Fair Labor Standards Act - What It Does and Does Not Do

Optional employee benefits and payroll practices not required under any law - this category includes such things as:

1. Breaks - although some states require breaks, Texas and most other states do not - federal law has no break requirement, other than OSHA rules about restroom breaks for sanitation purposes (see https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/1998-04-06-0) - the only exceptions are found in special regulations relating to highly hazardous occupations such as high-altitude steel erection workers or nuclear plant workers - most companies do allow some sort of breaks, however, in their policies.
   1. Breast-pumping / nursing breaks - these are unpaid breaks - under the 2010 health care reform bill, new FLSA section 207(r)(1) requires employers to give non-exempt nursing mothers reasonable break times to express breast milk, or if children are allowed in the office, nurse their infants, during the first year after the baby's birth (for more information, see "Nursing Mothers" in this outline).
   2. "Coffee breaks" (rest breaks) are paid, since they are regarded as promoting productivity and efficiency on the part of employees and thus benefit the employer - 20 minutes or less in duration.
   3. "Smoking breaks" - smoking breaks are not required under Texas or federal law, are in the same category as rest breaks (see above), and may be controlled in any way with appropriate policies.
   4. "Lunch breaks" are unpaid - defined as 30 minutes or longer for the purpose of eating a meal - employee must be "fully relieved of duties" during the meal break - if employee is answering phones, filing, or otherwise working while eating, the "break" is counted as regular work time.