Lunch and Rest Breaks: Federal and Colorado Rules

Federal law generally does not require ordinary lunch breaks. Colorado does: employees covered by its meal-period rule must receive at least 30 minutes when a shift exceeds five consecutive hours. Whether that time can be unpaid depends on the duties the employee still has during the meal.

Federal rules: meals and short breaks

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), short breaks provided by an employer, usually 5 to 20 minutes, generally count as paid time for covered nonexempt employees. Include them when calculating hours worked and overtime. A meal period, ordinarily at least 30 minutes, can be unpaid when it qualifies as a genuine break from work. See the Department of Labor's meal and break guidance.

DOL's Fact Sheet 22 describes an unpaid meal as one where the employee is completely relieved of duties. Its example is direct: an employee who regularly answers the telephone while eating at a desk must be paid for that time. Eating at the desk is not itself the issue; continuing to handle calls, customers, or work messages is.

Federal treatment of interruptions can depend on the applicable legal standard and the facts. DOL's 2026 meal-period opinion letter applies a test asking whose benefit the period predominantly serves. Colorado separately requires relief from all duties for an unpaid meal under its rule.

Record working lunches accurately

An automatic lunch deduction does not prove a break happened. If a dispatcher spends the scheduled half hour answering calls and assigning crews, the time record must reflect that work. Employers must count work they allow, even when they did not expressly request it.

Give employees a simple way to report missed or interrupted meals. Train supervisors to correct the records and verify that those corrections reach payroll. Check what employees actually did during the deducted time instead of relying on the schedule or a supervisor's assumption.

Check exemptions separately. A salary or managerial title does not automatically make an employee exempt. Applicable duties and compensation tests matter, and Colorado has its own exemptions. Review DOL's exemption guidance and Rule 2 of the Colorado order before deciding which rules apply.

Colorado: meals for shifts over five hours

The Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards order, or COMPS, requires covered employees to receive an uninterrupted meal period of at least 30 minutes when a shift exceeds five consecutive hours. Exactly five hours does not trigger this requirement.

For the period to be unpaid, employees must be free of all duties and able to pursue personal activities. Where practical, schedule it at least one hour after the shift starts and one hour before it ends.

When the business activity or other circumstances make an uninterrupted meal impractical, the rule permits an on-duty meal. Employees must be able to fully eat a meal of their choice and receive pay for the entire period. Check the circumstances before using this exception; it does not permit an unpaid working lunch. See COMPS Rule 5.1.

Colorado: provide paid rest breaks too

The standard requirement is ten paid minutes of rest per four hours worked or major fraction of four hours, subject to applicable exemptions and permitted variations:

• Two hours or fewer: no required rest period.
• More than two through six hours: one.
• More than six through ten hours: two.
• More than ten through fourteen hours: three.

Place rest periods near the middle of each four-hour work period when practical. They count as hours worked and cannot be replaced with a longer unpaid lunch. Paying the usual shift does not resolve a denied break: required rest time the employer fails to authorize and permit requires additional pay. See COMPS Rules 5.2–5.2.4.

Assign coverage and check missed breaks

Name who answers the phone, covers the counter, and receives deliveries while someone eats. Provide a suitable place and time for meals on jobsites. Supervisors should take breaks themselves and make clear that employees can take theirs.

Keep routine meetings outside meal periods. Required working lunches for nonexempt employees must be recorded and paid; paying for a meeting does not automatically satisfy Colorado's meal-period requirement.

If employees regularly miss lunch, review staffing, workload, coverage, and supervisors' expectations. Correct the cause as well as the time records. A scheduled break is useful only when employees can take it.

General information for U.S. employers, including Colorado rules. Revised October 19, 2026. Coverage, exemptions, and individual facts matter; consult qualified employment counsel about your policies.