Do Meal Breaks Under 30 Minutes Have to Be Paid?

Meal breaks might seem like a simple part of the workday, but in Oregon, the law has very specific requirements about how they must be provided and when they must be paid. Understanding these rules can help employers stay compliant and avoid unnecessary penalties.

Under Oregon law, if a non-exempt employee works six (6) hours or more in a work period, the employer is required to provide a meal period of at least 30 continuous minutes during which the employee is completely relieved of all duties. There are also rules regarding when the meal period must be taken, with factors that include both length of the shift and type of industry.

A key point here, and one that often causes confusion, is that it’s not enough for the employer to merely schedule a 30-minute lunch or allow the employee to clock out. The employee must actually be relieved of all job duties for a continuous 30 minutes.

What happens when an employee can’t get an uninterrupted 30-minute break? This is where Oregon’s law becomes especially worker-friendly:

If a non-exempt employee is not relieved of all duties for a full, continuous 30-minute meal period, the employer must pay the employee for the entire 30-minute meal period. (Read that again!)

That means:

• If an employee works through part of their meal break, even for one minute, and isn’t fully relieved of duty for a full 30 consecutive minutes, the entire meal period becomes paid time.
• If the employee clocks back in after 29 minutes instead of 30 minutes, the entire meal period becomes paid time.
• Simply scheduling unpaid meal periods isn’t enough if the employee continues performing duties (i.e., answering questions, taking calls, monitoring equipment, or even being required to stay on-site on-call).

This rule protects workers in situations where operational needs make it difficult to step away, such as retail floors with limited staffing or jobs where work is continuous and cannot easily pause.

There are exceptions under Oregon law, but they are limited:

1. Undue hardship: If providing a full 30-minute duty-free break would impose significant difficulty or expense based on the size or structure of the business, the employer may be exempt from giving a duty-free meal period. However, the employee must still be provided with adequate time to consume a meal, rest and use the restroom in addition to being provided with all rest periods required by law for the number of hours worked in any given shift; and be paid for that time.
2. Industry practice: Some industries with established practices may provide shorter paid meal periods (minimum 20 minutes), but these must be paid and still free from any work.
• This exception is a narrow and rare exception, not commonly used as it is difficult to prove.
3. Exceptional circumstances: Unforeseeable events like equipment failures or acts of nature might temporarily prevent giving a meal period, but again, employees must be paid if they are not fully relieved from work.
4. Food and Beverage: The employee is a tipped food and beverage server who has voluntarily waived their meal period; but there is a long list of conditions that goes along with this exception.

These exceptions do not allow employers to skip meal breaks without payment; they are specific and documented exceptions, not “get-out-of-compliance” cards.

Why Does This Matter?

Oregon law is strict about this for a reason. Meal breaks aren’t just about convenience; they’re about health, safety, and fairness. When employees are prevented from taking a true break, they are effectively working through lunch, and Oregon law recognizes that as work time that must be compensated.

The importance of this rule is emphasized by recent real-world cases, where employers have faced significant claims for failing to pay employees for meal periods that weren’t truly duty-free. For example, one Oregon franchise recently agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement after allegations that employees weren’t paid for shortened meal breaks.

How Do We Lower Our Risk?

• Ensure meal periods are scheduled and taken by all non-exempt employees and make sure that those employees are completely relieved of all duties for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• If unforeseen circumstances require the employee to work during their meal period, pay them for the entire meal period and document the reason for the issue.
• Require all non-exempt employees to accurately track and document meal periods carefully and train supervisory and management staff to enforce the meal period policy.

Oregon’s meal period law isn’t just about giving employees a break, it’s about protecting a break, and making sure employees aren’t forced to work through it without compensation. When a 30-minute, uninterrupted, duty-free meal period isn’t provided, the law is clear: that time must be paid.