirements to work by the employer
• Time traveling to and from the worksite, when traveling is compensable due to an employment contract, custom or practice
• Time in training, lectures or meetings, if the subject matter is directly related to work duties and attendance is required

Non-compensable Time:

• When employees are required to leave word of their whereabouts with company officials so they can be reached, but are allowed to pursue personal interests
• Work breaks of more than 30 minutes (employee must have been advised that the period is not compensable time) where no services are performed and the employee can use the time to pursue personal interests, including lunch periods, time between shifts and downturns caused by delay, loading and unloading
• Time spent in training, lectures or meetings outside of regular work hours, if the subject is not directly related to the employee’s job, attendance is voluntary, and no productive work is performed

More Information

Kentucky Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. Kentucky has aligned the state’s hours of work laws with FLSA requirements. The Kentucky Department of Workplace Standards (KDWS), part of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Compensable Time

Kentucky has aligned compensable time laws with FLSA requirements. The FLSA requires employers to pay their employees for every hour of compensable time. An employee’s compensable time includes every hour an employee is required or allowed to be on duty.

In general, the reason behind why an employee works is irrelevant. If the employer knows or has reason to believe that the employee was working, that time is considered compensable working time. Compensable time includes any time the employee is permitted or required to work, as well as any periods the employee must wait for an assignment. In certain circumstances, compensable time may include periods of time when an employee was not performing any activities but was still engaged to wait. In addition, compensable time can take place at the employer’s worksite or at a different location, including at the employee’s home.

Compensable time does not include off-duty periods. An employee is off duty when:

• He or she is completely relieved from all work responsibilities or assignments and is free to pursue his or her own interests;
• The off-duty period is long enough to enable an employee to use his or her time effectively; and
• The employer informs the employee in advance that the employee may leave the job until a definitely specified hour has arrived.

FLSA requirements also control compensable time standards for employees who:

• Are on call;
• Attend lectures, meetings and training programs;
• Travel for work;
• Are allowed to sleep or rest at work while on duty

Required Break Periods

Kentucky law requires employers to provide meal breaks and rest periods for their employees. However, these requirements do not apply to employers subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act. 

Meal Breaks

In general, employers in Kentucky must provide employees with an unpaid, reasonable period for a meal between the employees’ third and fifth hour of work. Ordinarily, a reasonably meal period will last about 30 minutes, but a shorter meal period may be long enough under some conditions.

Employers must relieve their employees of all duties during the meal period, though employers are not required to allow their employees to leave the premises during this time. An employee is not relieved of his or her work duties if he or she is required to perform any work (active or inactive) while eating.

The meal break requirement may be overridden by a collective bargaining or mutual agreement between the employer and its employees.

Rest Periods

Employers must allow their employees at least one paid break for every four hours of work time. Rest periods of between five and 20 minutes are common in most industries. An exception applies when employees receive break times that are equal or exceed the break requirements mentioned above under a collective bargaining agreement.

Employers cannot offset compensable waiting or on-call time with rest periods.

More Information 

Please contact the Kentucky Department of Labor for more information.  

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Louisiana (LA)

Louisiana generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.

More Information

For more information, please contact the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

Meal & Rest Breaks in Maine (ME)

Maine requires private employers to provide employees meal and rest breaks as follows:

• Unless otherwise provided by a written agreement, employees who work more than 6 consecutive hours generally have the right to take 30 consecutive minutes of rest time (which may be used as a mealtime), except in cases of emergency where there is a danger to property, life, public safety or public health. (Note: Under a new law, rest time required under state law may be used by the employee as unpaid mealtime, but only if the employee is completely relieved of duty. The law is effective 90 days after the adjournment of the 128th Maine Legislature, First Regular Session. Click here for updates regarding adjournment. The text of the law is available by clicking here.)
  
  • Employers that have fewer than 3 employees on duty at one time who are frequently permitted to take breaks throughout the work day are not required to provide this rest period. (Note: Under a new law, the rest break provisions do not apply to any place of employment where fewer than 3 employees are on duty at any one time; and the nature of the work done by the employee allows him or her frequent paid breaks of a shorter duration (than required under the law) during his or her work day. The law is effective 90 days after the adjournment of the 128th Maine Legislature, First Regular Session. Click here for updates regarding adjournment. The text of the law is available by clicking here.)

Exemptions

• Employers are not required to provide a designated rest period for certain categories of employees, including:
  • Executive, administrative and professional employees who are salaried and have a regular annual salary exceeding 3,000 times the state minimum hourly wage;
  • Certain agricultural employees;
  • Employees whose earnings come from sales commissions and whose hours and places of employment are not substantially controlled by the employer; and
  • Taxicab drivers.

Maine Department of Labor  

Maryland Meal & Rest Breaks

Maryland generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks, except as follows:

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Massachusetts (MA)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that imposes minimum wage payment and work hour standards on most private employers.

The Massachusetts Minimum Fair Wage Law (MFWL) complements the FLSA and, in some cases, prescribes more stringent requirements that employers in the state must follow. This Employment Law Summary provides a general overview of the MFWL’s work hour requirements.  

Working Time

The MFWL requires employers to pay wages to employees for all working time. Under the law, working time includes any time during which an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty or at a prescribed work site.

In addition, working time includes any time an employee uses to complete his or her work before or after the end of a normal shift and rest periods of short durations (usually 20 minutes or less).

Break periods

The MFWL prohibits employers from requiring their employees to work more than six hours in a workday without a 30-minute meal break. Employers that violate this prohibition may be subject to fines of between $300 and $600.

However, the MFWL provides an exemption for individuals employed in iron works, glass works, paper mills, letterpress establishments, print works, bleaching works or dyeing works. This exemption is available to employers that can prove that their processes require continuous operation and that using the exemption would not cause harm to their employees.

