Updated on December 24, 2020 Read time: 8 mins

Lunch Break Laws By State

Compliance

Lunch Breaks Aren’t Always a Requirement for Employers

Most employers provide their employees with a paid or unpaid lunch break and some provide additional rest break periods. But did you know that breaks aren’t required by law? Federal law, anyway. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the law that governs wages and hours, does not mandate that employers provide meal or rest breaks to employees. Like many other federal laws in the human resources space, some states have stepped in to bridge the gap.

Here's What You Need to Know

The federal law dictates that if an employee gets meal or rest breaks, the company does not have to pay them for that time unless:

State law requires paid breaks
The employee works through a break time (e.g., if they eat while working)
The break lasts 20 minutes or less

Does Your State Require Lunch Breaks?

To help employers, we’ve created a chart and table explaining lunch break laws in every state. Watch out: some states’ laws apply only to employees who are minors. Check states’ laws for additional provisions and exemptions. All hours worked must be consecutive.

State	Covered Employees	Duration
Alabama	14- and 15-year-old employees who work more than 5 hours	At least 30 minutes
Alaska	Under 18 scheduled to work for 5 consecutive hours without a break	At least 30 minutess
Arizona	N/A	N/A
Arkansas	Minors in the entertainment industry who work for at least 5 ½ hours They also must have at least a 12-hour break between work day	30 to 60 minutes
California	All employees who work more than 5 hours a day *Does not apply if the workday is only 6 hours or if waived by mutual consent. A second meal period is required after 10 hours but may be waived if work day isn’t longer than 12 hours and first meal period isn’t waived. (For more details, read our guide to California Compliance) Employees who work for 3 ½ hours or more get one paid rest break for every 4-hour period worked	At least 30 minutes At least 10 minutes
Colorado	Employees covered by Colorado’s Minimum Wage Order who work 5+ hours Paid rest break for every 4 hours worked	At least 30 minutes At least 10 minutes
Connecticut	Employees who work at least 7½ hours	At least 30 minutes
District of Columbia	N/A	N/A
Delaware	Employees who work at least 7 ½ hours Employees under 18 scheduled to work 5 hours	At least 30 minutes At least 30 minutes
Florida	Employees under 18 who work at least 4 hours	At least 30 minutes
Georgia	N/A	N/A
Hawaii	14- and 15-year-old employees who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Idaho	N/A	N/A
Illinois	Employees who work 7 ½ hours or longer Employees under 16 who work 5+ hours	At least 20 minutes At least 30 minutes
Indiana	Employees under 18 who work 6+ hours	1-2 breaks totaling 30 minutes
Iowa	Employees under 16 who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Kansas	If the meal break is under 30 minutes, the employer must pay the employee	At least 30 minutes if unpaid
Kentucky	Employees who work 4+ hours Employees who work 5+ hours	Rest break of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked Meal break of at least 30 minutes
Louisiana	Employees under 18 who work 5 hours	At least 30 minutes unpaid
Maine	Employees who work 6+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Maryland	Certain retail employees Employees under 18 who work 5 consecutive hours	15 minutes for a shift of 4-6 hours 30 minutes for a shift of more 6+ hours 30 minutes for 8+ with an additional 15 minutes for every additional 4 working hours At least 30 minutes
Massachusetts	Employees who work 6+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Michigan	Employees under 18 who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Minnesota	Employees who work 4+ hours Employees who work 8+ hours	Must be enough time to use the nearest restroom Enough time to eat a meal
Mississippi	N/A	N/A
Missouri	Coal miners Employees under 16 Employees in the entertainment industry	At least 1 hour 30-60 minute lunch periods after 5 1/2 hours of work 15-minute rest breaks for every 2 hours of work
Montana	N/A	N/A
Nebraska	Employees of an assembling plant, workshop or mechanical establishment	At least 30 minutes per 8-hour shift
Nevada	Employees working 8+ hours Employees who work 3 ½+ hours	At least 30 minutes At least a 10-minute rest break
New Hampshire	Employees who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
New Jersey	Employees under 18 who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
New Mexico	Employees are not entitled to meal or rest breaks. If employers permit, rest breaks under 20 minutes must be paid. Meal breaks of 30+ minutes can be unpaid.	>20 minutes – rest breaks 30+ minutes – meal breaks
New York	Every person employed or in connection with a factory shall be allowed at least 60 minutes for the noonday meal. Every person employed or in connection with a mercantile or other establishment or occupation under the provisions of this chapter shall be allowed at least 30 minutes for the noonday meal. An employee who works a shift of more than 6 hours which extended over that period shall be entitled to at least 30 minutes off during that time; every person employed for a period or shift starting before 11am and continuing later than 7pm shall be entitled to an additional meal period of at least 20 minutes between 5pm and 7pm. Every person employed more than 6 hours starting between the hours of 1pm and 6am shall be allowed at least 60 minutes for a meal period when employed in or in connection with a factory; 45 minutes for a mercantile establishment.	At least 60 minutes At least 30 minutes
North Carolina	Employees under 16 who work shifts of 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
North Dakota	Employees who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Ohio	Employees under 18 for every 5 hours worked	At least 30 minutes
Oklahoma	Employees under 16 who work 5+ hours Employees under 16 who work 8+ hours	At least 30 minutes At least 30 minutes
Oregon	Employees for every 4 hours or greater part of 4 hours (beginning at 2 hours 1 minute) worked Employees who have worked for 6+ hours	At least 10 minutes for each rest break for adults At least 15 minutes for each rest break for employees under 18 At least 30 minutes
Pennsylvania	Seasonal farm workers for every 5 hours worked Minors under 18 for every 5 hours worked	At least 30 minutes
Rhode Island	Employees who work 6+ hours	20 minutes for employees who work 6 hours 30 minutes for employees who work 8 hours
South Carolina	N/A	N/A
South Dakota	N/A	N/A
Tennessee	Employees who work 6+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Texas	N/A	N/A
Utah	Employees under 18 for every 5 hours worked Employees under 18 for every 3 hours or part thereof worked	At least 30 minutes At least 10 minutes for each rest break.
Vermont	Employers must provide a “reasonable opportunity” to eat and use the restroom. This opportunity must be paid if it is less than 30 minutes	N/A
Virginia	Employees under 16 who work 5+ hours	At least 30 minutes
Washington	Employees ages 14 and 15 for every 2 hours worked. Employees ages 14 and 15 for every 4 hours worked Employees ages 16 and 17 who work 5+ hours Employees ages 16 and 17 get a rest break for every 4 hours worked Employees are entitled to a meal break Employees working 3+ longer than a normal work day get an additional meal break Employees who work 4+ hours get a paid rest break.	At least 10 minutes At least 2 hours At least 30 minutes At least 10 minutes At least 30 minutes At least 30 minutes At least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked
West Virginia	Employees who work 6+ hours get a meal break	At least 20 minutes
Wisconsin	Adult employees are not entitled to meal breaks, but the Wisconsin Administrative Code recommends that employers provide such breaks. Employees under 18 for every 6 hours worked	At least 30 minutes.
Wyoming	N/A	N/A

Paycor is not a legal, tax, benefit, accounting or investment advisor. All communication from Paycor should be confirmed by your company’s legal, tax, benefit, accounting or investment advisor before making any decisions.