Can an unpaid meal period be shorter than 30 minutes?

Federal law does allow for unpaid meal periods of fewer than 30 minutes, although state laws may not. The federal regulations do not require meal periods, but do stipulate that 30 minutes is usually enough time to eat a meal. However, shorter meal periods may be permitted if the employee is completely relieved of duty for purposes of eating a meal. Other considerations (which should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis) include:

1. Work-related interruptions to the meal period that may occur.
2. Whether employees have sufficient time to eat a regular meal. Periods of fewer than 20 minutes may not allow sufficient time, although the DOL has approved unpaid meal periods as short as 15 minutes when agreed to by employees in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
3. Whether the period is not merely a short break for snacks or coffee (which must be paid) but is actually a break to eat a full meal, comes at a time of the day or shift when meals are normally consumed, and occurs with the customary frequency (e.g., employers could not have three “unpaid meal breaks” of 15 minutes each during an 8-hour shift).
4. Whether there is an agreement (e.g., a CBA) between the employees and employer that the period of fewer than 30 minutes is sufficient to eat a regular meal (periods under 30 minutes without a CBA or similar agreement may not be acceptable).
5. Whether state or local laws prohibit a meal period that is shorter than a specified duration.