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Louisiana Break

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Can a Louisiana employer legitimately establish a policy that workers may not leave the premises on their breaks?  I realize that breaks are not legally required, but if they are given, can the employer set limits on what an employee can do during his or her break time?

The state of Louisiana says that employers can, by law, require employees to remain on the premises during paid breaks.  To elaborate, the United States Department of Labor says that employers may require employees to remain on the premises during unpaid meal breaks lasting 30 minutes or more.

In reality, it would be rather unusual for employers to let workers leave the premises during paid breaks.  One reason for this is that while employees are “on the clock” they are covered by Workers Compensation insurance.  If an employee were to be involved in an accident while away from work on a break, it could create serious legal problems. 

An employer could potentially be legally obligated to pay for any injuries, if an accident occurred during work hours.  Any Workers Compensation company, however, would more than likely refuse to pay it, based on the grounds that the employee was off of the premises and not at work at the time of the accident.

There is also the possibility that an employer could be sued if an employee were to cause an automobile accident or some other liability situation.  This could occur because the employee was technically working at the time.  Though an employer could certainly win such a lawsuit, it would be expensive to fight.

In Louisiana, there is no required break law.  The relevant statute, therefore, is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which is the oldest and most basic federal labor law.

It is worth mentioning that no federal law requires employers to provide workers with any lunch or coffee breaks.  The majority of employers do give breaks, however, because breaks increase productivity.  They do not do it because they are under any legal obligation to do so.

According to federal law, if employers do offer short breaks ranging from 5 to 20 minutes, the work time has to be paid.  Actual meal periods are those lasting at least 30 minutes.  They are not considered to be work time, and are not compensable. JH