Are Lunch Breaks Paid? Meal and Rest Break Laws by State (2026)

By Nicole Hullihen, former SaaS Chief Operating Officer and Microsoft MVP · Updated October 12, 2026

Quick Answer

Under federal law, lunch breaks don't have to be offered or paid. A meal break of usually 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved of duty; short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes must be paid. About 20 states require meal breaks, and 9 require paid rest breaks, such as California's 30-minute meal after 5 hours and 10-minute rest per 4 hours.

Under federal law, lunch breaks don't have to be paid, and employers don't have to offer them at all. A meal break of usually 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved of duty. Short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes, if given, must be paid. About 20 states add their own meal or rest break rules, listed below.

Note: This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and cities can add their own rules, so confirm with your state labor department or an employment attorney before relying on it. Last checked October 12, 2026.

Federal Law: Are Lunch Breaks Paid?

Type of break	Federal rule
Any break at all	Not required by federal law
Short rest break (about 5 to 20 minutes)	Must be paid; it counts as hours worked, including for overtime
Meal break (usually 30+ minutes)	Can be unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved of duty
Meal break where the employee keeps working (answering phones, watching a counter)	Must be paid

The U.S. Department of Labor states it directly: "Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks." When employers do offer short breaks, "federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours." A meal period is unpaid only when "the employee must be completely relieved from duty."

States That Require Meal Breaks for Adult Employees

State	When it applies	Length	Notes
California	Work over 5 hours; second meal over 10 hours	30 minutes each	Unpaid if fully relieved. First meal can be waived by mutual consent if the day is 6 hours or less. Missed meal owes 1 hour of pay at the regular rate
Colorado	Shifts over 5 consecutive hours	30 minutes	Unpaid only if duty-free; an on-duty meal must be paid
Connecticut	7.5 or more hours	30 minutes	Between the 2nd hour and the last 2 hours; exceptions by agreement
Delaware	7.5 or more hours	30 minutes	Between the 2nd hour and the last 2 hours; some exceptions
Illinois	7.5 continuous hours	20 minutes, plus 20 more for each additional 4.5 hours	Must start within 5 hours of the work period
Kentucky	Between the 3rd and 5th hour	Reasonable period, usually 30 minutes	Unpaid; exceptions by agreement
Maine	After 6 consecutive hours	30 minutes	Not required with fewer than 3 people on duty who get frequent paid breaks
Maryland	4 or more consecutive hours (retail with 50+ retail employees only)	15 to 30 minutes by shift length	Applies only to large retail employers
Massachusetts	Every 6 hours	30 minutes	Must be duty-free; some industry exemptions
Minnesota	6 or more consecutive hours	30 minutes	Unpaid
Nebraska	8-hour shift (assembly plants, workshops, mechanical establishments)	30 minutes	Limited to those industries
Nevada	8 continuous hours	30 minutes	Employers with 2+ employees
New Hampshire	After 5 consecutive hours	30 minutes	Not required if the employee can eat while working and the employer allows it
New York	Shifts over 6 hours	30 to 60 minutes depending on hours and industry	Factories and night shifts have longer rules
North Dakota	Shifts over 5 hours with 2+ employees on duty	30 minutes, if the employee wants it	Unpaid if fully relieved
Oregon	6 or more hours	30 minutes	Must be paid if not fully relieved
Rhode Island	6-hour shift: 20 minutes; 8-hour shift: 30 minutes	20 to 30 minutes	Excludes health care facilities and sites with fewer than 3 employees per shift
Tennessee	6 or more consecutive scheduled hours	30 minutes	Unpaid; not in the first hour
Vermont	During the workday	No set length	Reasonable opportunity to eat and use the toilet
Washington	Over 5 hours; starts between the 2nd and 5th hour	30 minutes	Paid if the employee must stay on duty or on premises
West Virginia	6 or more hours	20 minutes	Only where employees don't get breaks or can't eat while working

No general adult meal break law: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. The federal rule applies there, though some have rules for minors or specific industries.

