Under the FLSA, rest breaks of short duration (typically running from 5 minutes to about 20 minutes) are considered common workplace occurrences that promote employee efficiency. Therefore, they must be counted as compensable hours worked and cannot be deducted from an employee's paycheck.
*Impact assumes an average hourly rate of **$20.00/hour** for illustrative calculation purposes.
One of the most frequent sources of labor disputes and employer audit violations is the misclassification of work hours. Under the **Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)**, employees must be paid for all hours considered "hours worked."
In general, "hours worked" includes all time an employee is required to be on duty, or on the employer's premises, or at any other prescribed workplace. This includes any time the employee is **"suffered or permitted to work"** (even if the employer did not explicitly request the work, but knows it is being performed).
• **Meal Breaks (29 CFR § 785.19):** For a meal break to be unpaid, the employee must be **completely relieved from duty** for the purpose of eating regular meals. If the employee is required to stay at their desk to answer phones, monitor machinery, or perform tasks while eating, the entire break must be paid.
• **Travel Time (29 CFR § 785.38):** Standard commuting from home to your primary workplace is unpaid under the Portal-to-Portal Act. However, any travel that is **part of the employee's principal activity**—such as traveling from one job site to another during the workday—is compensable and must be paid.
• **Training & Lectures (29 CFR § 785.27):** Training, lectures, and meetings do not need to be paid **only if** they meet all four of the following criteria: (1) attendance is voluntary, (2) it is held outside regular hours, (3) it is directly unrelated to the employee's job, and (4) the employee does not perform productive work during the training.