Over the years, I’ve become acutely aware of a legal area that intersects with many of my family law matters but that many of my clients are unfamiliar with. This area concerns oregon break and lunch laws in the workplace. Although it’s not usually a central issue in divorce or other family law matters, the information below is invaluable to anyone in a negotiation with an employer that involves employment time.
Under Oregon law, the following rules apply to break periods:
- An employee who works three hours or more is entitled to a rest period of at least 10 minutes.
- An additional 10 minutes of rest time is due if the employee works through lunch without taking a meal time.
- Employees can’t give up their right to a rest period.
- Employees can’t be made to work during a rest period.
- Employees must be allowed to choose how their rest time is taken, including whether it will be taken in one block or several.
Oregon’s break laws require everyone who works a minimum of three hours to receive a rest between any working period. The exception to this is for workers whose duty to work is for less than twenty-four hours, who are not provided a rest period between duty assignments. The federal law differs from Oregon’s law by being less specific in its designation of employer duties. Unless the break is designated as paid, unpaid rest breaks are recommended to last for no longer than 20 minutes. A rest period of 20 minutes works well within the totality of an eight-hour workday.
The federal law renders mandates for employers to grant workers a 30-minute duty-free meal period, provided that the worker remains at the worksite and is allowed to leave the work site during this timeframe. Again, the federal law is different than the state law in that it specifically states that no payments of wages are to be made during the break. While Oregon state law states that rest periods are to last for 10 minutes, there is no stipulation on how often these breaks must take place. As long as workers receive the benefits of their unpaid time-off rights, employees can decide when and how they want these breaks taken (as long as the breaks take place within the allotted points of rest).
The most critical point of law is that contracts can’t be made that stipulate that the employee must forgo his or her right to a rest period. The strict regulations of Oregon’s unpaid meal periods and paid rest periods shine a bright focus on the importance of this aspect of a contemporary work life. For example, if you are a parent just beginning to negotiate a custody plan for your children and your plan is expected to include child care before or after school, understanding the law can prepare you for a meaningful discussion of the places and situations where child care is likely to be needed. Maybe you are applying for alimony in a divorce and have flexible hours at work. If your hours are too inflexible to allow you the time to seek employment outside the home, knowledge about unpaid meal periods may give you leverage in negotiations with your spouse’s attorney. Perhaps you have a flexible schedule, so seek more time in custody. Knowledge of Oregon’s break laws can help you plan for a better work life and also make you a more effective negotiator during family law proceedings.
Many parents with very busy work schedules often cite the difficulty of arranging time with children while on the job. Yet, these parents frequently do not really understand how Oregon law is designed to allow them to maximize their time spent with their children. Busy parents with flexible work schedules are more likely to have the opportunity to participate in as much of their children’s lives as they would like. Understanding the law allows a parent to balance the many facets that Texas law places on parenting coordination with a parent’s legal right to be available to children on a daily basis.
For more information on labor laws, you can visit the U.S. Department of Labor.