States That Require Paid Rest Breaks

State	Rule
California	10 paid minutes per 4 hours (or major fraction); not required under 3.5 hours. Missed rest break owes 1 hour of pay
Colorado	10 paid minutes per 4 hours (or major fraction)
Illinois	Hotel room attendants in Cook County only: two paid 15-minute breaks per 7+ hour day
Kentucky	10 paid minutes per 4 hours, plus the meal period
Minnesota	At least 15 paid minutes per 4 consecutive hours; missed breaks owe the break time plus an equal amount in damages
Nevada	10 paid minutes per 4 hours (or major fraction); not required under 3.5 hours
Oregon	10 paid minutes per 4 hours (or major portion), separate from meals
Vermont	Reasonable opportunities to eat and use the toilet
Washington	10 paid minutes per 4 hours; no more than 3 hours of work without a rest break

In all other states, rest breaks aren't required. If you give them anyway and they're short, federal law says they must be paid.

Common Lunch Break Mistakes

Auto-deducting 30 minutes when employees actually work through lunch. If they work, it's paid time, and it can push them into overtime.
Calling a 15-minute break "unpaid lunch." Under federal rules, breaks that short are generally paid.
"Lunch at your desk" while still answering phones. That's work time.
Missing state premiums. In California, a missed meal or rest break owes an extra hour of pay at the regular rate.

Working long shifts? See how many breaks you get in a 12-hour shift.

State Break Laws in More Detail

The tables above give the headline rule. The states below have the details employers ask about most, taken from each state's own law or labor department guidance.

California

First meal: 30 minutes for a work period of more than 5 hours, starting no later than the end of the fifth hour. It can be waived by mutual consent only if the whole workday is 6 hours or less.
Second meal: 30 minutes when the workday is more than 10 hours, starting no later than the end of the tenth hour. It can be waived only if the workday is 12 hours or less and the first meal wasn't waived.
On-duty meals: allowed only when the nature of the job prevents relief from all duty, with a written agreement the employee can revoke in writing at any time. On-duty meal time is paid.
Rest breaks: a net 10 paid minutes for every 4 hours worked or major fraction of 4 hours (more than 2 hours). No rest break is required if the total workday is under 3.5 hours.
Missed breaks: one additional hour of pay at the regular rate for each workday a meal period is missed, and one additional hour for each workday a rest period is missed.

Colorado

Colorado requires a 30-minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal period for shifts over 5 consecutive hours and, where practical, the meal should start at least 1 hour into the shift and end at least 1 hour before it ends. If a duty-free meal is impractical, the employee must be allowed to eat while working and be paid for that time. Rest breaks follow this schedule:

Shift length	Paid 10-minute rest breaks
2 hours or less	None
Over 2 up to 6 hours	1
Over 6 up to 10 hours	2
Over 10 up to 14 hours	3

If an employer fails to provide a required rest break, Colorado treats it as time worked and the employer owes 10 minutes of pay for it.

Washington

A 30-minute meal period that starts no earlier than the 2nd hour and no later than the 5th hour of the shift.
No more than 5 consecutive hours without a meal period.
If the employee must stay on duty or on the premises, the meal period is paid.
An employee working 3 or more hours beyond their normal workday gets an additional 30-minute meal period.
A paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked, as close to the middle of the work period as possible, and no more than 3 hours of work without one. Where the work allows intermittent rest totaling 10 minutes per 4 hours, scheduled breaks aren't required.

Minnesota

Minnesota requires a rest break of at least 15 minutes, or enough time to use the nearest restroom, whichever is longer, within each 4 consecutive hours of work. Employees working 6 or more consecutive hours get a meal break of at least 30 minutes, which doesn't have to be paid. An employer that fails to provide required breaks owes the missed break time at the regular rate plus an equal amount as damages.

New York

New York's meal rules depend on the type of workplace and the time of day. Most non-factory employees who work a shift of more than 6 hours that extends over the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. period get at least 30 minutes off between those hours. Employees who start before 11 a.m. and work past 7 p.m. get an additional 20 minutes between 5 and 7 p.m. Shifts of more than 6 hours that start between 1 p.m. and 6 a.m. get 45 minutes midway through the shift, or 60 minutes in a factory. New York has no general paid rest break requirement.

Illinois

Employees scheduled to work 7.5 continuous hours must get at least 20 minutes for a meal, beginning no later than 5 hours after the start of the work period.

Lactation Breaks Under Federal Law

Separate from meal and rest breaks, the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act gives most nursing employees the right to reasonable break time to pump each time they need to, for one year after the child's birth. The space must be shielded from view, free from intrusion and not a bathroom. Pump breaks can be unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved from duty. If the employee uses a paid break to pump, it's paid the same as anyone else's break, and if she works while pumping, that time must be paid. Many states add their own lactation rules.

Can Employees Skip Lunch and Leave Early?

Under federal law, yes, because federal law doesn't require a meal break in the first place. In states that require meal breaks, it depends on the state's waiver rules. California, for example, only allows the first meal break to be waived when the whole workday is 6 hours or less. Even where it's legal, many employers require breaks as a matter of policy, so check the handbook first.

Breaks for Remote and Hourly Employees Working From Home

The same rules apply at home. A short break is still paid time under federal law, and a meal break is unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved from duty. The hard part is tracking it. If remote hourly employees clock out for lunch and keep answering messages, that time is work and must be paid. A time clock with a break button makes it clear when breaks start and end.

How to Write a Break Policy

Start with the strictest rule that applies where your employees actually work, state or local.
Spell out when meal breaks happen, how long they are and whether they're paid.
Say whether rest breaks are offered, how long they are and that they're paid.
Require employees to clock out and back in for unpaid meal breaks instead of auto-deducting them.
Tell employees what to do if they can't take a break, such as notifying a manager the same day so pay can be corrected.
Train managers not to interrupt unpaid meal breaks with work.
Review break records each pay period for missed or short breaks.

Example: How Break Rules Change One 10-Hour Shift

Here's how the same 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. shift, with a 30-minute unpaid lunch, plays out in a few places. This assumes an adult, non-exempt employee and no waivers.

Location	Meal breaks required	Paid rest breaks required
Federal only (for example, Texas)	None required	None required; any short break given must be paid
California	One 30-minute meal by the end of the 5th hour; a second is required only if the workday is over 10 hours	2 (10 hours is two 4-hour blocks plus a 2-hour remainder, which isn't a "major fraction")
Colorado	One 30-minute meal	2 (shift over 6 up to 10 hours)
Washington	One 30-minute meal between the 2nd and 5th hour	10 paid minutes per 4 hours worked, with no more than 3 hours of work without a rest break
Minnesota	One 30-minute meal (6+ consecutive hours)	At least 15 minutes within each 4 consecutive hours

The 30-minute unpaid lunch isn't work time, so this employee works exactly 10 hours. In California, working more than 10 hours in the day would require a second meal period.

Track Breaks Accurately

Updoot's employee time clock includes a break timer that keeps running even if the app is closed, so unpaid meal breaks are recorded as taken instead of auto-deducted, and payroll reflects what actually happened.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Are lunch breaks paid? ▶

Under federal law, a meal break of usually 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved of duty. If the employee keeps working during lunch, it must be paid. Some states add their own rules.

Is a lunch break required by law? ▶

Not under federal law. About 20 states require meal breaks for adults, such as California (30 minutes after 5 hours), New York, Washington, Colorado and Illinois.

Are 15-minute breaks paid? ▶

Yes, under federal law short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked and must be paid.

Can an employer make you work through lunch? ▶

In states without a meal break law, yes, but the time must be paid. In states that require meal breaks, skipping one can trigger penalties, such as an extra hour of pay in California.

Can I skip lunch and leave early? ▶

Only if your employer agrees and your state allows the meal break to be waived. California, for example, allows a waiver by mutual consent only when the workday is 6 hours or less.

Are smoke breaks paid? ▶

Under federal law, short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are paid no matter what the employee does during them. Employers don't have to offer smoke breaks, but if they allow a short break, it counts as work time.

Can my employer make me stay on site during an unpaid lunch? ▶

Under federal rules, a meal break can still be unpaid if you're completely relieved of duty, even if you stay on the premises. Some states, such as Washington, require pay if you must stay on duty or on the premises.

Can my employer choose when I take lunch? ▶

Generally yes, as long as the timing meets any state rule, such as California's requirement that the first meal start by the end of the fifth hour.

Do salaried employees get lunch breaks? ▶

Federal law doesn't require breaks for anyone. Some state break laws cover exempt employees and some don't, so check your state's rule.