Human Resource Blog

Montana Break Laws

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	Compensation
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Is it legal in Montana for an employer to take away paid break times, making the employee punch off the clock for breaks, then threaten the employees saying that if anyone breaks this rule all breaks will be taken away and the employee could be fired?

According to these guidelines from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Labor Standards Bureau, Wage and Hour Unit, employers in the state are not required to give short “rest” or “coffee” breaks”.

However, if the employer does give breaks of less than 30 minutes, they must be paid.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA also requires that employers pay workers for any breaks shorter than 20 minutes. Again, the law doesn’t require rest breaks – but if they are given, they must be paid. The FLSA applies to companies with more than $500,000 in annual revenue, or does business across state lines. Even if the employer’s entire business is conducted within the state, some employees may be covered under FLSA. For example, a mail clerk who sends or receives packages out of state, would be covered under the FLSA. This law is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Under Montana law, a meal period may be unpaid only if it is 30 minutes or longer, and the employee is completely relieved of all work duties. (The federal requirement for unpaid meal periods is similar, except that the minimum length is 20 minutes.)

So the employees in this case would be justified in contacting the Montana Department of Labor and Industry and /or the U.S. Divsion of Wage and Hour, and filing a complaint for unpaid wages.

An employer in Montana can legally eliminate all rest and meal breaks. (Federal OSHA regulations do require that employees be allowed to use the restroom, but there is no requirement for additional breaks.) If an employer had this policy, the employer could legally terminate any employee who did not follow it.

Whether an employer can terminate an employee for not clocking out for breaks is a gray area. In most states, an employer cannot terminate an individual for refusing to break the law. Since the employer must legally pay workers for short breaks, the employer might successfully argue that what the employer was asking the worker to do was illegal.

Montana law allows employees and employers to agree to a different standard, under a collective bargaining agreement such as a union contract. However, in order to be legal, the agreement has to provide greater benefits to the worker – not fewer.