Can My Employer Deduct from Paycheck for My Break Time?
Did you recently receive a paycheck only to learn that your employer docked your wages due to work breaks or that you were not paid wages for break time that your employer added up? You could be owed wages and you could be eligible to file a wage theft claim. Whether or not an employer in Florida must pay an employee for break time depends on the length of the break and, in some cases, the nature of the break, as we will explain below. Consider the following information and get in touch with our South Florida wage and hour lawyers if you have any concerns about the wages you received and whether you are owed additional wages for short breaks you took while you were on the clock.
Laws on Employee Break Time and Pay in Florida
Florida does not have specific state-based laws concerning break time and what employees are owed with regard to break time, which means that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to break time in Florida.
Under the FLSA, employers are not required to provide meal breaks or rest breaks for their employees. However, when employees are permitted to take meal breaks or rest breaks, the FLSA governs wage issues for those breaks. Meal breaks, which are generally understood to be 30 minutes or longer, are not compensable — employees are not required to pay employees for meal breaks, as long as the time is entirely the employee’s own and the employee is not required to perform any work tasks. Short rest breaks, however, are viewed differently by the FLSA. As the US Department of Labor explains, “as a general rule, rest breaks,” which are of short duration of typically 5 to 20 minutes, “are considered hours worked.” As such, employees must be paid for rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes and cannot have their wages docked for this time.
Breaks to Pump Breast Milk Required Under Federal Law
Employees have even more protections when it comes to short breaks to pump or express breast milk.
Under the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which amended the FLSA, most employees in Florida have the right to take reasonable break time “each time such employee has need to express milk” for up to one year after a child’s birth. There is no set number of breaks that an employee is permitted. Rather, the frequency of the breaks and their duration will be based on the nursing employee’s circumstances.
Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Wage and Hour Lawyer for Assistance with Your Unpaid Wages or Wage Theft Claim in Florida
Did your employer deduct wages from your paycheck, or refuse to pay you, for a short break you took? As we discussed above, short breaks are typically compensable in general, but nursing mothers have additional protections under federal law when it comes to taking breaks to pump or to express breast milk. If you were denied wages for break time, it is essential to seek advice from one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour law attorneys at Sconzo Law Office. We can speak with you today to learn more about your circumstances and to help you to seek the wages you are owed from your employer. Contact our firm today for assistance.
Source:
dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa
