labor lawAdivision of labor law center

I find that lunches and breaks taken by workers are often a subject that is often of great interest to employers and employees alike. In my recent research into this area, I have learned that Missouri is one of a number of states that have no specific regulations covering this topic.

Even though there aren’t any state laws covering this subject, there are applicable federal rules for Missouri residents. It may surprise you to learn that Federal law does not mandate any specific lunches or breaks. The regulations do, however, offer some regulations as to whether or not an employee should be paid during these times if an employer chooses to offer breaks during the day.

Short rest breaks — usually 20 minutes or less — should be counted as hours worked. Genuine “meal periods” are usually 30 minutes or more, and do not need to be compensated as work time. An employee must also be completely relieved of his or her duties during this meal break for it to qualify as unpaid. If the employee is still required to do any duties (even small duties such as answering a phone), it must instead be a paid break.

Federal law also contains other provisions related to employee pay during times of waiting, sleeping and traveling. When it comes to sleeping time, an employee required to be on duty less than 24 hours is considered to be “working” even if he or she is permitted to sleep during some of those hours when not busy. If an employee is on duty more than 24 hours, a sleeping period of no more than eight hours may be deducted from work hours. However, this can only be done if sleeping facilities are provided and at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep may be achieved by the employee.

Another issue I find comes up in the area of work hours is the issue of travel time. The general rule of thumb is that time spent in the normal day’s commute to and from work is not considered paid working time. However, if an employee is traveling in the course of a days work, it must be considered paid work time.

Whether or not waiting time needs to be considered paid work hours depends on the situation. If an employee is allowed to do something of his or her choosing while waiting for another task to be finished or while waiting at the workplace for his or her services to be called upon, it is generally considered work time. On the other hand, if an employee is waiting to be called upon from home or elsewhere, but has great freedom to do what he or she wishes while on call (and has plenty of time to respond to the call), it is not generally considered paid work time.

Complete information on the laws related to lunches, breaks and other pertinent labor issues can be found on the Missouri Complete Labor Law Poster.

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1. Posted by: Gary Smith

   I had worked for [company name deleted], a major oil company for two and a half years and during that time the employees were not allowed to take breaks. All employees work 10 hour shifts and there is no paid or unpaid breaks within that time frame.
   I would like to know if the actions of [company name deleted] are legal or not according to Missouri Labor Law.

   Thank you,

   Gary T. Smith

2. Posted by: William T. Johnson

   My wife has worked for a not for profit company for over five years. During her entire employment she must travel from point A to point B and take her lunch break during that travel time. She must then fill her duties and travel back home.
   All sounds fair and legal, but when you break everything down to what it really is, I wonder if it is legal.
   She must get up at 4am(most of the time), travel 3 hrs(paid) take her lunch break during that morning travel time, then work 12 to 16 hrs with no breaks or lunches and at the end of the day travel back home(paid).

   I know employers do not have to give you any <20 minute breaks, but can they really force you to work 12 hours or more without something to eat??

3. Posted by: Amelia

   Hi William! We agree that these are very harsh working conditions. Unfortuantely, they are not illegal in Missouri.
   Nineteen U.S. states have break laws that apply to nearly all employees. Some of those states require an additional meal break when the employee works more than 10 hours in the day. Unfortunately, Missouri has no such law. In fact, if the employer required that your wife work the entire time without any meal break, that would still be legal in Missouri.
   There may be an alternative. OSHA regulations require that employees be permitted to drink water while on duty. Most employers extend this to other liquids, as well. Your wife could probably take a prepackaged liquid protein shake or other nutritious beverage, and drink that while on duty. And, of course, you can contact your state representative about getting a meal break law for Missouri workers. HTH, and thanks for reading the blog.