Pay for Scheduled Work Hours

When an employee is scheduled to work three or more hours and reports for duty at the time set by the employer, he or she is entitled to receive at least three hours of wages (at least the minimum wage rate), regardless of whether the employer provides him or her with sufficient work for those hours. Charitable organizations are exempt from this requirement.

On-call Time

The MFWL does not consider on-call time to be working time, except when an on-call employee is:

• Required to be at a work site; or
• Not free to use the on-call time for his or her own purposes.

Sleeping Time and Working Shifts

Under the MFWL, an employee is on duty if he or she is required to be at a work site. When employees are on duty, they are entitled to receive wages even if they are permitted to sleep or engage in personal activities when not busy.

When an employee is required to be on site for more than 24 hours, the MFWL allows the employer to exclude meal periods and a regularly scheduled sleeping period from the employee’s work hours if the employer and the employee reach a fair agreement (in writing) before the employee’s performance of his or her duties. If there is no agreement, the employer must compensate the employee for any sleep period interruptions. If an interruption is sufficient to prevent the employee from getting a reasonable night’s sleep, the employer must compensate the employee for the entire rest period as working time.

The MFWL does not consider employees who reside on their employer’s premises to be working at all times. Employers and employees may consider all pertinent facts relevant to their situations and make a reasonable agreement to determine working hours.

Travel Time

In general, employees are not entitled to wages for time spent commuting to work. However, if an employer requires an employee to report to a location other than the site where the employee regularly works, the employer must compensate the employee for the additional time and travel expenses the employee spends to commute to the new location. In addition, the MFWL requires employers to compensate employees for travel that keeps them away from home overnight.

Domestic Workers

A “domestic worker” is an individual or employee who is paid to perform work of a domestic nature within a household including, but not limited to:

• Housekeeping;
• House cleaning;
• Home management;
• Nanny services;
• Caretaking of individuals in the home, including sick, convalescing and elderly individuals;
• Laundering;
• Cooking;
• Home companion services; and
• Other household services for members of households or their guests in private homes.

However, “domestic worker” does not include personal care attendants or individuals whose vocation is not childcare and whose services for the employer primarily consist of childcare on a casual, intermittent and irregular basis for a family or household member.

For domestic workers, “employer” means a person who employs a domestic worker to work within a household, regardless of whether the person has an ownership interest in the household. “Employer” does not include licensed or registered staffing, employment or placement agencies or individuals to whom a personal care attendant provides services.

An employer who employs a domestic worker for 40 hours a week or more must provide a period of rest of at least 24 consecutive hours in each calendar week and at least 48 consecutive hours during each calendar month and where possible, this time must allow for religious worship. A domestic worker may voluntarily agree to work on a day of rest; provided, however, that the agreement is in writing and the domestic worker is paid at the overtime rate for all hours worked on that day in accordance with Massachusetts overtime pay law. Days of rest, whether paid or unpaid, constitute job-protected leave from employment.

When a domestic worker who does not reside on the employer's premises is on duty for less than 24 consecutive hours, the employer must be the domestic worker for all hours as working time under Massachusetts minimum wage provisions.

"Working time" is compensable time that includes all time during which a domestic worker is required t be on the employer's premises or to be on duty and any time worked before or beyond the end of the normal scheduled shift to complete work; provided, however, that working time must include meal periods, rest periods and sleeping periods unless a domestic worker is free to leave the employer's premises and use the time for the domestic worker's sole use and benefit ad is completely relieved of all work-related duties.

When a domestic worker is required to be on duty for a period of 24 consecutive hours or more, the employer and the domestic worker may agree, consistent with Massachusetts minimum wage provisions, to exclude a regularly scheduled sleeping period of not more than 8 hours from working time for each 24-hour period.

When a domestic worker is required to be on duty for a period of 24 consecutive hours or more and unless a prior written agreement is made, all meal periods, rest periods and sleeping periods shall constitute working time.

Employers who employ a domestic worker for 16 hours or more a week must provide the following information regarding meal and rest breaks:

• Working hours, including meal breaks and time off; and
• If applicable, the provisions for days of rest, sick days, vacation days, personal days, holidays, transportation, health insurance, severance, yearly raises and, whether or not earned, vacation days, personal days, holidays, severance, transportation costs and if health insurance costs are paid or reimbursed.

More Information

Michigan Meal & Rest Breaks

Michigan generally does not require private employers to provide employees with meal or rest breaks. 

However, employees who are 17 years of age or younger generally must be provided a 30-minute meal or rest break for every 5 consecutive hours worked. 

More Information

For more information, please contact the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Minnesota (MN)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. Minnesota law complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements for Minnesota employers.The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MDLI) enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Compensable Time

In general, employers must pay their employees for every hour of compensable time. Compensable time usually includes every hour (or portion of an hour) an employee is required or allowed to be on duty.

An employee is on-duty when the employer controls how the employee uses his or her time. This includes any time the employee is permitted to or required work as well as any periods the employee must wait for an assignment. In certain circumstances, compensable time may include periods of time when an employee was not performing any activities but was still engaged to wait.

Compensable time does not include off-duty periods. An employee is off-duty when he or she is completely relieved from all work responsibilities or assignments and is free to pursue his or her own interests.

Companionship Services

When required to stay overnight at their place of employment, individuals who provide companionship services are not considered to be on duty while they sleep. Employers may exclude up to eight hours from an individual’s compensable time to account for sleeping time if the hours are between 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. and the employee was:

• Hired to provide companionship services to individuals who, because of age or infirmity, are unable to take care of themselves;
• Not performing his or her companionship service duties;
• Free to sleep or otherwise engage in personal private pursuits;
• Required to stay overnight in the home of an individual who is unable to take care of himself or herself because of age or infirmity; and
• Paid the minimum wage rate for at least four hours associated with the overnight stay.

Minnesota law has adopted the federal definition of “companionship services.” This definition can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations (title 29, sections 552.6 and 552.106).

