“Do I have to give my crew a lunch break?” Under federal law, no. Under the law of about twenty states, often yes (a few only in certain industries), and a handful also require paid rest breaks. In California, a missed break costs an extra hour of pay for each day it happens.
This is the federal rule on paying for breaks you do give, the list of states with their own rules, and a closer look at four states with detailed rules: California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
What federal law says
The Department of Labor puts it plainly: “Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks.” What federal law does control is pay, once you give a break.
On a job site that last rule matters most. A helper told to eat by the trailer and keep an eye on the tools is working. So is the lead who eats with the phone in his hand because customers expect an answer, and the driver eating while he drives to the next job. If that is your lunch, it is paid time, and it counts toward overtime. Is Drive Time Paid? covers the time in the truck.
The states with their own rules
The Wage and Hour Division keeps two tables of state requirements for adults in the private sector, both dated January 1, 2023. Summarized, with Colorado taken from its current rule:
| State | Meal period | Paid rest break |
|---|---|---|
| California | 30 min after 5 hours; a second after 10 | 10 min per 4 hours or major fraction |
| Colorado | 30 min, duty-free, shift over 5 consecutive hours | 10 min per 4 hours or major fraction |
| Connecticut | 30 min after the first 2 hours and before the last 2, for 7½ consecutive hours or more | None listed |
| Delaware | 30 min after the first 2 hours and before the last 2, for 7½ consecutive hours or more | None listed |
| Illinois | At least 20 min, no later than 5 hours into the shift, for 7½ continuous hours or more | Hotel room attendants only |
| Kentucky | Reasonable off-duty period, ordinarily 30 min, between the 3rd and 5th hour | 10 min during each 4-hour period |
| Maine | 30 min after 6 consecutive hours (not where fewer than 3 are on duty and the work allows frequent paid breaks) | None listed |
| Maryland | Retail employers with 50 or more retail employees only | None listed |
| Massachusetts | 30 min for each 6 hours worked | None listed |
| Minnesota | Sufficient unpaid time for 8 consecutive hours or more | Adequate rest within each 4 consecutive hours |
| Nebraska | 30 min off premises per 8-hour shift, in assembly plants, workshops and mechanical establishments | None listed |
| Nevada | 30 min for 8 continuous hours (employers of 2 or more) | 10 min per 4 hours or major fraction |
| New Hampshire | 30 min after 5 consecutive hours, unless it is feasible to eat while working | None listed |
| New York | 30-min noonday period for shifts of more than 6 hours that span the noon meal (1 hour in factories), plus other periods by shift | None listed |
| North Dakota | 30 min, if the employee wants it, on shifts over 5 hours, when 2 or more are on duty | None listed |
| Oregon | 30 min, relieved of all duty, for each work period of 6 to 8 hours | 10 min per 4 hours or major part |
| Rhode Island | 20 min within a 6-hour shift; 30 min within an 8-hour shift | None listed |
| Tennessee | 30 min for 6 consecutive hours or more | None listed |
| Vermont | “Reasonable opportunities” to eat and use toilet facilities | Same |
| Washington | 30 min if the work period is more than 5 consecutive hours | 10 min per 4 hours |
| West Virginia | 20 min for 6 hours or more | None listed |
Three cautions. The tables carry coverage notes and exceptions this summary leaves out, such as small-employer and union-contract exclusions, so read your state’s row in full. They are dated January 1, 2023, and rules change: DOL’s meal table still describes Colorado’s meal rule as covering four industries, while Colorado’s current rule, quoted below, applies to employees generally, subject to its listed exemptions. And workers under 18 often have their own rules: a footnote to the meal table says 35 jurisdictions have separate meal-period provisions for minors (Summer Help Under 18 covers the rest of the teen rules).
California: the construction wage order
California’s rules for crews sit in Industrial Welfare Commission Order 16. It covers on-site construction occupations, “including but not limited to work involving alteration, demolition, building, excavating, renovation, remodeling, maintenance, improvement, and repair work,” and work that needs a contractor’s license.
Union crews can fall under different terms: the order and §512(e) and (f) let a qualifying collective bargaining agreement for construction occupations set its own meal-period terms.
Washington, Oregon and Colorado
Washington (WAC 296-126-092). A meal period of at least thirty minutes, starting no less than two hours and no more than five hours into the shift, and no one works more than five consecutive hours without one. It is on the employer’s time if the employee must stay on duty at the work site. Three or more hours past a normal workday earns another thirty minutes. Rest is ten paid minutes for each four hours, near the middle of the period, and “No employee shall be required to work more than three hours without a rest period.” Where the work allows intermittent rest adding up to the same time, scheduled breaks are not required.
Oregon (Oregon Administrative Rules, chapter 839, division 20, rule 0050). For a work period of six to eight hours, a meal period of at least 30 continuous minutes relieved of all duties; if the worker is not relieved, the employer pays the whole 30 minutes. Rest is ten paid minutes for each four hours or major part. It must be taken separately from the meal period: an employer may not add it to lunch, or move it to the start or end of the shift to shorten the day.
Colorado (7 CCR 1103-1, Rule 5). A duty-free meal period of at least 30 minutes when the shift exceeds five consecutive hours. When the work makes that impractical, the employee eats on duty and is paid for it. Rest is ten paid minutes per four hours or major fraction: one rest period for more than two and up to six hours, two for more than six and up to ten, three for more than ten and up to fourteen. A rest period not allowed is treated as ten minutes of work that was not paid.
A crew day that works
Say a three-person siding crew in Washington starts at 7:00 and finishes at 3:30. One schedule that meets the rule:
| Time | Break | Paid? |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 to 9:10 | Rest | Yes |
| 11:00 to 11:30 | Lunch, fully off duty | No |
| 1:30 to 1:40 | Rest | Yes |
That is eight paid hours, each four hours of work has its ten-minute rest near the middle, no stretch of work runs longer than two hours, and lunch starts four hours into the shift. The same day works in Oregon and Colorado. In California it would also satisfy the first-meal rule, since lunch starts before the fifth hour ends.
Make it stick
- Put meal start and end times on the timesheet, every day.
- Tell the crew lunch means off: no phone duty, no guarding the trailer. If someone must stay with the equipment, pay that time.
- In a paid-rest state, never deduct rest time. Oregon also bars moving it to the end of the day so the crew can leave early.
- When a day runs long, plan the second meal or the extra rest before it is owed.
- If the crew works in more than one state, check each state’s rule; Working Across a State Line covers the other questions that trip brings.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.