What is the Difference Between a Break and a Rest Period?

Employees in Florida who are classified as non-exempt — meaning in part that they must be paid minimum wage and must receive overtime pay at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond the 40-hour workweek — also have rights concerning rest periods and breaks. To clarify, employees in Florida are not necessarily required to be paid for both under the law, but they may be owed wages for these periods of time depending on the circumstances.

In order to understand compensation for rest periods or breaks in South Florida workplaces for non-exempt employees, it is essential to understand how breaks and rest periods differ from one another. In addition, it is necessary to understand when wages are required for each. Our Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour lawyers can explain in more detail.

Employees Do Not Have Rights to Meal Breaks or Rest Periods Under the Law 

Although some states have state-specific laws that give employees rights to meal breaks or rest breaks, Florida is not one of those states. Rather, employee rights concerning meal and rest periods exist under federal law, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Under the FLSA, employees do not have a right to a meal break or a shorter rest break or period. However, the FLSA is clear that, when employers do permit either type of break, there are certain requirements that employers must follow (and that employees should know about).

Pay Distinction Between Meal Break and Rest Breaks 

The primary difference between a meal break and a rest break under the FLSA is the timing of each, which in turn determines whether the break must be compensated.

The FLSA defines a rest break or a rest period as a “short break” that typically lasts anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Differently, the FLSA defines a meal period or a meal break as a break from work that lasts at least 30 minutes. This timing difference is extremely important because, under the FLSA, it means that rest periods are compensable but meal breaks are not.

As the US Department of Labor (DOL) explains, when it comes to short breaks, the FLSA “considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the workweek and considered in determining if overtime was worked.” Meal periods, according to the DOL, “serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable.”

An important exception to meal periods not being compensable, however, is when employers require any work duties during a meal period. An employee’s meal break must be entirely their time. As soon as an employer requires the employer to perform any work duties during the meal period, it typically becomes compensable time.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Wage and Hour Law Attorney for Assistance 

Any non-exempt employee in South Florida who may be owed wages for a rest period, or for a break period in which they were required to perform any work-related duties, should get in touch with one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour law attorneys at Sconzo Law Office to find out more about filing a wage and hour law claim. Often, with assistance from an attorney, your employer will want to correct any wage theft concerns and ensure that you are paid appropriately and as you are required to be paid under state and federal law. Even if your employer denies that you were owed wages for a rest period or a purported break, our firm is ready to litigate your case. Contact us today to find out more about how we help employees with wage theft cases in South Florida.

Source:

dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa