Lunch Break Laws Aren’t Always a Requirement for Employers

Most employers provide their employees with a paid or unpaid lunch break, and some provide additional rest break periods. But did you know that breaks aren’t required by law? Federal law, anyway.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the law that governs wages and hours, does not mandate that employers provide meal or rest breaks to employees. Like many other federal laws in the human resources space, some states have stepped in to bridge the gap.

Lunch Break Laws: Here’s What You Need To Know

The federal law dictates that if an employee gets meal or rest breaks, the company does not have to pay them for that time unless:

• State law requires paid breaks
• The employee works through a break time (e.g., if they eat while working)
• It’s a shorter break that lasts 20 minutes or less

Unions and Mandatory Rest Breaks

To add to the complexity around the legality of mandatory rest and meal breaks, union collective bargaining agreements can also provide for breaks even in states that don’t require them. For example, depending on the particular collective bargaining agreement, an employee might take a 30-minute unpaid lunch break and two paid 10-minute breaks during an 8-hour shift.

Does Your State Require Lunch Breaks?

To help employers, we’ve created a chart and table explaining meal break laws at work for every state. Watch out, though: Some states’ laws apply only to employees who are minors. Check states’ laws for...

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