
For example, a Registered Nurse is scheduled to work from 8:00am to 8:30pm – a 12.5 hour shift – but only receives pay for 12 hours because the hospital automatically deducts a half-hour for a meal break.
Bill’s employer needs to pay him during these breaks.Įmployers also frequently have automatic deductions for lunch breaks or meals breaks. This 20-minute unpaid break will not qualify as a bona fide meal period, since the time Bill spends walking to and from the break room significantly reduces his meal time.
Bill is completely relieved from his job duties during this time, but due to safety concerns, he cannot eat on the factory floor and must eat in the break room, which is about a five-minute walk from the factory floor.
Bill works in a factory, and he too is provided a 20-minute unpaid lunch break and a 10-minute paid break during his shift. This 20-minute unpaid break will likely qualify as a bona fide meal period. Bob is completely relieved from his job duties during this 20-minute break, and the placement of break rooms in the company is such that any employee could access a break room is less than a minute. Bob works in an office, and his union agrees to a 20-minute unpaid lunch break and a 10-minute paid break during the work day for employees. However, under certain conditions, a shorter period of time may qualify: Generally, bona fide meal periods must last 30 minutes or longer. For example, if an employee was required to eat at his or her desk and answer the phone during the break, then the break is not a bona fide meal break and it must be compensated. Otherwise, an employer is required to pay the employee. For a lunch break to be unpaid, the employee also must not be required to perform any work activities during a bona fide meal period. Short rest breaks of between five (5) and twenty (20) minutes are common, and employees must be paid during this time (More on this below). In other words, whether a lunch break should be paid depends on whether you actually stop working.Ī lunch break is different from a brief rest break, such as a trip to the break room to get coffee. However, employers do not have to compensate employees during “bona fide meal periods.” A bona fide meal period, aka a lunch break or dinner break, is an uninterrupted break where the employee is relieved from all job duties for the purpose of eating meals. Under Federal law and Ohio law, an employer is required to pay its employees for all time spent performing “compensable” work. In this article the Wage and Hour Attorneys at Mansell Law provide everything you need to know about Ohio break laws, including lunch break laws, short break laws, and break laws for minors. The answers to these questions could impact whether you are entitled to overtime compensation or other wages. Should you be paid for your cigarette break, meal break, rest break, lunch break, coffee break or bathroom break? What if your employer automatically deducts your lunch break but you never actually have time to take a lunch break? Find out when you should be paid for breaks in Ohio for employment attorneys. What are the Ohio Break Laws for workers?