Florida Work Break Laws In Brief
Florida law does not require employers to provide breaks to employees. However, when breaks are offered they must be paid if the break lasts for less than 20 minutes. This is generally in alignment with federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires that short periods of employee time off be compensated to ensure that such off-duty time does not encourage employees to report small overtime claims to the Department of Labor (DOL) or bring other legal action against the employer.
Unlike the DOL, under the FLSA Florida law does not require employers to offer unpaid meal breaks , stipulating only that any meal breaks exceeding 20 minutes may be unpaid. Therefore, unlike many other states, Florida does not have any state-specific laws requiring meal breaks. Therefore, if employees work in Florida and are only offered meal breaks of any length, such meal breaks can be excluded from hours worked and thus unpaid.
In addition to these requirements, some Florida county laws might also require paid and/or unpaid rest breaks and/or meal breaks. Therefore, the best practice is for all Florida employers to consult with a labor attorney familiar with state employment laws to ensure that their various employment policies concerning work breaks are compliant.
Meal Break Requirements in Florida
Florida, unlike many states, does not have a required state-mandated meal or rest period. However, under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), a bona fide meal period is excluded from compensable work time.
Under the FLSA, a "bona fide meal period" is any meal period of 30 minutes or more. To be a bona fide meal period, the employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. The employee must not be able to use the time for his or her own personal benefit. Bona fide meal periods do not apply to short breaks or to meal periods lasting less than 30 minutes.
The law contemplates that the employee will be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. If the employer cannot make the employee so completely relieved from duty that he or she can use the time for his or her own purposes, the time is not a "bona fide meal period." Accordingly, a "bona fide meal period" may be undisturbed or disturbed. If the employee is not relieved for the entire period, the time must be counted as hours worked (i.e. paid).
Unfortunately, there are very few Florida and federal court cases addressing meal periods. For this reason, the Florida Agency (Fla. Department of Labor) and the U.S. Department of Labor have important interpretations of the law regarding meal periods. The Department of Labor recommends that if the employer is going to provide a meal break, the employer should consider the following:
• Do not interrupt the employee while they are eating.
• Do not allow the employee to do work, even incidental work, while on their meal break. However, if the employee does work incidental to their meal break, the interruption can turn a "bona fide meal period" into hours worked and compensable time.
• In some instances, if the 30 minute meal period is interrupted, but not totally consumed, the Department of Labor recommends allowing the employee to bring their meal period to the end of their shift to complete the balance of their meal period.
• Employer must provide work environment that protects employees from outside contamination.
Entitlement to Rest Periods
Unlike meal breaks, there is no general legal requirement that employers must provide employees with rest breaks or coffee breaks. The general rule in Florida is that breaks of up to 20 minutes need not be paid to employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does, however, require that short breaks that last from 5 to 20 minutes must be compensated. 29 U.S.C. § 785.18. Employers should be mindful that the FLSA applies to covered workers and overriding state law does not provide a minimum protection.
When determining whether a break or period of time off during scheduled working hours qualifies as a "rest" period under federal law, the courts will consider criteria including:
Whether the break is intentional or it occurs unexpectedly.
Whether the break is an isolated occurrence or is scheduled as part of an employee’s workday.
The amount of time employees are expected to remain on the premises.
Whether employees are actually relieved from their major responsibilities.
Whether the opportunity to rest is regular or irregular.
Whether any other work is expected of employees during the break.
The Florida Administrative Code has specifically addressed rest breaks in their rules for safety, health, and environmental protection. These rules mandate that employers provide rest periods of 10 minutes per hour to youth employees and miners. Florida Statutes mandate rest periods for miners, and servicing power equipment within worksites must also be made available for workers without other activities, this would prohibit yards and garages from using the power equipment for these purposes.
As for school bus drivers, they receive at least 30 minutes of paid rest. If the paid break occurs while operating a school bus, the bus driver must remain in sight of the bus at all times. Rest periods for school bus drivers are determined by the local governmental board or body over the transportation service. Rest periods for bus drivers cannot be less than 30 minutes unless negotiated by the school district and the provider of the transportation service.
Exceptions and Special Circumstances
Employers are well aware of the mandated meal breaks and rest periods they must provide to employees in Florida; however, what can make the issue murky is whether or not there are any exceptions or special cases to this break law? The following is a short description of the categories of employees who may be exempt from Florida’s work break laws.
