Short Breaks of Usually 20 Min or Less Count as Hours Worked
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division's Fact Sheet #22, revised in 2008, says that under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are common in industry and are customarily paid for as working time; these short periods must be counted as hours worked. The fact sheet also gives an example: an employee who stays at the desk while eating lunch and regularly answers the telephone and refers callers is working, because the employee has not been completely relieved from duty, and that time must be counted and paid as hours worked.
The fact sheet says the FLSA requires that employees receive at least the minimum wage and at least one and one-half times their regular rate for overtime hours over 40 in a week, and that what employees should receive can't be determined without knowing the hours worked. It also says it is general information, not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position in the regulations, and does not have the force and effect of law. This article follows that fact sheet on what counts as hours worked; it does not assess individual cases, give legal advice, or cover state rules.
What counts as work time
The DOL explains (DOL Fact Sheet #22, Hours Worked Under the FLSA):
- What "employ" means: By law, "employ" includes "to suffer or permit to work"; the workweek ordinarily includes all time an employee is required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a prescribed workplace.
- The workday: Generally the period from when the employee starts the day's principal activity to when it ends, so it may be longer than the scheduled shift.
- Work not requested but permitted: Work the employer didn't request but suffered or permitted is work time that must be paid; for example, an employee may voluntarily keep working at the end of the shift to finish a task or correct errors, and whatever the reason, those hours are work time.
Breaks and meals
- Short breaks: Rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are customarily paid and must be counted as hours worked.
- Breaks taken too long: When the employer has clearly told employees that a break may last only a specific time, that extending it breaks the rules, and that extensions will be punished, the unauthorized extra time need not be counted.
- Meal periods: Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be paid, but the employee must be completely relieved from duty; an employee required to perform any duties, active or inactive, while eating is not relieved.
Waiting, on call and sleeping
- Waiting time: It depends on the circumstances; employees engaged to wait (such as a secretary reading while waiting for dictation, or a firefighter playing checkers while waiting for an alarm) are working, while employees waiting to be engaged are not.
- On call: An employee required to stay on call on the employer's premises is working; one required to stay on call at home, or allowed to leave a message where they can be reached, is not working in most cases; further limits on the employee's freedom could require pay.
- Sleeping: An employee on duty for less than 24 hours is working even if allowed to sleep or do personal things when not busy; an employee on duty for 24 hours or more may agree with the employer to exclude regularly scheduled sleeping periods of up to 8 hours, if adequate sleeping facilities are provided and the employee can usually sleep through the night; no time can be excluded unless at least 5 hours of sleep is taken.
Lectures, meetings and training
- Not counted only if all four apply: Attending lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as work time only if it is outside normal hours, voluntary, not job related, and no other work is done at the same time.
Travel time
- Commuting: Traveling from home before the regular workday and back home after it is ordinary home-to-work travel and is not work time.
- A one-day assignment in another city: For an employee who regularly works at a fixed location and is sent to another city for one day and returns the same day, the travel time is work time, though the employer may deduct the employee's normal commuting time.
- Travel during the workday: Travel from job site to job site during the workday is part of the job and counts as hours worked.
- Overnight travel: Travel away from home overnight is work time when it cuts across the workday, on regular working days and during the same hours on nonworking days; as an enforcement policy, the DOL does not count time spent as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus or car outside regular working hours.
For the federal minimum wage and overtime, see Federal Minimum Wage Is $7.25, Overtime After 40 Hours; for filing a complaint about unpaid wages, see Unpaid Wages, File with DOL Wage and Hour, No Retaliation.
What this article did not check
- State rules: This article did not check state rules on breaks and meals.
- Whether your job counts: The fact sheet is general information, and this article does not judge individual cases; you can call the Wage and Hour Division's toll-free helpline at 1-866-487-9243, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone.
- Date of the fact sheet: The fact sheet was revised in July 2008; it was reopened on the day of writing and had not changed.
FAQ
Do short breaks have to be paid?
The DOL fact sheet says rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are customarily paid and must be counted as hours worked.
Does a lunch break have to be paid?
The fact sheet says bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be paid, but the employee must be completely relieved from duty; eating while answering the phone counts as hours worked and must be paid.
If I stay after my shift to finish my work, does it count?
Yes. The fact sheet says work the employer didn't request but permitted is work time that must be paid, whatever the reason.
Does my commute count as work time?
No. The fact sheet says traveling from home before the workday and back home after it is ordinary commuting and is not work time.
Sources and date checked
All checked on 2026-11-03.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (revised July 2008):https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked