SPONSOR: Smith (74)
This bill requires employers to allow their employees a "meal period", as defined in the bill, of no less than 30 consecutive minutes in an eight-hour shift. The employer is not required to pay the employee for the meal period. An employee must have a meal break if the employee is at the place of employment for a period of longer than five and one-half hours.
The bill does not apply to employment covered by a valid collective-bargaining agreement, but the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations can grant exemptions in cases where: compliance would adversely affect public safety; there is only one employee performing the duties; there are fewer than five employees on a shift at a single place; or the continuous nature of the employer's operation requires the ability to respond to urgent and unusual conditions.
Violation of the requirements in the bill will subject an employer to a fine of $300, increased by an additional $300 for each subsequent violation, but not to exceed $1,200 for each violation.
This bill is similar to HB 450 (2025) and HB 2856 (2024).
Statutes affected: