30 Minute Paid Lunch Breaks

2201660 · January 2002

Within our Casino we have a Cage Person who works alone during the day. This person is entitled to a 30 minute uninterrupted lunch for which we DO PAY for. The problem is that when the Cage Person leaves the cage unattended for 30 minutes, our patrons are inconvenienced. We need to know if we can legally restrict his lunch location to the cage so that the cage is not left unmanned for 30 minutes since we are paying for it? We also need to know what the legal ramifications would be if someone came to the cage and demanded service during his 30 minute paid lunch break. We have only one employee who is creating the situation. All our other employees freely take their lunch breaks within the cage and simply deal with the possibility of a customer coming.

skippy · January 2002

Look at your state's laws. In NH, we don't have to pay a lunch break that is 30 minutes or longer and employees in this state have a right to a lunch break. We can, however, pay them and let them eat on the job if we have that need. In the case where the lunch break is paid, the employee is working while eating and it's legal.

Gar · January 2002

As Skippy suggested, consult with legal counsel regarding your state law. But, it seems to me that since the lunch break is employer-paid, you have the right to have the employee take the break in the cage as part of the job responsibilities. Have you considered shortening the lunch break to 20 minutes and giving the employee a 10 minute break later in the day to get him out of the cage's confinement for a spell?

TheCol · January 2002

The lesson for all is that if the employee remains at his or her work station during a "lunch", eating something or not, it is considered work time and must be paid. There is no requirement for giving a lunch break at all - unless your State has stepped in. Manager must require employee to leave the work station, even over one desk is o.k., to avoid paying for the lunch break. There was a "little old lady" in the Pentagon who retired and taught us this one.

Rockie · January 2002

In South Carolina, we are not required by law to give lunch breaks, but, of course, we do allow employees to take lunch. This is unpaid time and they must clock in and out for it. The time must be at least 30 minutes, away from the work station and be uninterrupted by work. We often have people who eat at their desk, eat on the run, etc. We simply pay them if this occurs and staffing happens to be short that day.

We also allow breaks, but since these are brief periods, these are paid time and should last between 10-15 minutes.

Since you, the employer are paying for your employees' lunch time, then I would think you could dictate the "terms" of where the lunch takes place. I could only see a problem if this was unpaid time and they were "suffered or permitted to work" as I think the law states.

sonny · January 2002

A not so nice little lady from DOL once taught me that if the employees lunch hour is paid and they are permitted, or asked to work it may be ok BUT that time does count toward the calculation of overtime. I worked for a very generous employer who gave us an hour paid lunch. Because it was paid, many people did not mind working thru part or all of it. However as DOL noted it is time worked and can effect overtime. We did pay some money out on this one.

30 Minute Paid Lunch Breaks

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