Human Resource Blog

Sorry, but your understanding is incorrect. Any U.S. employer can require workers to take an unpaid meal break, and discipline or fire employees who refuse to take it.

Under the federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act, the break can be unpaid as long as the employee is completely relieved of all duties for 20 minutes or more. In every state except California, the break can be unpaid even if the employee is not permitted to leave the premises.

Nineteen U.S. states have laws that require employers to give meal breaks to virtually every worker. In some states, the employee has the right to refuse meal breaks, as long as they do so in writing. In other states, if the employee does not take a break, the employer has broken the law and can be fined. Check our archives for the break laws in your state.

Federal and state laws set stricter break requirements for workers under the age of 16 or in some cases, 18.

We answer a lot of questions from employees about breaks on our sister site at www.laborlawtalk.com. About 67% of those questions come from employees who must work 8,10, 12 or more hours without a break. About 33% of those questions come from employees who are required to take breaks, and do not want to.

A number of states require that employers give meal breaks or rest breaks to workers. Texas does not. While the best practice is to give employees a 30 to 60 minute unpaid meal break, plus two 10 or 15 minute paid rest breaks, there is no state or federal law that requires it in most cases.

Still, an employer can set a company policy that breaks are required and discipline or fire any employee who violates the policy.

OSHA requires that employees be permitted to use the bathroom when necessary.

Under federal law, breaks of less than 20 minutes must be paid. A meal break longer than 20 minutes can be unpaid, if the employee is relieved of all duties during that time. If the employee has to work, or to be available to work (as in a receptionist who must remain at her desk, even though the phone does not ring) then the employee is entitled to payment for the entire break. In Texas and most other states (with the exception of California) an employer can require that an employee remain on the premises during an unpaid work break.

There is no federal or Florida law that requires employers to offer paid sick days to employees. Although several states have considered such a measure, none has passed as yet. You do not say how long your daughter has been an employee of this firm, but often employees are required to work a year or more before they earn any sick time.

In several states, the state department of labor would require an employer to make good on any benefits promised to workers in writing or verbally. However, Florida is not one of them. Your daughter could certainly hire an attorney to forced the company to make good on promised sick and vacation time, or take the company to small claims court. Unless she has the vacation and sick policies in writing, or a witness, it is going to be an uphill battle.

If the company has more than 50 employees within 75 miles, your daughter may be entitled to unpaid, job-protected FMLA or leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act for a serious health condition.

A salaried exempt employee who works at all during the day must be paid her entire days salary. However, if the employee misses the entire day of work, her salary can be docked.

There are really two separate issues here. Can the employer dictate which days an employee will use his or her vacation time? Yes, the employer can. For example, a factory can shut down for one week in July, and require that every employee be on paid vacation time during that period. So if you have vacation time, the employer is permitted to require that you use it on the days immediately before and after Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even if the employee wants to save his vacation time to use during the summer, there is no legal requirement that the company permit this.

A different issue comes into play if you do not have any vacation time. Under the federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act, a salaried exempt employee must be paid if he is able and available to work, but no work is available. Arguably, this is the case on the days surrounding the holidays. If the employee had no vacation time, but was able and available to work, the employer would have to pay his regular salary anyway. However, the employer certainly could require that this worker come into the office, or work from home, on those days.

Thanks for another great question! Yes, employers are still required to give Colorado workers time off to vote, even with mail-in ballots and early voting available. The law specifically says that these provisions do not change the employers responsibility to provide time off for employees to vote.

By the way, eighteen other states also have laws that require employers to give workers time off to vote. So Colorado employers are not alone in this regard. However, few states have penalties as stiff as those in Colorado.