Can Your Employer Make You Work Through Lunch?
Can your employer make you work through lunch? Learn what federal and state laws say about meal breaks, unpaid lunch, working off the clock, and employee rights.
working through lunch
Lunch Break Laws by State (and What to Do If You’re Denied)
No federal law requires your employer to give you a lunch break — about twenty states do, and the rest leave it entirely to your employer. But federal law does govern when a break has to be paid, and that’s where most break disputes actually live. Here’s which states require a meal period, when an unpaid break becomes compensable work time, and what to do if you’re being denied one.