On-site Employees

Caretakers, managers and other employees who reside at the site where they work accrue compensable time only when they are on-duty, instead of every hour they are on the premises. On-site employees are on-duty when they perform any of the tasks or duties of their employment.

Required Break Periods

Minnesota law requires employers to provide break periods in certain circumstances. In most cases, employers and employees may negotiate the length and timing of these breaks. Employers that do not provide these breaks and rest periods may be subject to misdemeanor charges.

Meal Breaks

Employers must allow employees an unpaid meal break during any shift that is at least eight hours long. Employees must be relieved of all duties during this break and must be allowed to pursue personal activities and interests.

Rest Periods

Employers must allow employees to take an adequate, paid rest period for every four hours of work time. Employees are not required to leave the employer’s premises to make use of their rest periods.

Nursing Mothers

Employers must provide nursing mothers with a reasonable, unpaid break time each day to express breast milk for her infant child, unless providing this break unduly disrupts the employers’ operations. If possible, the nursing break should run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee.

Employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a location close to the employee’s work area, other than a toilet stall, where the employee may take this break in privacy. The location will be considered private if it is shielded from view and is free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. The location must also afford access to an electrical outlet.

State law also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees that assert their rights under these provisions.

More Information

Meal & Rest Breaks in Mississippi (MS)

Mississippi requires private employers to allow employees to use any meal or other break period to express breast milk.

Mississippi Department of Health

Meal & Rest Breaks in Montana (MT)

Montana generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.

• Rest breaks provided by an employer must be counted as time worked.
• Meal periods provided by an employer also must be considered hours worked, unless:
  • The employee is completely relieved of duty; and
  • The meal period is at least 30 minutes long.
   

Montana Department of Labor and Industry

Nebraska Meal & Rest Breaks

Nebraska generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.  

However, employers in assembly plants, mechanical establishments and workshops are required to allow their employees to take a lunch period that is at least 30 minutes long for every 8-hour shift. During these breaks, employers cannot require their employees to remain in the buildings or premises where their labor is performed. Violations of this requirement are punishable as a Class III misdemeanor.

Additional exceptions apply for situations governed by a valid collective bargaining agreement. 

More information

For more information please contact the Nebraska Department of Labor. 

Meal & Rest Breaks in Nevada (NV)

This page contains the following information regarding employee meal and rest breaks:

• Meal Breaks  
• Rest Breaks
• Exceptions
• Break Time for Nursing Mothers
• Certain Domestic Workers

Meal Breaks

• Employees generally must be given at least a 30-minute unpaid meal break for every 8 hours of continuous work.

Rest Breaks

• Employees generally must be permitted a 10-minute paid rest period for every 4 hours worked in a day, unless the employee’s total daily work time is less than 3 and one-half hours.

Exceptions

• Employers are not required to provide meal or rest periods if:
  • Only one person is employed at a specific place of employment;
  • Employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement; or
  • The employer has applied for and been granted an exemption from the Nevada Labor Commissioner based on business necessity.

Break Time for Nursing Mothers

Each employer generally must provide an employee who is the mother of a child under 1 year of age with:

• Reasonable break time (with or without compensation) for the employee to express breast milk as needed; and
• A place (other than a bathroom) that is reasonably free from dirt or pollution, which is protected from the view of others and free from intrusion by others where the employee may express breast milk.

If an employer determines that complying with the provisions above will cause an undue hardship (considering the size, financial resources, nature, and structure of the employer's business), the employer may meet with the employee to agree upon a reasonable alternative. If the parties are not able to reach an agreement, the employer may require the employee to accept a reasonable alternative selected by the employer.

Note: Employers are prohibited from retaliating (or directing or encouraging another person to retaliate) against any employee because that employee has exercised her rights under the law or has taken any action to require the employer to comply with the law.

Small Employers
An employer who employs fewer than 50 employees is not subject to the requirements of the law if such requirements would impose an undue hardship on the employer, considering the employer's size, financial resources, nature, and business structure.

Additional information, including details regarding contractors, is contained in the text of the law.

Certain Domestic Workers

Exclusion from Wages for Certain Meal and Rest Periods for Domestic Service Employees

If a domestic service employee resides in the household where he or she works, the employer and domestic service employee may agree in writing to exclude from the wages of the domestic service employee:

• Periods for meals if the period for meals is at least one-half hour for each meal;
• Periods for sleep if the period for sleep excluded from the wages of the domestic service employee does not exceed 8 hours; and
• Any other period of complete freedom from all duties during which the domestic service employee may either leave the premises or stay on the premises for purely personal pursuits. To be excluded from wages under this provision, a period must be of sufficient duration to enable the domestic service employee to make effective use of the time.

However, if a period excluded from the wages of the domestic service employee under the law is interrupted by a call to duty by the employer, the interruption must be counted as hours worked for which compensation must be paid. Click here for more information.

Sleeping Periods for Certain Residential Facility and Personal Care Services Employees 

If an employee who is on duty at a residential facility for a group of similarly situated persons who require supervision, care, or other assistance from employees at the residential facility is required to be on duty for 24 hours or more, the employer and employee may agree in writing to exclude from the employee's wages a regularly scheduled sleeping period not to exceed 8 hours if adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer.

If the sleeping period is interrupted by any call for service by the employer, the interruption must be counted as hours worked.

If the sleeping period is interrupted by any call for service by the employer to such an extent that the sleeping period is less than 5 hours, the employee must be paid for the entire sleeping period.

Note: Certain personal care services employees may agree not to be paid for a sleeping period. Click here for more information.

Certain Rules Regarding Sleeping, Meal, and Rest Time for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights)

If a domestic worker is required to be on duty, he or she must be paid for all working time, including (without limitation) sleeping time and meal breaks (except as otherwise provided under state law (§ 608.0195, which is discussed above)).

