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, if an
employer makes its intentions clear in advance.
The FLSA does not require employers to give rest breaks (which
should be distinguished from
lactation breaks, which are required). Many employers
do give rest breaks, of course, and the Labor Department's position is that short periods like this
(typically running from five to about 20 minutes) count as worktime
for
