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ARTICLE · 07 FEBRUARY 2012

Can A Paid Break Become Unpaid?

Fisher Phillips LLP
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Acme Corporation's longstanding policy is to give non-exempt employees two 10-minute rest breaks each workday.

United StatesEmployment and HR
John Thompson
John Thompson
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(Labor Letter, February 2012)

Acme Corporation's longstanding policy is to give non-exempt employees two 10-minute rest breaks each workday. It treats these breaks as paid worktime. Management recently realized that, over the years, most of the employees have gradually come to be spending 15 to 20 minutes or even a little longer on each break. Acme sent out a memo reminding everyone that the breaks are limited to 10 minutes, but it had no effect. Could Acme start considering the over-10-minute extensions to be unpaid time?

The U.S. Labor Department has said that this is permitted under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), if an employer makes its intentions clear in advance.

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