Human Resource Blog

Meal Breaks for Police Officers and Dispatchers

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Are Police Officers and Dispatchers required to have a 30 minute meal break away from their assigned area?

There is no federal law that police offices and dispatchers must receive a meal break away from their workstations during the shift. In fact, there is no federal law that requires meal breaks for workers in general industry, at all.

 

However, there may be other laws or agreements that require it. Many police officers and dispatchers work under a union contract that specifies the meal breaks they are entitled to.

A number of states have laws that mandate meal breaks for most employees. These include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia. In these states, police officers and dispatchers may be covered under such a law. However, in some cases the state laws exclude employees of government agencies.

A few other states, notably Illinois, have very restricted meal break laws. The Illinois law applies only to hotel maids in Chicago.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA requires employers to pay workers for any meal break where the employee is not completely relieved of all duties. If the employee is subject to being recalled to duty at any moment, or must be available for work, then he or she must be paid for the break.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the officer or dispatcher cannot eat during the shift. In general, OSHA requires that employees be permitted to drink and in some cases eat, while working.

The FLSA also requires that employees be paid for any breaks that are shorter than 20 minutes in duration, even if the employee is relieved of all work responsibilities during this time.

The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the FLSA in regards to state and local government employees. Other agencies enforce this law for employees of the federal government.

For a more specific answer, please post a question that mentions the state the employee is in.