Ohio Lunch and Break Law

August 7th, 2006 Posted by Sarah

Recently, I’ve been researching state lunch and break laws, as well as other work-hour related issues. In Ohio, the state law only regulates the meal breaks for employees under the age of 18. State law mandates that minors under age 18 be given a 30 minute meal break if they have worked five hours or more. This may be an unpaid break.

While Ohio law does not have any lunch and break provisions for workers 16 and over, residents of the state should know that they are covered by several federal regulations.

Federal law does not mandate any specific meal or rest breaks. It does, however, give guidance as to whether or not an employee should be paid during these times. Short breaks (usually 20 minutes or less) should be counted as hours worked. True “meal periods” are usually 30 minutes or more, and do not need to be paid as work time. During an unpaid meal break, a worker must be completely free of his or her work duties. If the employee is still required to do any duties (even minor duties such as answering a phone), it can’t be considered a meal or lunch period and must be paid.

Federal law also contains regulations related to employee pay during times of waiting, sleeping and traveling. Whether or not waiting time needs to be considered paid work hours depends on the circumstances.

If an employee is at the workplace and allowed to do something of his or her choosing while waiting for one task to be finished or for another to begin, it is generally considered paid work time. A common example of this might be a fire fighter reading a book at the station while waiting for fire calls. On the other hand, if an employee is “on call” at home or elsewhere and waiting to be called upon, it is not generally considered paid work time. For this to be the case the employee must also have great freedom to do what he or she wishes while on call and have plenty of time to respond to the calls.

When it comes to travel time, the principle to observe 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.

Another final issue of interest may be 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 subtracted from work hours. However, this can only be done if sleeping quarters are provided and at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep may be achieved by the employee.

A listing of state and federal regulations relating to lunch and break law may be found on the Ohio Complete Labor Law Poster. This poster also features information on all other state and federal labor law requirements.

Last 10 posts by Sarah

« Hawaii Department of Labor
Oregon Lunch and Break Law »
Posted in Employment Laws, Ohio, Wage and Hour

  1. Posted by: cathy

    When working in factory are you supposed to get breaks when you work 8 or 10 hours?

  2. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Cathy! The short answer is that in Ohio employers don’t have to give breaks, although most do. For a more complete answer to all your HR questions, post them on our forums at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And thanks for reading the blog! Amelia

  3. Posted by: karen

    Are municipal employers or governmental agencies required to give a lunch break or other breaks during the course of the day?

  4. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Karen! For a complete answer to this question, and all your HR questions, post it on our sister site http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And thanks for reading the blog! Amelia

  5. Posted by: Vickey

    I work in a factory. I wanted to know how long we have to work in before we are given breaks. We were sent to all of our breaks early one day, and it was very short in between each one of them. Also, we get two, ten minute breaks ; and our lunch is 18 minutes long. I work 8 and 1/4 hours each day. ( I get paid for lunch)

  6. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Vickey! We have a special site set up to answer questions just like yours. Please post it on http://www.laborlawtalk.com, for all the info. And thanks for reading our blogs! Amelia

  7. Posted by: Will

    I hope you can still answer a question for me. Many of us make doctors appointments around our lunch time, so we don’t miss as much of work. The company i work for is not taking the 30min lunch into consideration. Is this allowed by Ohio or government laws?

  8. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Will! For a complete answer to your question, please post it on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And, thanks for reading the blogs! ~ Amelia

  9. Posted by: Don T

    What the requirements for lunch breaks in Georgia, how many hours must you work before getting a lunch break?

  10. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Don T!
    Georgia is one of 31 states in the U.S. that has no meal break law. There is also no federal law that requires employers to give meal breaks to workers. The best practice in most industries is to give workers an unpaid 30 minute meal break for an 8 hour shift. However, there is no law that requires Georgia employers to do so. For more info, you can post questions on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

  11. Posted by: mary wiley

    Message: If I work a 7 hour shift or longer (ex. scheduled 7am -2pm) with no designated or specified lunch break can my employer deduct 30 minutes after 6 hours worked? They have been doing this and several employees are questioning the legal right to do this. Please advise.

