Breaks and meal periods - Arkansas

Breaks

Federal law does not require employers to provide rest periods or coffee/snack breaks. However, if employers choose to offer short breaks, breaks lasting 20 minutes or less must be considered work time and employees are paid for the time.

Arkansas does not address breaks for most employees, but does require breaks for nursing mothers.

Lactation accommodations

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for one year after her child’s birth. The employer must provide a room or location for the employee to use, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers and the public.

Alabama law requires employers to provide reasonable unpaid break time each day to an employee who needs to express breast milk for her child. To the extent possible, the break time shall run concurrently with any paid or unpaid break time already provided to the employee.

An employer must make a reasonable effort to provide a private, secure, and sanitary room or other location in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where an employee can express her breast milk.

This rule does not require an employer to provide break time if doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the employer. Also, the employee must make reasonable efforts to minimize disruption to the employer's operations.

Meal periods

Federal law does not require employers to provide meal periods. However, if employers choose to provide one, a meal period of at least 30 minutes may be unpaid as long as employees are completely relieved from duty. If employees are not completely relieved of job duties during the meal period, employees must be paid for that time.

Arkansas does not address meal periods.