30 minute lunch break not really 30 minutes.
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30 minute lunch break not really 30 minutes.
I work for a large company that has a very large building and we are allowed to eat only in certain areas that the company allows.New Link Destination
get to where we can eat, it can take anywhere from 1 minute to 8 minutes of time one way.The company has made it clear that this travel time has to be on our 30 minute break not on the company’s time. New Link Destination
make matters worse, we have a meeting right at the end of lunch so we have to cut into our lunch time once again, just to be at the meeting on time. If the meeting is far away from our work area, or lunch area, it does not matter, the company still forces us to use our lunch time to get there. In reality, many people only are able to get a 20 minute lunch break due to the forced lunch locations, and meeting right after. I live in WA. Is this legal? New Link Destination
me it cant be because then they could continue to move the meeting further and further away until there is zero time to eat lunch and whether we get our 30 minutes is fully dependent on where our work area is vs where are lunch area is, and where our meeting will be. Whether the company steals one minute, or 10 minutes, either way it is stealing time. What is your take?
Asked on February 28, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Washington
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
A 30 minute lunch break does not get extended for the time it may take the employee to get from his/her work location to someplace he/she could eat: it's a 30 minute break, not 30 minutes guaranteed to eat. Often, employees have to spend some time going from where they are to where they can eat (e.g. a retail store employee can't eat on the sales floor.) So they don't need to give you extra time in this case.
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