Lunches and Breaks are a subject that is often of great interest to employers and employees alike. In my recent research into this area, I have learned that Wyoming is one of a large number of states with no specific regulations covering this topic.
Even though there aren’t any state laws covering this subject, there are applicable federal regulations for Wyoming citizens. It may surprise you to learn that Federal law does not require employers to give any specific lunches or breaks. If an employer does choose to offer any breaks, federal rules set guidelines as to whether the breaks should be paid or unpaid.
A short rest break (often 20 minutes or less) should be counted as hours worked. Genuine “meal periods” are usually 30 minutes or more, and do not need to be paid as work time. An employee must also be completely relieved of his or her duties during this time frame. If the employee is still required to do any duties (even small duties such as answering a phone), it can’t be considered an upaid meal or lunch period and must be instead paid.
Federal law also contains other provisions related to employee pay during times of waiting, sleeping and traveling. When it comes to sleeping time, an employee scheduled to be on duty for less than 24 hours is considered to be “working” even if he or she is permitted to sleep during some of those hours when not busy. If an employee is on duty more than 24 hours, a sleeping period of no more than eight hours may be subtracted from work hours. However, this can only be done if sleeping facilities are provided and at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep may be achieved by the employee.
Many people are interested in the subject of travel time, since so many of us have long commutes to work. The general rule of thumb is that time spent in the normal day’s commute to and from work is not considered paid working time. However, if an employee is traveling in the course of a days work, it must be considered paid work time.
Whether or not waiting time needs to be considered paid work hours varies depending on the situation. If an employee is allowed to, for example, read a book while another task to be finished or while waiting at the workplace for his or her services to be called upon, it is generally considered work time. On the other hand, if an employee is waiting to be called upon, but has great freedom to do what he or she wishes while on call (and has ample time to respond to the call), it is not generally considered paid work time.
The Wyoming All in One Labor Law Poster is a helpful source of information on this and other labor law issues on both the federal and state level.
