The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently ruled that Wisconsin wage and hours laws concerning the compensability of meal periods empower employers to require that such breaks be unpaid. In Wirth v. RLJ Dental,1 the court focused on whether the employer provided a qualifying meal break in the first instance, not on whether employees decided to work during that time.
Under Wisconsin law, bona fide meal periods are not considered work time, and therefore, are not compensable for non-exempt employees.2 But there are some stringent requirements that must be met for the meal period to be considered “bona fide.” First, the meal period must actually be a meal period, as opposed to a rest break, a coffee break, or a time for snacks.3 Second, the meal period must be 30 minutes or more. Third, during that time, the employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals and must be permitted to leave the employer’s premises. If the employee is required to perform any duties while eating, whether active or inactive, then they are not considered completely relieved from duty. For example, an office employee who is required to eat at their desk or a factory worker who is required to be at their machine is not considered completely relieved from duty.
These laws incentivize Wisconsin employers to provide employees with duty-free meal periods that are at least 30 minutes long. However, employees have frequently argued in litigation that...
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