On February 9, 2023, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (“Bulletin”). The Bulletin provides guidance on the application of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to remote employees. Specifically, the Bulletin addresses break time requirements, breaks for lactating employees, and coverage of remote employees under the FMLA.
In the Bulletin, the DOL reminds employers which break-times are compensable working time under federal law. Specifically, employees must be paid for breaks of 20 minutes or less, while longer breaks are not compensable only if the employee is completely relieved from duty and able to use that time effectively for their own purposes.
While the Bulletin does not address this, employers should also be mindful of state-specific break law requirements applicable to all employees. For example, Massachusetts employers must provide at least a 30-minute meal break for every six hours worked in a calendar day. During their meal break, workers must be free of all duties and free to leave the workplace.
The Bulletin also restates an employer’s obligation to accommodate employees who are expressing breastmilk. Namely, employees are entitled to reasonable break time to express breast milk for their child for one year after the child’s birth and a place, other than a bathroom, that is “shielded from view”...
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