Can employers require employees to clock out for short breaks under FLSA?

Q          We have a policy that states employees must clock out for breaks if they leave campus, but the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid for breaks of 15 minutes or less. Is our policy in violation of the FLSA?

The FLSA doesn’t mandate that employers must provide meal or rest breaks to employees. However, if an employer chooses to offer breaks, the FLSA regulates whether these breaks are compensable, which depends on factors like their duration, whether employees are fully relieved from work duties, and whether they remain on call.

Typically, a bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more isn’t compensable, provided employees are free from work duties. Generally, employers may require employees to clock out for such meal periods because they aren’t compensable under the FLSA. In contrast, short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, such as for a coffee or a snack break, aren’t bona fide meal periods under the FLSA. Instead, these short breaks are considered part of the workday, and employers must typically compensate employees for them.