  12. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Mary! An Ohio employer cannot deduct 30 minutes for a meal break that the employee never receives. Under the federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must be paid for all the time they work. If an employee works 7.5 hours with no break, the employee must be paid for 7.5 hours. Also under the FLSA, the employee must be paid for any break that is shorter than 20 minutes. So even if the employees are getting two 15-minute breaks, they must be paid for the entire shift. (The Ohio minimum wage law also requires that employees be paid for all time worked.)
    On the other hand, if the employee is taking a break of 20 minutes or more, and is completely relieved of all duties during that break, the break can be unpaid. This is true, even if the employer does not specify when the employee must take the break.
    Neither federal nor Ohio law requires that employees be given a meal break, regardless of how long the shift is.
    The employer can establish a company policy that all employees on a shift of 6 hours or more must take a break. The employer can discipline or terminate an employee who does not comply. But the employer must pay the employee for the time if they don’t take the break.
    Our best guess is that the employer has a policy that employees should be given a 30-minute meal break on a shift of 6 hours or less, and a supervisor is ignoring that policy. However, the employer cannot legally deduct for a meal break that no one gets. You should point out this oversight to a supervior or the HR department. If the problem continues, contact the U.S. Department of Labor or the Ohio Department of Labor. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~Amelia

  13. Posted by: Mathew

    Hi, just had a question, My wife works at a research lab in ohio, and she is required to work every third weekend wich can be any where from 8-12 hours of work per day, after working a 40-60 hour work week . Now on the weekends the place of employment told her she cannot take any breaks of any kind is this legal for a work place to force you to work an extra 16-24 hours of overtime on days off and then make it so you have no meal breaks or even a sit down break of any kind?

    Thanks, Mat

  14. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Mat! Unfortunately, yes, this is legal under Ohio law. The state does not require meal or rest breaks for employees over the age of 18. The employer can also require taht she put in 16 to 24 hours of overtime and work on her days off.
    OSHA standards require that employees be permitted to use the bathroom when nature calls. Sorry, wish we could help more.~ Amelia

  15. Posted by: David

    Hello, I have a problem with my employer I’ve been working there for a year and a half now.Me and the other employees ask the manager about our lun ch break the manager told us to clock out and go to work and he will tell us when to clock back in… I ask him so we can sit to eat our lunch for now on.He told me no, what did i just say? we have to work during our lunch break? He siad yes… i’m getting stressed out on some days and i feel like i need some air sometimes. I can’t stand my job anymore something has to be done what should I do?

  16. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi David! There is no Ohio law that requires an employer to give lunch breaks to workers over the age of 18. However, both the federal and state minimum wage laws require that employees be paid for all the time they work. If the employer is requiring that you clock out and go back to work, and is not paying you for that half-hour, then you have a legitimate complaint. You can file a wage complaint with either the US Department of Labor or the Ohio Department of Labor. That will get you paid. Unfortunately, it won’t get you a daily meal break. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

  17. Posted by: Patricia

    I work in Ohio for a company who tells us to take a 20 min. break if we are slow. We are not paid for this 20 break. We wait in our truck for the 20 mins. Can we get reimbursed? Also we are now mandated without any heads-up to take a 1 hour break from 10:30 to 11:30 A.M. Do we have any rights on when we can take our break? Plus we are only allowed after our last delivery stop only 5 minutes to get to a place to break, is that allowed?

    Thank You,

  18. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Patricia! The answer depends on some factors you don’t mention, but we are more concerned about the 20 minute break than the 60 minute lunch break.
    An Ohio employer can require that employees take meal breaks and can schedule those breaks for the employer’s convenience. The employer can require that you take a one-hour break each day from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. There is no Ohio law (or in most other states) that employees must be permitted to take the break at their convenience. As long as you are completely relieved of all work duties, then the employer is under no obligation to pay you for the meal break.
    Generally, employees are not entitled to payment for travel time while on break. Suppose Jane works in an office that is 10 minutes from the nearest deli or fast food restaurant. Jane has one hour for lunch. Jane’s lunch hour does not start when she arrives at the deli– it starts when she leaves work. So Jane actually has 40 minutes to eat, and must drive 10 minutes each way to reach the deli. The employer is under no obligation to pay Jane for her drive time. (And, of course, Jane could bring a brown bag lunch, and spend 60 minutes eating her meal.)
    The situation in your case sounds similar. Technically, the employer could start your break from the time of your last delivery. Many employees have to drive more than 5 minutes to get to a suitable break location — and no, the employer does not have to pay for that.
    However, if the employer required you to return to the next stop on your route, which was 20 minutes away, then you would be entitled to payment for that 20 minutes of drive time.
    The 20 minute break is another matter. From your post, it sounds as if you are being required to clock out but remain available for work. Under federal law, any time an employee spends waiting for work is work time. The employee cannot be required to clock out and sit around because business is slow, or there is no work at the moment. Unless the employee is free to go about his or her own pursuits, it is work time under the federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act. So the employer probably cannot require that you wait in your truck, unpaid, because there is no work for you. File a wage complaint about this with the US Department of Labor at:http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/complaint.htm HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

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