Kentucky Meal and Rest Break Laws

Does your Kentucky employer give you time off for lunch? You may be surprised to learn that federal law doesn't give employees the right to time off to eat lunch (or another meal) or the right to take short breaks during the work day. Although employees must be paid for shorter breaks they are allowed to take during the day, employers are not required to provide these breaks in the first place. Plenty of employers provide these breaks as a matter of custom and policy, perhaps recognizing that an employee who is hungry and tired is neither productive nor pleasant to customers and coworkers. Sensible as this seems, employers are not legally required to allow breaks, at least by federal law.

State law is a different story, however. A number of states require employers to provide meal breaks or rest breaks. Kentucky is one of the few states that mandates both.

Federal Law: Paid vs. Unpaid Breaks

Under federal law, employers must pay employees for hours worked, including certain time that an employer may designate as "breaks." For example, if an employee has to work through a meal, that time must be paid. A receptionist who must cover the phones or wait for deliveries during lunch must be paid for that time, as must a paralegal who eats lunch at her desk while working or a repair person who grabs a quick bite while driving from one job to the next. Even if an employer refers to this time as a lunch break, the employee is still working and entitled to be paid.

Federal law also requires employers to pay for short breaks an employee is allowed to take during the day. Breaks lasting from five to 20 minutes are considered part of the workday, for which employees must be paid.

Employers do not have to pay for bona fide meal breaks, during which the employee is relieved of all duties for the purpose of eating a meal. An employee need not be allowed to leave the work site during a meal break, as long as the employee doesn't have to do any work. Ordinarily, a meal break is "bona fide" if it lasts for at least 30 minutes, although shorter breaks may also qualify, depending on the circumstances.

However, these rules come into play only if an employer allows breaks. Federal law requires only that an employer pay for certain time, even if it is designated as a break. It does not require employers to offer break time in the first place.

Kentucky Requires Meal and Rest Breaks

Kentucky is one of the few states that requires employers to provide both meal and rest breaks.

Kentucky Meal Break Law

Kentucky employees are entitled to a "reasonable" off-duty period to eat a meal (the law doesn't specify how long this break must be). Employees may not be required to take this break before the third hour of work or after the fifth hour of work. The break must be close to the middle of the employee's shift.

This time need not be paid. Coffee breaks, snack time, and required rest breaks do not count towards the meal break.

Kentucky Rest Break Law

Kentucky employers must give employees a paid ten-minute rest break for each four-hour period they work. These breaks are in addition to the required meal break.

Employers must also make reasonable accommodations for employees with pregnancy- or childbirth-related conditions and nursing mothers unless doing so would cause undue hardship.