Additionally, if a domestic worker is hired to work for 40 hours per week or more, his or her employer must provide a period of rest of at least 24 consecutive hours in each calendar week and at least 48 consecutive hours during each calendar month. The domestic worker may agree in writing to work on a scheduled day of rest, but must be compensated for such time under the law.

Click here for more information.

Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in New Hampshire (NH)

New Hampshire requires private employers to provide employees meal and rest breaks as follows:

Meal Breaks

Employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours generally must be given a 30-minute meal period (unless it is feasible for employees to eat during work and the employer allows them to do so).

Day of Rest Requirement

Employees required to work on a Sunday must receive a 24 consecutive-hour rest period during the following 6 days.

Employers who operate on Sundays must post in a conspicuous location in the workplace a list of the employees required to work on Sundays and the day of rest for each employee, and file the list with the New Hampshire Labor Commissioner.

Certain categories of employees are excluded from these requirements, including:

• Janitors, watchmen and caretakers;
• Employees engaged in the preparation, publication, sale and delivery of newspapers;
• Employees engaged in farm or personal service;
• Employees engaged in any labor called for by an unanticipated emergency;
• Employees engaged in any work connected with retail stores in resort areas, inns, theaters, motion picture houses, hotels and restaurants; and
• Employees of telegraph and telephone offices.

Breaks to Express Milk

On Aug. 4, 2023, New Hampshire adopted a new law that requires employers to provide reasonable break periods to employees who need to express milk for a child. This new requirement becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 

Under the new law, employers must provide reasonable break periods to employees who need to express milk for a child for at least one year from the date of birth of the child. 

Reasonable break periods must be approximately 30 minutes for every three hours of work. These break periods may be taken contemporaneously with other breaks or meal periods already provided. Employers cannot require employees to make up time related to the use of unpaid reasonable break periods.

However, employers are exempt from this requirement if providing reasonable break time and sufficient space for expressing milk would impose an undue hardship on their operations. An undue hardship is any action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the business, its financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.

In addition, the law requires employers to adopt a policy to address these new requirements and make the policy available to their employees at the time of hire. The law also requires employees to notify their employers at least two weeks before they need to use reasonable breaks and sufficient space to express milk during their hours of work. 

As a result, employers should review their policies and procedures and implement any necessary changes to comply with the new law by July 1, 2025.

More Information

For more information please visit the New Hampshire Department of Labor website. 

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in New Jersey (NJ)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. The New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law (NJWHL) complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements that employers in New Jersey must follow.The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD) enforces these requirements throughout the state.

Regular Work Hours

New Jersey recognizes a 40-hour workweek during a fixed period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour workdays, as the regular work period and the basis to calculate overtime pay. The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks. A workweek may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day, without coinciding with a calendar week.

Every hour an employee is required to be at work or on duty must be counted as a compensable hour. Employees that reside on an employer’s premises and have irregular work hours (that cannot be accounted for in an accurate or fair manner) are presumed to work eight hours per day.

Meal Breaks

Under New Jersey law, employees who are under the age of 18 are entitled to a 30-minute break after every five hours of consecutive work.

This break does not need to be paid if an employee is off-duty for at least 20 minutes. Employees are off duty if they are free to leave the worksite, allowed to pursue their personal interests and do not actually work.

Breastfeeding Breaks

Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), it is illegal to discriminate against or to treat an employee differently on the basis of breastfeeding status. It is also unlawful for an employer to harass, to make derogatory comments about, or to interfere with an employee or to permit others to do these things because the employee breastfeeds or chooses to express breast milk at work. The LAD applies to all employers in New Jersey, including private or state and local government employers, employment agencies and labor unions.

The LAD provides employees the right to express breast milk at work. The LAD also states that employers must accommodate breastfeeding employees by providing them reasonable break time each day and a suitable room or other location with privacy, other than a toilet stall, in close proximity to the work area, to express breast milk. Employers may not penalize their employees for asking to use or for using this accommodation.

State law does not require these breaks to be paid. However, if employers already provide paid break time and if the employee chooses to use that break time to express milk, then that break time to express milk must be paid.

Requirements for Pumping Space

The pumping location may not be a toilet stall. It must be a private room or other location in close proximity to the work area where the employees cannot be seen by or intruded upon by others while pumping. For privacy, the space should have a door that locks from the inside.

The spaces does not need to be a permanent, dedicated pumping space. It can be a room or space used for other work functions, like an office, conference room or storage area. However, the space must be available each time breastfeeding employees need it.

Employers must also provide employees with a chair and small table or shelf on which to place their pumps. Employers are encouraged to provide a space which also contains an electrical outlet, a sink and a refrigerator.

Duration of Break Entitlement and Period

State law does not restrict an employee’s right to pumping breaks to any specific number of months or years after the birth of the child. An employee may continue expressing breastmilk after the child’s first birthday.

These breaks must be of “reasonable” length. Most mothers need 15-20 minutes to pump breast milk, plus additional time to set up and store their supplies, store the milk and travel between their work space and the pumping location. Though 30 minutes is typical, some mothers may need more or less time.

Employer Exemptions

An exemption applies to employers that can demonstrate that a specific accommodation would be an undue hardship on their business operations. Employers are encouraged to provide flexible scheduling if their employees choose to make up for unpaid break time.

On-Call Time

When employees are on call, they are entitled to receive compensation only for the hours they actually work on an on-call assignment. When employees are not required to remain on the employer’s premises, they are not accruing compensable hours.

However, New Jersey law recognizes that an employer’s control of its employee’s time during work hours includes the authority to require an employee to wait for an assignment. For this reason, if on-call conditions effectively prevent employees from making free use of their time, they must be considered to be “engaged to wait,” and all waiting time will be considered compensable hours.

Street and Elevated Railroads

New Jersey law establishes a maximum of 12 hours of work per day for street and elevated railroad employees. The 12-hour work day must afford sufficient time for half-hour meal breaks.

The NJWHL allows for an exception to the railroad employees’ 12-hour work day if an unexpected contingency demands the employer to deliver additional services to the public. Employees are entitled to receive overtime wages for work performed in excess of the 12-hour workday.

More Information

Please contact the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development for more information.

Meal & Rest Breaks in New Mexico (NM)

New Mexico generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.

• If an employer provides meal breaks that are less than 30 minutes, the breaks must be paid.  

Meal, Breaks and Hours of Work in New York (NY)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. New York law complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, and employee break requirements for New York employers. The New York Department of Labor enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Work Hour Requirements

New York law recognizes the 8-hour workday as a legal day’s work. However, longer workday requirements are possible for:

• Farm workers;
• Domestic employees;
• Brickyard employees (up to 10 hours per day but workday cannot begin before 7 a.m.); and
• Railroad employees.

Railroad employees can be required to work 10-hour workdays if they are working for street surface or elevated railroad. The 10-hour shift must include a 30-minute meal break.

Employees engaged in the operation of steam or electric surface, subway or elevated railroads where the mileage system of running trains is not in use may be required to work a 10-hour shift within 12 consecutive hours. This requirement does not apply to signalpersons.

Day of Rest

Employers must provide their employees with at least 24 consecutive hours of rest during every calendar week. Whenever possible, this day of rest should coincide with the day each employee reserves for traditional religious worship.

Domestic workers can voluntarily waive their right for a day of rest. However, after one year of work with the same employer, domestic employees are entitled to receive at least three additional days of rest in each calendar year at their regular rate of compensation.

These requirements do not apply to:

• Foremen in charge;
• Individuals working for a place where, by an established policy, motion pictures, vaudeville or incidental state presentations are regularly presented throughout the week (exception excludes engineers and firefighters employed at these locations);
• Dairy, creamery, milk condensery, milk powder factory, milk sugar factory, milk shipping station, butter and cheese factory, ice cream manufacturing plant and milk bottling plant employees where not more than seven persons are employed;
• Employees engaged in an industrial or manufacturing process necessarily continuous, in which no employee is permitted to work more than eight hours in any calendar day (this exception requires the approval of the board); Employees whose duties include not more than three hours' work on Sunday in setting sponges in bakeries, caring for live animals, maintaining fires, or making necessary repairs to boilers or machinery;
• Resort, seasonal hotel and restaurant employees in rural communities, cities and villages (with a population of fewer than 15,000 inhabitants); or
• Dry dock plant employees engaged in making repairs to ships.

Employers must notify each employee of their designated day of rest. Employers cannot require their employees to work on their designated day of rest. However, employers that encounter practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships to carry out the provisions of this requirement can request an exception from the NYDOL. The request is subject to a non-refundable $40 application fee.

Employers that violate any provision of day-of-rest requirements are subject to prosecution.

Meal Breaks

Employers must allow their employees at least a 30-minute noon meal break (60 minutes for factory employees) during any shift that is more than six hours long. The noon meal break must take place between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and the employee’s shift must extend over the noon meal period. Employees must be relieved of all duties during this break and must be allowed to pursue personal activities and interests.

Employers must provide a 45-minute meal break (60 for factory employees) during any shift that is more than six hours long when the shift begins between 1 p.m. and 6 a.m. The meal break must be scheduled as closely as possible to the shift’s midway point.

Employers must provide an additional 20-minute meal break for employees whose shift starts before 7 a.m. and continues past 7 p.m. This additional meal break must take place between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Nursing Mothers

State law requires employers to provide nursing mothers with a reasonable, unpaid break time or permit them to use paid break time or meal time to express breast milk for their nursing child each time they have a reasonable need.

This break period must be provided for up to three years after the child is born. Employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a location close to the employee’s work area where the employee may take this break in privacy.

In addition, upon employee request employers must designate a room or other location to express breast milk. The request must come from an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the workplace. The designated room or other location must be:

• In close proximity to the work area;
• Well lit;
• Shielded from view; and 
• Free from intrusion from other persons in the workplace or the public.

The designated room must also provide, at minimum, a chair, a working surface, nearby access to clean running water and, if the workplace is supplied with electricity, an electrical outlet. The designated room cannot be a restroom or toilet stall.

If the sole purpose or function of the designated room is not dedicated for use by employees to express breast milk, the room must be made available to nursing employees when needed and must not be used for any other purpose or function while in use by these employees. Employers are required to provide notice to all employees as soon as practicable when a room has been designated for use by employees to express breast milk.

An employer that cannot comply with these requirements because it would impose an undue hardship on employers by causing significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature or structure of the employer’s business, must make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location, other than a restroom or toilet stall, that is in close proximity to the work area where an employee can express breast milk in privacy.

Employers with access to refrigeration must extend such access to refrigeration for the purposes of storing the expressed milk.

The NYDOL is expected to develop and implement a written policy regarding the rights of nursing employees to express breast milk in the workplace. Employers will be required to provide this written policy to each employee upon hire and annually thereafter, and to employees upon returning to work following the birth of a child.

North Carolina Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes meal, break and hours of work for employees. State law complements federal requirements and in some cases prescribes additional or stricter requirements that employers must follow. Under the FLSA, when federal and state laws apply employers must comply with the standard that provides the greatest protection or benefit to their employees. 

Under state law, local governments are prohibited from adopting or imposing any requirement upon an employer pertaining to employee compensation, such as wage levels, hours of labor and payment of earned wages.

Regular Work Hours

North Carolina recognizes the 40-hour workweek (seven consecutive calendar days) as the regular work period and the basis to calculate overtime pay. The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks.

Meal & Rest Breaks in North Dakota (ND)

North Dakota requires private employers to provide employees meal and rest breaks as follows:

Meal Breaks

• Unless otherwise provided by mutual agreement, employees who work more than 5 hours generally must be given a 30-minute meal break where 2 or more employees are on duty.
  • The break may be unpaid so long as the employee is completely relieved of duty and the meal period is ordinarily 30 minutes long.

