Handling breaks for employees who don’t have access to a time clock during the day

Q: For nonexempt, hourly employees who don’t have access to the time clock during the day (they’re delivery drivers), how should we handle their meal breaks? Can we automatically deduct 30 minutes from their hours?

Neither federal law nor Arizona law requires employers to provide employees with a meal period or rest breaks. Employers outside of the State of Arizona should consult with their own state’s laws regarding meal periods or rest breaks. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the agency for enforcing federal wage and hour laws, has a handy chart on state meal periods requirement at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/meal-breaks

While breaks aren’t required, once an employer opts to offer a meal period or rest breaks, employers must follow guidance from the DOL to ensure employees are being paid for all hours worked. The DOL has made clear that short breaks of 20 minutes or less are compensable hours worked. Off duty periods that are longer than 20 minutes (i.e., meal periods in which an employee is completely relieved from work) may be excluded from hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). To be completely relieved from work, the employee must be told in advance that he may leave the job and that he won’t have to commence work until a specified time more than 20 minutes later.

Because breaks shorter than 20 minutes or breaks in which the employee is not completely relieved of duty are hours worked, employees must be paid for those breaks.