Many people are surprised to learn that employees are not entitled to lunch or coffee breaks under federal law (as long as certain conditions are met), though many states’ laws do have requirements around meal and rest breaks, including the state of New York’s.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers may automatically deduct meal and/or break time from employees’ hours worked, however, they must ensure that employees receive the full duration of the break-in question.
Working While Eating
Under the FLSA, if an employer provides meal breaks (and the state of New York says they have to), the employee must be completely relieved of duty.
Meaning, an employee is not considered to be completely relieved of duty if he or she is required to perform any work whatsoever, whether active or inactive, even if eating at the time.
(It’s worthwhile to note that some courts have interpreted this legislation more conservatively in favor of a predominant benefit test “to determine, on a case-by-case basis, to whom the benefit of the meal period inures.”)
Overtime
When determining whether an employee is owed overtime, unworked time--- including meal periods -- does not have to be counted. Conversely, if an employee works during a meal period, that time must be counted towards overtime when applicable.
Interrupted Meals
If employees’ meals are interrupted and they have to perform work during that time, they must be paid for the full duration of the break. It’s a good idea for employers to establish a reasonable process for employees to report missed meal breaks to limit liability exposure for lawsuits.
In New York, however, there is a One-Employee Shift exception that addresses situations where only one person is on duty (or is the only one in a specific occupation) where it is customary for the employee to eat on the job without being relieved.
If an employee voluntarily consents to such an arrangement, it is acceptable under this exception. (There are detailed guidelines around this sort of situation of course, but this is the general rule.)
If your employer does offer short breaks (which usually last between 5 and 20 minutes), under both federal and New York state laws, these breaks are compensable and are considered when determining whether overtime was worked. This is because they’re viewed as common in the industry, and as promoting efficiency.
To be clear, genuine meal breaks (which usually last 30 minutes or longer) are not compensable because, under the FLSA, they’re viewed as serving a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks.
Employers are strongly advised to consider including an employee handbook policy that clearly defines expectations for meals and breaks in alignment with federal and/or state law.
Employers should also consider distributing meal and rest break policies and procedures in writing to employees, including language covering things like uninterrupted break policies and unauthorized breaks.
As long as the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to employees specific requirements concerning what’s acceptable and what isn’t, unauthorized time does not need to be counted as hours worked.
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