What federal law actually requires
Surprisingly little: federal law does not require any breaks at all. What it does say is that when an employer offers short rest breaks of 5–20 minutes, they must be paid, while a bona fide meal period (typically 30+ minutes, fully relieved of duty) may be unpaid. All actual break requirements come from state law.
The most common state pattern
Roughly 20 states require meal breaks, and the widely used pattern (California's, which several states echo) is: a 30-minute unpaid meal break before the end of the 5th hour of work, a second meal break past 10 hours, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked (or major fraction). The planner above lays that pattern onto your shift times.
| Shift length | Meal breaks (unpaid) | Rest breaks (paid) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3.5 h | 0 | 0 |
| 3.5 – 6 h | 1 × 30 min (over 5 h) | 1 × 10 min |
| 6 – 10 h | 1 × 30 min | 2 × 10 min |
| 10 – 14 h | 2 × 30 min | 3 × 10 min |
States with meal break laws
States that require meal breaks for adult private-sector workers in at least some form include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia — each with its own trigger hours and details, and many with separate rules for minors. States not on the list follow the federal position: breaks are employer policy. Verify specifics with your state labor department.
Breaks and your time card
On a timesheet, paid rest breaks stay on the clock — never punch out for them. Unpaid meal breaks come off the total: enter the minutes in the Break column of the time card calculator, or clock the meal out and in exactly with the lunch-break time card. If your employer auto-deducts meals you didn't take, the paycheck hours verifier shows what that costs you.