- Federal law does not require an employer to provide employees with meal, coffee or snack breaks. Employers are also not required to pay for lunch breaks taken by employees. However, the U.S. Department of Labor recognizes that rest periods of 20 minutes or less are generally paid and requires employers to count such breaks as working time.
- Unions often contract for the provision of meal breaks to workers in a particular industry. A typical labor agreement would provide for a 30-minute lunch break for every 6 to 8 hours of work.
- Florida law requires meal breaks for minors. A minor is a person younger than 18 years of age. In Florida, minors 17 years of age or younger must be given a meal break of at least 30 minutes for every 4 consecutive hours worked. Florida law also restricts the number of hours that a minor may work per day based on the minor's age.
- If an employee feels that an employer has imposed unreasonable working conditions or otherwise violated federal or state law, he may file a complaint with the appropriate authority. If the employee belongs to a union, he should contact that union's representative. An aggrieved employee may also file an internal complaint with his employer or contact Florida's labor department, the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
- In Florida, a legal workday consists of 10 working hours. Employers must pay employees extra for all work in excess of 10 hours in 1 day. If an authorized 15-minute break causes an employee to exceed 10 hours in a given day, the employer must pay that employee overtime. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Labor requires that employers pay any employee working over 40 hours per week at a rate of at least 1.5 times his hourly rate, and authorized breaks can result in federally mandated overtime for that employee.
Federal Law
Labor Unions
Child Labor
Grievances
Other Considerations
SHARE
