Worker Breaks and Rights

Summary#

The Worker Rights and Support Act would change the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide meal, rest, restroom, and medical breaks. Meal breaks: employers must give a 30-minute meal period for each 6-hour work period. Meal breaks do not have to be paid unless the worker is not fully relieved of duties or cannot leave the premises; in that case the employer must pay the employee at one and one-half times the regular rate. Employees may voluntarily waive the meal break, but employers may not force a waiver. Rest and restroom breaks: employers must provide, during each 4-hour work period, either at least 10 minutes or a reasonable time to use the nearest working and accessible restroom. Those breaks must be paid at the employee's regular rate. Medical breaks: employers must allow break periods up to 20 minutes each when reasonably required for a medical condition and communicated by a health care provider; those breaks must be paid at the regular rate. Paid break time under the bill counts as hours worked. The bill does not override collective bargaining agreements or state laws that give greater employee protections. It adds violations of these break rules to the list of prohibited acts, expands enforcement and remedies for violations, adjusts the statute of limitations language, and repeals section 10 of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

What it means for you#

  • If you are an employee, the bill would give you a right to a 30-minute meal break every 6 hours, rest/restroom breaks during each 4-hour period, and short paid medical breaks when your health care provider communicates a need. Some breaks would be paid depending on the situation described above. You could choose to waive a meal break, but your employer could not force you to do so. State laws or a collective bargaining agreement that provide stronger protections would still apply.
  • If you are an employer, the bill would require you to provide these breaks and pay for certain breaks as set out in the bill. The bill adds legal liability and remedies for failing to follow the break requirements.

Expenses#

  • The bill requires employers to pay for certain breaks: rest and restroom breaks at the regular rate, medical breaks at the regular rate, and meal breaks at one and one-half times the regular rate when the employee is not fully relieved or cannot leave the premises. Paid breaks count as hours worked.
  • No publicly available information on overall budgetary or aggregate costs to employers, agencies, or the federal government is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.