Day of Rest Requirement for Retail Employees

• An employer may not require an employee to work 7 consecutive days in a business that sells merchandise at retail and may not deny an employee at least one period of 24 consecutive hours of time off for rest or worship in each 7-day period.
  • The time off must be in addition to the regular periods of rest allowed during each day worked.
• A retail employer must accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of an employee unless doing so would constitute an undue hardship on the employer's business.

Ohio Meal & Rest Breaks

Ohio generally does not require private employers to provide employees with meal or rest breaks. However, employees who are 17 years of age or younger generally must be provided a 30-minute unpaid rest break for every 5 consecutive hours worked. For more information, please contact the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Meal & Rest Breaks in Oklahoma (OK)

Oklahoma generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks, except as follows:

Special Requirements for Minors

• Employees under age 16 must be permitted a 30-minute rest period for every 5 consecutive hours of work, and 1 total hour of rest for every 8 consecutive hours of work.

Oklahoma Department of Labor  

Oregon Meal & Rest Breaks

Oregon requires private employers to provide employees meal and rest breaks as follows:

Meal Breaks 

• Non-exempt employees must receive a meal break of at least 30 minutes for each work period that is at least 6 hours long.
  • If an employee works between 6 and 7 hours, the meal break must be between the second and fifth hours. 
• If the work period is longer than 7 hours, the meal break must be taken between the third and sixth hours. Minors (employees under the age of 18) must receive a meal break of at least 30 minutes beginning no later than 5 hours and one minute after the minor reports to work.
• Non-exempt employees must receive one or more additional meal breaks if the work period is 14 or more hours long.
• The meal break may be unpaid as long as the employee is completely relieved of all duties.
  • Employees who are 14 or 15 years old must be relieved of all duties during the meal period.  
• Employers may be excused from the 30-minute meal break requirement if the break would cause an undue hardship to the employer's operations or in other limited circumstances. 

Rest Breaks 

• Employees must receive a paid rest break (separate from the meal period) of at least 10 minutes (or at least 15 minutes for employees under the age of 18) for each 4-hour segment worked in one work period. 

Special Requirements 

• Employees may not legally waive their rights to receive required breaks.
• Employers may require non-exempt employees to take all required breaks and may discipline an employee who refuses to do so.    

Lactation Breaks   

• Oregon employers must provide reasonable rest periods to any employee who needs to express milk for the employee’s child who is 18 months of age or younger, each time the employee has a need to express milk. 
• Employers must also make a reasonable effort to provide a private location close to the employee’s work area (other than a public restroom or toilet stall) for employees to express milk. 
• In general, lactation rest periods are unpaid; however, employers may need to consider these breaks as paid rest breaks or hours worked when:
  • Required by law or contract;
  • The employer’s contribution to an employee’s health insurance is influenced by the number of hours the employee works, but only for the purpose of measuring the number of hours the employee works.  
• An employer may allow an employee to change job duties temporarily if the employee’s regular job duties do not allow for expressing milk. 
• The law exempts employers with 10 or fewer employees from the requirement if it would impose significant difficulty or expense in relation to the size, financial resources, nature or structure of the employer's business. 
• When possible, employees must provide their employers with reasonable notice of their need to use lactation breaks. However, failure to give notice is not grounds for discipline.
• Employees must, if feasible, take lactation breaks at the same time as other rest periods and meal breaks.  

Domestic Workers' Protection Act

Under state law, a person employing a domestic worker must (among other things):

• Provide the domestic worker at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each workweek.
  • Note: If the domestic worker agrees to work on the anticipated day of rest, the employer must pay the employee a specified overtime rate.  
• If the domestic worker worked an average of at least 30 hours per week during the previous year, provide the domestic worker with at least 3 paid personal leave days off; and 
• If the domestic worker lives in the employer's home:
  • Provide at least 8 consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period and provide a space with adequate conditions for uninterrupted sleep; and 
  • Permit the domestic worker to cook his or her own food (subject to reasonable restrictions based on the religious or health needs of the home's residents).   

More Information 

For more information, please contact the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.

Pennsylvania Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work

Compensable Time

Employers must pay their employees for all hours worked, and overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Problems arise when employers fail to recognize and count certain hours worked as compensable time.

Under state law, "hours worked" may include time spent by the employee on-call or waiting for work to perform while on duty.

On-call Time 

Pennsylvania employers generally must pay for on-call time when employees:

• Respond to a call; or
• When they must remain at the employer's place of business without the ability to pursue their own interests.

Mandatory Security Screenings

On July 21, 2021, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled in In re Amazon.com, Inc., that “time spent on an employer’s premises waiting to undergo, and undergoing, mandatory security screenings” qualifies as “hours worked” under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA).

In addition, the court also found that “there is no de minimis exception under the PMWA.” In reaching its decision, the court reasoned that the PMWA’s objective is to protect employees’ right to be adequately compensated for all their hours of work.

The court also clarified that, historically, this objective has led Pennsylvania to enforce stronger wage payment protections than what is required by federal law. The court also pointed to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry publication that states “hours worked” includes “time during which an employee is required by the employer to be on the premises of the employer.”

Federal law allows employers to disregard de minimis—insubstantial or insignificant—periods of time beyond the scheduled working hours when determining how many hours employees have worked during the workweek (some conditions apply). However, the court explains that the PMWA does not provide a de minimis exception to “hours worked” and indicates that it could not discern any intent from the state legislature “to allow a de minimis exception to the PMWA’s irreducible requirements.”

Meal and Break Periods

Pennsylvania generally does not require private employers to provide employees who are not minors with meal or rest breaks. However, minors who are 17 years of age or younger generally must be given a meal break of at least 30 minutes if they work for more than five continuous hours. 

More Information

For more information, please contact the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. 

