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Speak Up! - View Question #187 |
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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.
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| Comments |
| 86 thru 90 of 92 comments |
... 16 17 [ 18 ] 19
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On 07/17/02
Betty from MA said:
I thought it was required to have a 15 minute break every 4 hours.
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On 03/26/02
Craig from IA said:
In spite of what this web site states regarding mandatory breaks for certain hours worked, I can find no such law (I also thought that these break periods were mandated by federal law). The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor regulate such things. Their site can be found at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/008.htm. On that page you will find the following statement:
"When must breaks and meal periods be given?
The FLSA does not require breaks or meal periods be give
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On 01/29/02
N&A from IL said:
Our employer does not give us a 15 min break in a four hr. shift. We even work 7-8 hrs. a day, and never recieve a break.
We do get free food and a paid lunch, but if someone comes into the store, we have to wait on them when we are on our
"lunch". So therefore we don't get any break at all. Also, our lunch is only 10 min long. Is this legal just because she
gives us free food? Also, we are not allowed to sit during the entire extent of our shift, except for our 10 min, lunch.
Can she do this?
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On 01/29/02
N&A from IL said:
We are in high school. Three times now, our boss has called MANDATORY employee meetings that start at 10:00p.m.
and go past midnight. Once, we were kept out past 1:00am on the morning of semester final exams. We were both late
and almost didn't get to take them. These meetings are nothing but griping and complaining on her part. Nothing ever
gets accomplished. We are allowed to clock in and get paid for these meetings. Is it legal for us to be out this late
on a school night just for a meeting or for work at all?
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On 12/03/01
Mendez from AZ said:
I work for a company that sometimes works our employees in 12 hours shifts. They are allowed one 50 minute break a day, all at one time. They use to have one half our break and one 20 minute break. Isn't my employer required to give them 2 ten minute breaks in a 8 hour shift, along with the half hour lunch break?
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| 86 thru 90 of 92 comments |
... 16 17 [ 18 ] 19
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