Meal and Rest Break Regulations by State
- Irshad Ullah and Claire Baker
- Dec 26, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Must-know rules about breaks
The meal and rest break rules below are applicable to hourly workers only in most situations. While salaried workers should also be able to take breaks as-needed, since they are not paid by the hour, tracking break time is less relevant. Also, since exempt workers are able to make their own schedules, it implies that the can also take breaks as needed.
If a salaried worker is unable to take meal and rest breaks as needed, they should work with their manager to adjust the demands of their position rather than their schedule.
Definitions
Rest periods are short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes during work hours. They are paid as hours worked and cannot be offset against other compensable time. Employees should be available for work during these breaks. | Meal periods are long breaks of 30 minutes or more and allow employees to be completely relieved from work duties to eat. They are unpaid and do not include shorter breaks for snacks or coffee. Employees do not need to leave the premises but must not perform any work during this time. |
Federal
The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that a meal periods be counted as “hours worked” and must be paid UNLESS the lunch period lasts at least thirty minutes, and the employee is completely uninterrupted and free from work during their meal break.
Meal periods are long breaks of 30 minutes or more and allow employees to be completely relieved from work duties to eat. They are unpaid and do not include shorter breaks for snacks or coffee. Employees do not need to leave the premises but must not perform any work during this time.
Breaks shorter than 30 minutes are not required under Federal law*. However, breaks of 20 minutes or shorter must be paid and included in the sum of total hours worked when determining overtime, PTO accrual, and FTE equivalents.
When they are not required by law, the start and end of rest breaks is at the employer’s discretion, policy, or the agreement between the employer and the employee (written as ‘Not specified’ in the state-by-state table below).
Twenty-one states have meal break requirements. If your business operates in Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, or West Virginia, see the state requirements below.
So What? Meals of >30 minutes need not be paid, but the employee should be relieved of all duties. Breaks of <30 minutes should be paid. * Although not required under Federal law, many states do require shorter paid rest breaks. See below for the requirements in each state.
State Rest Period Requirements
In addition to longer meal breaks, seven states have rest break requirements. Where applicable, rest break requirements prescribe how many breaks are required for a shift of a given length, as well as when those breaks must fall in the shift.
Rest periods are short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes during work hours. They are paid as hours worked and cannot be offset against other compensable time. Employees should be available for work during these breaks.
If you have employees in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, or Washington, check the state requirements below.
Minors
Thirty-five jurisdictions have separate meal and rest break provisions for minors. You can review child labor requirements in your state on the Federal Department of Labor website here.
Requirements by State
When not required by law, the start and end of rest breaks is at the employer’s discretion, policy or the agreement between the employer and the employee. These states are designated as "Not Specified" in the table below.
Having trouble navigating meal & rest breaks?
State Name (Click the link to view on the state website where it applies) | Are meals and rest breaks required? | Are they paid? | How soon into a shift must they be taken? |
|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Alaska | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | Not Specified | ||
Arkansas | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | In California, nonexempt employees are entitled to a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked, or more than two hours (a "major fraction" of four hours). | This break should ideally be taken in the middle of the work period. Employees working fewer than 3.5 hours in a day are not entitled to a rest break. Employers must count rest periods as paid time, per the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders, enforced by the DLSE. | |
Yes | A 30-minute uninterrupted and duty-free meal period when the shift exceeds five consecutive hours of work. A 10-minute paid rest break for shifts of 4 hours or more. | At least 1 hour after starting and 1 hour before ending a shift, to the extent practical. | |
Yes At least one 30-minute meal break for those working for 7.5 consecutive hours or more. | FLSA Rules Apply | Sometime after 2 and before 5 ½ hours.
| |
Yes | An unpaid meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes for the work of 7.5 or more hours per day. | Sometime after the first 2 and before the last 2 hours of work. | |
Florida | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Georgia | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Hawaii | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Idaho | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | A paid 20-minute meal break for a shift of 7.5 hours, with an additional 20-minute meal break for shift not lasting 12 hours or more. Reasonable restroom breaks, in addition to the meal break must be provided. | No later than 5 hours after the start of the shift. | |
Indiana | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | Fifteen-minute paid rest break for a shift of four to 6 hours, and a 30-minute unpaid break for shifts exceeding 6 hours. | Meal period of 30 minutes at a time approximately halfway between the beginning and end of the shift | |
Kansas | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified | |
Louisiana | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | Unpaid 30 minute meal break for work more than 6 consecutive hours. | Not Specified | |
Maryland | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | Unpaid 30 minutes break for work more than six hours during a calendar day | Not Specified | |
Michigan | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes Time to use the nearest restroom must be provided within each four consecutive hours of work.
Mealtimes must be provided to employees who work eight or more consecutive hours. | A paid break of less than 20 minutes. An unpaid break in which the employee must be completely relieved of duties for at least 20 minutes. | The employer can set the hours an employee works, including when a meal or rest break can be taken. | |
Mississippi | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Missouri | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Montana | No | Paid break times
Unpaid meal periods of half an hour or longer with the employee being completely relieved from duty. | Not Specified |
Nebraska | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | 30-minute uninterrupted, unpaid meal period, for a continuous 8 hours of work.
A paid, 10-minute break for each 4-hour period of work | Not Specified | |
Yes | If the employer cannot allow thirty minutes, the employee must be paid if they are eating and working at the same time/ | After 5 hours. | |
New Jersey | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
New Mexico | No | No deductions for less than 30-minute breaks | Not Specified |
Yes | At least 30 minutes of unpaid time off for a shift of more than 6 hours An additional 20-minute meal break between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. for workdays that extend from before 11:00 a.m. to after 7:00 p.m. | Not Specified | |
North Carolina | No | No deductions for breaks of 30 minutes and above | Not Specified |
Yes A minimum 30-minute meal period must be provided in shifts exceeding five hours when there are two or more employees on duty. | Unpaid 30-minute meal break with employees being completely relieved Other breaks such as 15 minute “coffee” breaks must be paid if offered | Not Specified | |
Yes Two fifteen-minute paid rest periods are permitted during each full eight-hour shift. | Half-hour meal period is not included in computing hours worked. | Not Specified | |
Yes | A 30-minute non-paid meal break during each six-hour period 15-minute paid break during each four-hour period | Not Specified | |
Yes | Two 10-minute paid rest breaks One 30-minute unpaid meal break | Not Specified | |
Pennsylvania | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes | A paid, 20-minute meal period during a six-hour shift An unpaid 30-minute meal period during an eight-hour shift. | Not Specified | |
South Carolina | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
South Dakota | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Texas | No Except for reasonable break times for Nursing Mothers. These breaks are unpaid and apply only to non-exempt employees. | Breaks of 20 minutes or less are paid Unpaid at least 30 minutes long and the employee is completely relieved from duty. | Not Specified |
Yes | A 30-minute unpaid meal or rest period for a shift of consecutive hours. | Not Specified | |
Utah | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes “Reasonable opportunity” to eat and use toilet facilities is mandatory. | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified | |
Yes | Short breaks of less than 20 minutes must be paid Meal breaks of 30+ minutes can be paid | 30-minute break required after five continuous hours of work. | |
Yes “Reasonable” restroom breaks are required. Meal breaks can be waived, but not rest breaks | 4 hours = 10 minute paid break. 5+ hours = 30 minute, generally paid unless the employee is relieved from all duty. Additional meal breaks when working 3+ hours past the end of a scheduled shift | Not Specified | |
Washington, DC | Yes | FLSA Rules Apply | Not Specified |
Yes A 20-minute meal break for shifts of 6 or more hours, if employees cannot take necessary breaks or eat while working. | FLSA Rules Apply | Not specified | |
Wisconsin | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Reasonably close to the usual meal period. |
Wyoming | No | FLSA Rules Apply | Not specified |
Disclaimer: Review all requirements in your state and local area before implementing a Meal & Rest Break policy. Click a state's name to see the State Department of Labor's guidance on the topic (where available).
Comments