Meal & Rest Breaks in Rhode Island (RI)

Rhode Island requires private employers to provide employees meal and rest breaks as follows:

Meal Breaks

• Except for healthcare facilities and companies employing less than 3 employees at one site during a shift:
  • A 20-minute meal period (which may be unpaid) must be given during a 6-hour shift; and
  • A 30-minute meal period (which may be unpaid) must be given during an 8-hour shift.

Day of Rest Requirement

• Employers generally may not fire or otherwise discriminate against an employee for not working on a Sunday or holiday.

South Carolina Meal & Rest Breaks

In general, South Carolina generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks. 

Lactation Breaks

On June 26, 2020, South Carolina enacted the Lactation Support Act (the Act). The Act requires employers to provide workers unpaid break time and to make reasonable efforts to provide a private space to express milk at work. The Act applies to all private and public employers with one or more employees.

• Break Time: If possible, the lactation break must run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee. The Act does not require an employer to provide break time if doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the employer.
• Location: Employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location other than a bathroom stall. The location must be in close proximity to the work area. The location must allow employee to express milk in privacy. However, the Act does not require an employer to build a room for the primary purpose of expressing breast milk.
• Employee Obligations: The Act requires employees to make reasonable efforts to minimize disrupting the employer’s operations.

The Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees to exercising their rights under the Act. 

Employers will be required to comply with the law by Aug. 24, 2020.

More Information

For more information please contact the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Meal & Rest Breaks in Tennessee (TN)

Tennessee law requires employers to provide 30-minute rest or meal break periods for employees who are scheduled to work for at least six consecutive hours.

The rest period in these instances may not be programmed during or before the first hour of scheduled work activity. Employers with a workplace environment that provides ample opportunity to rest, or take appropriate breaks, throughout the workday are exempt from this requirement.  

Breastfeeding Breaks

State law requires employers with one or more employees to provide reasonable unpaid breaks to employees who need to express breast milk for their infant children. This requirement applies each time employees need to express milk. If possible, these breaks must run concurrently with any break time already provided for these employees.

Employers are also required to make reasonable efforts to provide a room (or other location) where employees can express milk in privacy. This room or location must be in close proximity to the employee’s work area and cannot be a toilet stall. However, employers are not required to provide breastfeeding breaks if doing so unduly disrupts their operations.

Veteran’s Day

Tennessee requires employers with one or more employees are required to allow veteran employees to have the entirety of Veteran’s Day (November 11) as a non-paid holiday if they provide their employers with:

• At least one-month's written notice of their intent to have the entirety of that day as a non-paid holiday; and
• Proof of their veteran status (DD Form 214 or other comparable certificate of discharge from the armed forces).

“Veteran employees” includes former members of the U.S. armed forces and members (former or current) of a Reserve or a Tennessee National Guard unit that was called into active military service of the United States.

However, employers may deny providing the entirety of Veteran’s Day as a non-paid holiday if they determine that their veteran employees' absence, either alone or in combination with other veteran employees, will impact public health or safety, or cause them significant economic or operational disruption. State law provides employers sole discretion to determine whether providing time off from work to veteran employees on this holiday causes significant economic or operational disruption.

More Information

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Texas (TX)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates work hour and rest period requirements. For the most part, Texas has adopted federal law to regulate the number of hours employees can work. However, in some instances, Texas law provides additional work hour requirements for employers in the state. Under the FLSA, when both state and federal laws apply, employers must comply with the standard that provides the greatest protection or benefit to their employees. 

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) enforces work hour standards throughout the state.

Meal and Rest Periods

Texas generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks. As a result, employers in Texas must follow FLSA meal and rest period requirements.

Regular Work Hours

Texas recognizes the 40-hour workweek (seven consecutive calendar days) as the regular work period and the basis to calculate overtime pay. The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks. However, under federal law employers can modify work-period provisions for certain employees.

Day of Rest for Retail Employees

Retail employers may not require an employee to work on a period the employee has requested to be off-duty to attend regular worship services. Retail employers must also accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of their employees, unless they can prove that accommodating religious practices and beliefs would be an “undue hardship” on the operation of their business.

In addition, retail employers may not require an employee to work seven consecutive days when the employee works at least 30 hours per work period. Employees working in retail are entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of time off to rest or worship on the seventh day of each workweek. This time off is in addition to the regular periods of rest allowed during each workday.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Vermont (VT)

Vermont requires private employers to provide employees with reasonable opportunities throughout the workday to eat and to use toilet facilities.

Vermont Department of Labor  

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Virginia (VA)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates minimum wage, overtime pay and work hour requirements for most employees. The Virginia Minimum Wage Act (VMWA) complements federal law and, in some instances, provides more stringent requirements that employers must follow. Under the FLSA, when both state and federal laws apply, employers must comply with the law that provides the greatest benefit or protection for their employees. 

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (VDOLI) monitors and enforces compliance with the VMWA throughout the state.  

Lactation Breaks

State anti-discrimination laws require employers with 5 or more employees for a 20-week period in the current or preceding year to provide reasonable employee accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship. Employers also may not, in response to a request for a reasonable accommodation for pregnancy:

• Take adverse actions against an employee;
• Deny employment or promotions; or
• Require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.

Examples of reasonable accommodations include:

• More frequent or longer bathroom breaks
• Breaks to express breast milk
• Access to a private location other than a bathroom for the expression of breast milk
• Acquisition or modification of equipment or access to or modification of employee seating
• A temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position
• Assistance with manual labor
• Job restructuring
• A modified work schedule
• Light duty assignments
• Leave to recover from childbirth.

When an employee requests an accommodation, employers must engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee to determine if the requested accommodation is reasonable and, if not, discuss alternative reasonable accommodations that may be provided.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in Washington (WA)

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. The Washington State Minimum Wage Act (WMWA) complements the FLSA and, in some instances provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements that employers in the state must follow.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Regular Work Hours

Washington recognizes a 40-hour workweek during a fixed period of 168 hours or seven consecutive 24-hour workdays as the regular work period. This is also the basis to calculate overtime pay.

