Lunch. For some reason, this word, this concept, becomes a contentious issue for many employers.
Don’t believe me? Ask any employee who’s ever had their actual lunch taken from the company refrigerator. You’ll find out quickly what a big deal lunch can be. However, what we are actually talking about here is the lunch break.
Understanding Nevada’s Meal Period Law
Fun Fact: Federal law imposes no obligation on employers to provide meal periods or rest breaks for their employees. All meal break and rest period requirements come from state law. Nevada Revised Statutes section 608.019 (NRS 608.019) is the Nevada statute about meal and rest periods.
Pursuant to NRS 608.019, an employer must provide employees a minimum of a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period for a continuous 8 hours of work. The lunch break is an unpaid break. While an employee may voluntarily agree to forego any rest period or meal period. The employer has the burden to prove the existence of any such agreement.
Why Lunch Break Compliance Isn’t So Simple
Seems pretty simple, right? Well, it’s not. Many little things show up and complicate this otherwise straightforward rule. Let’s start with the fact that the meal break is unpaid.
Unpaid But Not Optional
What happens when you have some non-exempt (hourly) workers who work through their lunch? They’re not clocking out. They’re not taking a break. In addition to adding to their work hours and potentially being obligated to pay overtime, you are violating the law.
What about companies where the HRIS / payroll software auto-deducts a lunch break of 30 minutes from their non-exempt (hourly) employees’ timesheets every day? If those employees don’t take that lunch break, then their pay is being docked for the time worked. Employees start asking questions, and if the issue doesn’t get resolved, they may file a wage claim with the labor commissioner’s office.
What about non-exempt (hourly) employees who are out of PTO (or maybe the company doesn’t offer PTO) who decide, all on their own, to take a “half lunch” or not to take lunch at all, to make up for missed hours? It doesn’t matter the reason or motivation; it’s still a violation of the law.
Not Just An Hourly Employee Problem
Salary exempt employees who don’t take lunch aren’t off the hook, either. Nevada law doesn’t distinguish between non-exempt (hourly) employees and exempt (salaried) employees when it comes to meal breaks and rest periods. If your salary exempt workers are “too busy” to break for lunch or just don’t take one, that is still a violation.
While the nature of being salary exempt means some flexibility in how and when work is completed, employers who don’t take lunch break compliance seriously are going to have a bad time if the employee files a complaint, gets burned out, or starts making demands about time. For example, they may say, “I didn’t take a lunch at all last week, so I’m coming in late every day this week to even that out.” That may not be the best plan for your staffing needs.
What Are An Employer’s Responsibilities for Lunch Breaks?
Employers are required to provide meal periods and rest breaks as outlined in Nevada law. They’re also required to keep accurate records showing that meal periods were both made available and actually taken by employees.
While it’s true that an employee can waive their right to a meal break, it’s up to the employer to prove that such a waiver exists (so get it in writing). Violations of this law can be expensive. If the employer cannot prove that lunch breaks were offered and taken, they can be penalized with back pay and a fine of up to $5,000 per violation.
Prevent Lunch Break Confusion with Clear Policies
Now that lunch sounds so much more complicated than it did at the beginning, how can you prevent these issues? That’s easy. With a policy.
Be clear about when lunch breaks are taken, for how long, and by whom. Enforce the policy consistently, and address any violations promptly with appropriate disciplinary action.
If you are adding lunch breaks to timesheets or auto-deducting lunch breaks from timesheets, make sure you can prove that lunches were taken. This can be as simple as the employee initialing or verifying their time, or slightly more complicated, by having to pull video that an employee was not working at that specified time.
Lunch is meant to be a brief respite from the workday, to feed the body and refresh the mind. Providing clear guidance not only gives your employees this much-needed break, but it will also keep you in compliance and out of trouble.
By: Amy Matthews, SPHR
