While federal law does not require a meal or rest break in a 5-hour shift, some state laws do. Many states, however, only guarantee a meal break for shifts longer than 5 hours.
While rest break are paid, meal breaks are usually unpaid. If your employer does not provide a mandated break, you can file a wage and hour lawsuit.
What does the federal rest break law require?
Federal labor law does not require employers to provide any breaks, at all. Any legal protections or guarantees of a rest or a meal break will come from state employment law and wage orders.
The primary federal employment law is the Fair Labor Standards Act, or the FLSA. The FLSA does not have meal or rest break requirements, no matter how long your shift is. However, most employers provide breaks even if they are not obligated to do so.
Once an employer offers breaks, it triggers some regulations under the FLSA. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the FLSA distinguishes between:
- rest breaks, and
- meal breaks.1
Rest breaks are short, often between 5 and 20 minutes. When provided, they must count as time worked. This means that these are paid rest breaks.2
Meal breaks are longer. They are often 30 minutes or more, though the FLSA allows them to be shorter in some circumstances. Meal periods are not considered work time. As a result, they are unpaid. However, in order to be a meal break, employers must release employees of all duties unless the nature of the work makes this impossible. If you are required to eat at your desk in order to provide passive work duties, like answer phones, it is generally not a bona fide meal break.3
Employers tend to provide these breaks in order to:
- attract talented workers,
- maintain worker morale,
- increase worker productivity,
- keep up with competitors who offer better meal and rest breaks to their workers,
- build a stronger workplace community, and
- reduce worker turnover.
Do any states require a rest period in a 5-hour shift?
Many states require employers to provide workers with meal or rest breaks. Most of these states, though, only require meal breaks if you work for longer periods of time. However, a couple have laws that guarantee some workers a meal break for a 5-hour shift. More states provide workers with a guaranteed rest break for shorter shifts.
In many states, though, there are exceptions to these rules. Some common exceptions are for workers who work in:
- healthcare,
- the motion picture industry,
- places that have a collective bargaining agreement, and
- companies that have very few employees.
Meal breaks
Generally, state laws do not entitle workers to a meal break in a 5-hour work shift. There are exceptions, though.
A good example of the general rule is Colorado. There, workers are guaranteed a meal period of at least 30 minutes, but only if their shift exceeds 5 hours.4 There are similar laws that provide a meal or lunch break for shifts that go longer than a fifth hour in the following states:
- New Hampshire,5
- North Dakota,6 and
- Washington.7
Some other states only provide a meal break if the shift is longer. For example, Tennessee,8 Massachusetts,9 and West Virginia10 only guarantee a meal break for shifts in excess of 6 hours. In Connecticut, you are only entitled to one if your shift is 7.5 hours.11 In Nevada, you only get a meal break if you work for an 8-hour shift.12
However, in a couple of states, you are entitled to a meal break in a 5-hour shift. For example, in Kentucky, you are entitled to a meal period after 3 hours but less than 5 hours from the start of your shift.13
You are more likely to be entitled to a meal break in a 5-hour shift if you are underage. In Florida, for example, minors are entitled to a 30-minute meal break if they work for more than 4 straight hours and are under 18 years old.14
Rest breaks
In most states, you are entitled to a rest break during a 5-hour shift. A few of the states that guarantee you a rest break during a 5-hour shift include:
- Colorado,15
- Nevada,16
- Oregon,17 and
- Washington.18
These breaks are generally required to be at least 10 minutes long.
Are rest or meal periods paid or unpaid?
Federal law requires rest breaks to be paid. Meal breaks, however, do not have to be paid. Employers can choose to pay you during your meal break. Few choose to do so, though.
If you are not totally relieved of all of your work duties during a meal break, you may be entitled to get paid during it. These are referred to as on-duty meal breaks.
What is the California meal break law?
Under California’s meal and rest break law, non-exempt employees are entitled to a 10-minute rest break in a 5-hour shift, but not a meal break.
Workers in California have a right to a meal break if the employee works more than 5 hours in a workday. That meal break has to be at least 30 minutes long. If you work more than 10 hours in the day, you get another 30-minute meal period.19
You must generally be allowed to leave the worksite during this break.20
You can waive your right to a first meal break if you are not working more than 6 hours in the day. You can waive your right to the second meal break if you did not give a waiver for the first one, and you will not work longer than 12 hours.21
Some people choose to waive their meal breaks because they are unpaid. By waiving it they can end their shift earlier by removing a 30-minute period of unpaid meal break time.
California law entitles you to a rest break for every 4 hours of work. You are also entitled to a rest break for every substantial fraction of a 4-hour work period. The rest break has to be at least 10 minutes long. To the extent practicable, your rest break has to be in the middle of each work period. The rest break is paid time.22
Because you are entitled to a rest break for every 4 consecutive hours of work, or every major fraction of 4 hours, you are not entitled to a rest break if your shift is less than three and one-half hours.23
What can I do if my employer is not giving me a rest or meal break?
According to the California Supreme Court, employers in the state have to provide you with a reasonable opportunity to take your breaks uninterrupted.24 If your employer is not allowing you to take a break that you are entitled to take, or is making you work during a break, you can file a wage and hour lawsuit.
In California, these wage claims can recover an additional hour of pay for each break that was denied. That compensation is at your regular rate of pay.25
These lawsuits frequently end up being class actions. If your employer is denying you your required meal or rest breaks, they are probably denying your coworkers their breaks, as well.
Legal References:
- 29 CFR 785.18 (rest breaks) and 785.19 (meal breaks).
- 29 CFR 785.18.
- 29 CFR 785.19.
- Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order #38, Rule 5.
- New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated 275:30-a.
- North Dakota Administrative Code 46-02-07-02(5).
- Washington Administrative Code 296-126-092.
- Tennessee Code Annotated 50-2-103(h).
- Massachusetts General Law Chapter 149, section 100.
- West Virginia Code 21-3-10a.
- Connecticut General Statute 31-51ii.
- Nevada Revised Statute 608.019.
- Kentucky Statute 337.355.
- Florida Statute 450.081(4).
- Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order #38, Rule 5.
- Nevada Revised Statute 608.019.
- Oregon Administrative Rule 839-020-0050(6).
- Washington Administrative Code 296-126-092(4).
- California Labor Code 512 LAB.
- Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004 (2012).
- California Labor Code 512 LAB.
- 8 California Code of Regulations (CCR) 11040.
- Same.
- Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004 (2012).
- 8 California Code of Regulations (CCR) 11040.