The hours an employee works during one workweek may not offset the hours worked in previous or future workweeks. The workweek may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day, without coinciding with a calendar week.

Washington has also adopted the 8-hour workday as the full-time workday standard.

Domestic Employees

Domestic employees (male or female) may not be forced, required or coerced to work more than 60 hours per week, except during an emergency. This includes any time when the employee remains on-call and is not at liberty to dispose of his or her time.

Health Care Facility Employees

Under the WMWA, employees of a health care facility may volunteer—but may not be compelled—to work overtime, except when overtime results from:  

• Unforeseeable emergencies;
• Prescheduled on-call time;
• The employer’s inability to secure sufficient levels of staffing without extending its current employee’s work hours (however, employers may not use this exception to resort to a practice of using overtime to fill vacancies resulting from chronic staff shortages); or
• Work required from an employee to complete a patient-care procedure already in progress, where the employee’s absence could have an adverse effect on the patient.

Health care facilities include licensed hospices, hospitals, rural health care facilities, psychiatric hospitals, facilities owned and operated by the department of corrections or a governing unit that provide health care services to inmates, nursing homes and home health agencies. These entities may not circumvent this rule by contract, agreement or understanding with their employees. 

Meal Breaks

Employers must provide each employee with a meal period of at least 30 minutes per workday. An employee’s meal break must start at least two hours after the beginning of a shift, and before the fifth hour of the same shift. An employee is entitled to receive compensation for a meal break if the employer requires that he or she remains on duty during the break.

Employers may not require an employee to work for more than five regular, consecutive hours without a meal break. In addition, employees working three or more hours of overtime during a workday must be allowed to take at least one additional 30-minute meal break prior to or during the overtime period.

Rest Periods

Employers must provide their employees with at least one paid 10-minute break for every four hours of work time. These rest periods must be scheduled as closely as possible to the midpoint of the 4-hour work period. Employers may not require employees to work more than three consecutive hours without a rest period.

Breaks for Nursing Mothers

Washington law grants mothers the right to breastfeed their children in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement. Employers that prevent mothers from breastfeeding their children during working hours may be subject to unfair discriminatory practices charges that can lead to an injunction or fines. To avoid discriminating against nursing mothers, employers should provide them with:

• Flexible schedules and work patterns so they can take nursing breaks;
• A sanitary, safe and private location (other than a restroom) that allow privacy for breastfeeding;
• A clean and safe water source with facilities for washing hands and rinsing breast-pumping equipment (these must be located in the private location mentioned above); and
• A hygienic refrigerator to store breast milk in the workplace.

Employers that comply with all these accommodations may submit their breastfeeding policy to the L&I for approval and designation as an “infant-friendly” institution.

Meals, Breaks and Hours of Work in West Virginia (WV)

West Virginia requires private employers to provide their employees with at least one 20-minute meal break for every workday that is at least 6-hours long, unless they are already provided with a lunch period or are allowed to eat while working. 

The break may be given at any time throughout the workday at a time deemed reasonable by employers. The 20-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 employers. 

Bona fide meal periods that typically last for a period of 30 minutes or longer may be paid or unpaid, at the employers' discrection. However, any meal break or rest period that lasts for twenty minutes or less must be paid.  In addition: 

• Whenever employers authorize one or more employee break times, or meal times, of 20 consecutive minutes or less during a work day, they must treat the break time or meal time as compensable time. 
• Whenever employers authorize one or more employee break times or meal times that typically last for 30 consecutive minutes or longer during a work day, they may treat the break or meal period as non-work time. 

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates federal work hour requirements. Wisconsin law complements the FLSA and, in some instances, provides additional work hour, rest period and employee break requirements for Wisconsin employees. The Equal Rights Division (ERD), part of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), enforces these provisions throughout the state.

Compensable time

Employers in Wisconsin are required to compensate their employees for all hours they spend for the primary benefit of the employers’ business. Compensable time includes all hours on which employees are on-duty. This includes meal breaks, unless employees are relieved of all employment responsibilities and are allowed to pursue their personal interests during the break.

Required Break Periods

As a general rule, Wisconsin law prohibits requiring or permitting employees to work under conditions that are or threaten to be dangerous or prejudicial to human life, health, safety or welfare. This includes the length of work shifts and the time of day, night or week that employers require of their employees.

Specifically, Wisconsin law addresses the issues of meal breaks and a weekly day of rest. Wisconsin law also provides some guidance regarding nursing breaks for female employees with infant children.

Meal Breaks

Employers are not required to provide employees a meal break for employees over the age of 18. However, Wisconsin law recommends that employers avoid making their employees work for shifts longer than six hours without a meal period.

If the employer provides a meal period, the employer must compensate the employee only if the employee is on duty. An on-duty meal period is any meal period where the employee is not free to leave the employer’s premises or the break is for less than 30 minutes.

Day of Rest

Wisconsin law requires employers to provide their employees with at least 24 consecutive hours of rest during any seven-day workweek. This requirement can be waived when no other immediate and competent labor is available in case of machinery or equipment breakdown or another emergency that requires the immediate services of experienced and competitive labor to prevent serious injury to person, damage to property or suspension of necessary operations.

This provision does not apply to:

• Janitors;
• Security personnel;
• Individuals employed in the manufacturing of butter, cheese or other dairy products;
• Individuals employed in the distribution of milk or cream;
• Cannery and freezer employees;
• Bakery and flour and feed mill employees;
• Hotel and restaurant employees; and
• Individuals with no other work on Sunday than:
  • Caring for live animals;
  • Maintaining fires; or
  • Any labor called for by an emergency that could not have been reasonably anticipated.

More Information

Visit the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development for more information on breaks and meal periods. 

Meal & Rest Breaks in Wyoming (WY)

Wyoming generally does not require private employers to provide employees meal or rest breaks.

Wyoming Department of Workforce Services