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.

Navigating Breaks in the United States of America

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.

Alabama

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Alaska

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.