The January 1, 2026, changes to Minnesota’s meal and rest break laws require employers to provide fifteen-minute breaks and a thirty-minute meal break depending on hours worked. However, the vague amendments left more questions than answers. The questions raised in our July 2025 article were submitted to the state, and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) has now published guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) providing some clarity. While not law, the FAQs indicate how MNDOLI interprets the laws and how they are anticipated to enforce them. MNDOLI has indicated it is evaluating whether it will conduct breaks-related rulemaking.

• Minnesota’s break laws are only applicable to “employees” as defined by the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, excluding exempt employees and some U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-related positions.
• Employers must only provide one meal period per day if an employee works six hours or more.
• An unpaid meal period of twenty minutes or more is not counted as “hours worked” for purposes of calculating rest breaks.

Eligibility—Who Is Entitled to the Statutory Breaks?

Minnesota’s meal and rest break laws only apply to workers who are “employees” as defined by the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MNFLSA), Minn. Stat. 177.23, Subd. 7. Notably, this excludes, and thus does not apply to:

• “any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, or a salesperson who...

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