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Question: How many breaks at work are required by law?

Answer: State Laws usually mandate when employers must give you "rest periods" or breaks. How much and when depends mostly on the discretion of the employer, but there are some legal protections.

There is no federal law that gives you meal or rest breaks. However, states sometimes have labor laws which mandate time off for meals (like a lunch break) or for a rest break (perhaps a mid-afternoon break). Further, labor unions oftentimes have specific contracts that explicitly mandate time for breaks. Whether or not you can get paid during breaks depends on your employer and on the same state labor laws.


Comments
71 thru 75 of 92 comments
On 09/09/03
mike from CA said:
I am not law savvy, but I am pretty sure that no employer can punish anyone by taking away their hard earned money,Come on now!!They can though write you up for not wear proper attire.
On 08/30/03
Lana from TX said:
Check out this website for all the labor laws in your state. All the information is here. If you only get a 20 minute break, it HAS to be paid. Save all your time punches, clock out slips or whatever you get and add your hours up. You have to be paid for what you work! http://www.ewin.com/articles/restper.htm
On 08/23/03
Rob from OH said:
I work for a well known company named WALGREENS, and i have to work 8 hr. shifts even when im in school. I took a 15min. break at 10am and then a lunch at 12pm and then tried to take another 15min at 2pm. The assistant manager came to the office and said "what in the he*l are you doing?" I told her i was on my break and her and another assistant manager barked at me stating that i have to work for 5hrs. before i can get a break and thats only if they feel like giving it to me. I told them no and they wrote me up for it. They also said that i was allowed to go on a 5min break 2 times in a day a
On 08/09/03
Jeremy from VA said:
Yeah. I'm 15. When I work 8 hours I get a 20 minute break. Even if its 30 mintes after I get there, and I don't get any more breaks unless i'm working more than 8 hours. But, I can't work more than 8 because of my age.
On 07/22/03
Lauren from CA said:
I work 10+ hours a day, and sometimes we are so busy, we don't get time off for lunch. I bring a lunch incase this happens, but aren't we intitled to an hour break, especially since we are working so many hours in a day? Also, if we are not given a lunch break, aren't the employeers intitled to provide lunch for the office?
71 thru 75 of 92 comments



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