First, just as in adults, a working minor, ages 14 through 17, is generally entitled to a meal period of at least 30 minutes after working for 4 uninterrupted hours if working during the school calendar. If school is not in session, certain work restrictions apply to minors that can act as a sort of implicit break provision. For example, minors under the age of 15 cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on school days and are only permitted to work 8 hours on non-school days. Further, working minors under 16 years old are prohibited from working more than 40 hours per week. Even if a minor is not at work, however, the meal period restriction is not particularly practical given the time period in which they cannot work: if your business opened at 7 a.m., there would be no potential time period to give the minor an uninterrupted 30-minute meal period.
Depending on the industry in which the employee works, a mandated meal period may also not apply under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). For example, employees in some healthcare fields whose work is so continuous that they need frequent rest periods of short duration are exempt from the FLSA rest period provision. Alternatively, if an employee is a commissioned salesperson, they are exempt from the mandatory meal period.
However, absent a compelling exception such as the above, it is likely that you will be subject to the general work break laws provided by Florida Statute.
Consequences for Failing to Provide Breaks
Employers who do not understand the law regarding breaks or fail to provide them altogether run the risk of facing serious legal repercussions. Despite federal law not requiring breaks, many states, including Florida, have their own laws regarding the issue. An employer that does not provide legally mandated breaks may face a lawsuit by an affected employee, and if the employee wins, they can be compensated for damages, back pay and legal fees. Other potential remedies for legal violations include payment of unpaid back wages or changes in company policies and practices to comply with wage and hour laws. If the actions of the employer are particularly egregious in the eyes of the court, they may be required to pay punitive damages as well. There are a number of different types of damages an employee may recover in a break time lawsuit, including: • Payment for all hours worked, including overtime if applicable • Double the amount of withheld or improper wages under certain circumstances • Compensation for lost benefits • Full coverage of an employee’s costs associated with a lawsuit for unpaid wages • Payment of attorneys’ fees and legal expenses • Reinstatement of employment , if necessary • Provision of reasonable accommodations in the workplace Employees must file lawsuits related to unpaid wages within a set period of time. In Florida, employees have five years from the date of a pay period they believe to be incorrect to file a lawsuit. Floridians may also file a complaint with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which can then begin an investigation into the matter. Regardless of whether an employee plans to file a lawsuit immediately, for the best chance of achieving a favorable outcome in this process, it is best for any employee concerned about the potential of incorrectly withheld wages to immediately keep track of their hours worked and/or not given appropriate breaks. The majority of Florida’s wage and hour laws are enforced by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Your case will likely be reviewed by the Wage Claims Section, which has the authority to issue administrative wage order for the proper compensation of one or more employees or to dismiss the claim if they find no wrongdoing.
Resolving Work Break Problems
Employees who believe that their rights to work breaks are being violated should first raise the issue with a supervisor or HR representative. It is generally a good idea to do so in writing, with a copy sent to oneself via email. That way there is a record of the complaint.
Unfortunately, we have seen many clients who have raised the issue of uncertainty with supervisors and been told that it is not a problem. Despite the company’s assurances, it sometimes later, becomes a problem.
If the issue cannot be resolved internally, violations of this policy are discussed with an attorney. For example, if an employee has not been provided an uninterrupted meal period, the attorney may look at their paystubs to see if the employee was paid a full work week for the days he worked.
If a break must be provided under the law, but was not, the salary may be considered to encompass an unpaid meal period. As in all compensation issues, this would be tricky to quantify and would require a careful eye.
Comparison with Other States
Florida’s laws concerning breaks for employees differ somewhat from other states, but in general Florida’s laws are less stringent than those of many other states, especially when compared with California (which requires a one hour paid meal break after five consecutive hours of work) or New York (which requires a 20-minute unpaid meal break after five consecutive hours of work).
Many states have provided more (or enhanced) protections than those in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act with regard to employees’ rights to time off for meals and rest.
Some states require that employers provide numerous breaks to its employees. Others , however, including Florida, do not. Some even require lengthy and expensive recordkeeping requirements. Those states may be friendly toward employee rights in other areas, but provide limited protections for meal and rest breaks.
The United States Department of Labor has a very useful chart of state break laws. Employers have to keep in mind that it is updated infrequently and that state laws change regularly.