Navigating Breaks in the United States of America
Break-time regulations vary from state to state, it may be a complicated topic to understand and schedule for. We’ve done our best to break down breaks for you in this article.
Introduction
A “Break”, as defined by the Canada Labour Code, is “a short period of time during the work period when an employee is released from his obligations to the employer”. Providing a coffee break or meal time during a work shift allows employees to rest and recharge, eat, and attend to personal matters. However, these rest periods are more than just a benefit or perk given to employees, they are also widely regulated and a huge responsibility for schedulers, payroll administrators, and employee relations personnel, all of whom require a good understanding of what break time legislation applies in order to protect your company from potential investigations and lawsuits.
With WorkSight Flow’s shift creation feature, you can add breaks right in to an employee’s schedule. Although scheduling breaks is not required by law, it helps to eliminate any confusion about break times and duration as well as encourages corporate complicity when it comes to break time regulations. Adding breaks into the shifts on the schedule will also automatically generate them on the employee’s timecard, since the timecards are generated based off of the schedule. The time and duration of each break can easily be adjusted to match real time scenarios, as needed. Furthermore, you can use WorkSight’s robust timecard rule engine to automatically compensate employees for their breaks accordingly, based on your organizational policies.
As with most labor regulations topics, certain exceptions for rest breaks may apply in order to accommodate different employee situations and shift types. The basic federal standards for the United States are outlined below.
The information that we've provided in this article is intended to be used as a guideline only. We strongly encourage you to pursue more information about the rules and rates that apply in your region. If any discrepancies exist between what we've shared and the information distributed by your official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.
United States
The Fair Labour Standards Agreement in the United States is not quite as strict as the Canada Labour Standards when it comes to Meal Breaks and Rest between shifts and they don’t impose any federally regulated minimums on breaks, meals, or rest periods. Since there are no federal standards, it is up to the individual States if they want to implement their own regulations, which fewer than half do and many states only define regulations for employees up to a certain age in order to protect their young workers.
Individual Companies or Worker’s Unions may choose to implement their own standards for meals, breaks, or rest periods. Employers that choose to provide break periods to their employees are legally obligated to follow certain requirements. For example, employers may choose to provide short non-meal rest periods (usually lasting up to 20 minutes), but they must pay the employees for that time. Employers who choose to provide a bona fide meal (lasting at least 30 minutes) do not have to pay the employees for that time as long as the employee is not required to be available for work or to perform any work-related tasks during their break, otherwise the employee is considered to be working through lunch and must be paid.
Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Arizona
No state meal or rest break laws
Arkansas
No state meal or rest break laws
California
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
10-minute paid break for every 3½ consecutive work hours
Colorado
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
10-minute paid break for every 3½ consecutive work hours
Connecticut
30-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours
Delaware
30-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours
District of Columbia
No state meal or rest break laws
Florida
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 4 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Georgia
No state meal or rest break laws
Hawaii
Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
Idaho
No state meal or rest break laws
Illinois
20-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours
Indiana
No state meal or rest break laws
Iowa
Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
Kansas
No state meal or rest break laws
Kentucky
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: 10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive hours worked in addition to a “reasonable period” for a meal break
Louisiana
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 4 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Maine
30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
Maryland
Employees under age 18: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Special rules apply for certain retail employees
Massachusetts
30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
Michigan
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Minnesota
Employees must be provided “restroom time and sufficient time to eat a meal”
Mississippi
No state meal or rest break laws
Missouri
No state meal or rest break laws
Montana
No state meal or rest break laws
Nevada
30-minute unpaid break for every 8 consecutive work hours
10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours
New Hampshire
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
New Jersey
No state meal or rest break laws
New Mexico
No state meal or rest break laws
New York
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Requirements vary depending on worker & shift type
North Carolina
Employees under age 16: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
North Dakota
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Ohio
No state meal or rest break laws
Oklahoma
Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
Oregon
30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours
Pennsylvania
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Rhode Island
20-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
30-minute unpaid break for every 8 consecutive work hours
South Carolina
No state meal or rest break laws
South Dakota
No state meal or rest break laws
Tennessee
30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
Utah
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Vermont
Employees must be provided with a “reasonable opportunity” to eat and use the restroom
Virginia
Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws
Washington
30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours
10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours
West Virginia
20-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
Wisconsin
Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours
Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws
Wyoming
No state meal or rest break laws
Again, the information that we've provided is intended to be used as a guideline. If there are any discrepancies between what we've shared and the information distributed by official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.