The Basics of Hawaii Employment Laws on Lunch Breaks
Labor laws across the United States differ from state to state. The framework of employee breaks in Hawaii is not much different from other states. Hawaii, like most states, has left the decision of whether or not to provide breaks to employers. Within this framework, employers have some autonomy to decide if any breaks will be provided to their employees. HRS § 387-1 defines "break time" as "time during the day when an employee is relieved of all other duties, pursuant to agreement, policy, or practice arising out of custom, statute, rule, order, regulation, or other provision, however denominated." The Hawaii Revised Statutes do not require employers to provide breaks or rest periods and do not specifically mandate the length of break period for employees, including hourly and salaried employees. However, if Hawaiian employers decide to provide break time for their employees , they are required to grant a one-hour meal period after five consecutive hours of work for adult employees and a 30-minute meal period for minor employees after five consecutive hours of work. HRS § 387-2(a) specifically provides that: "[After] each 5 consecutive hours of work or employment, adult employees shall be entitled to at least 1 meal period of not less than 1 hour, except that the employee as a condition precedent to such waiver shall furnish to the employer, in writing, the employee’s consent to such waiver; provided that the time of the meal period shall be designated in advance by the employer as clearly and unmistakably as a meal time and the meal break shall not be considered and paid working time. Any violation of this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 387-9, but nothing in this section shall affect the time for payment of wages under the payment of wages law, sections 388-1 to 388-6, nor shall it apply to employees of hotels, restaurants, theaters, or transportation companies serving meals to the public." (emphasis added)
Break and Meal Periods in the Hawaiian State
Hawaii state law does not require employers to provide employees with lunch and other meal breaks throughout the day. However, it is highly recommended by a number of administrative rulings and court decisions that employers offer employees at least two 30-minute breaks during the course of the workday. These breaks are generally better understood as opportunities to eat and rest.
Federal law, on the other hand, only requires employers to provide employees with, at the most, one unpaid break ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the length of their shift. If in actuality, employees work more than six hours a day, federal law does require that employers give employees at least one unpaid break of 30 minutes to allow for eating, although they can waive this right if they so choose. Unlike Hawaii, federal law does not require that this break occur at a specific point during the workday. Additionally, unlike Hawaii, there are no regulations or requirements on the duration of break periods.
Because Hawaii law does not specifically require lunch breaks, there are no specific mandated duration or conditions that employers must meet. In practice, however, if an employee works more than five consecutive hours during a workday without a break, the employer has violated Hawaii’s wage and hour labor laws. In one decision, the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board (which was formerly known as the Hawaii Employment Security Appeals Referees) held that at least 30 minutes of time for lunch is considered appropriate. Because the Board issued an opinion in this case, it is not technically considered the law of Hawaii. However, Hawaii courts have cited to this opinion with approval on multiple occasions.
Employer Responsibilities Under Hawaii Law and Employee Rights
Section 2: Employer Obligations and Employee Rights
Employers should be aware of their obligations when it comes to rest and meal breaks under Hawaii law. Though the law doesn’t require employers to provide breaks, the law provides clear guidance on how employers should approach the issue if they choose to do so.
Employers must provide a 30-minute unpaid lunch break to employees working more than five consecutive hours in a workday. If an employer provides a 30-minute break but fails to relieve an employee of all duties (i.e., requires an employee to stay at the work site during the lunch break or requires a nonexempt employee to continue to perform the essential functions of the employee’s position as during the rest of the day), the lunch break will not be considered duty-free and the employee must be compensated for any work performed during the break. To be considered duty-free, the law states all of the following conditions must be met:
Employers may not deduct from an employee’s pay any minutes that an employee is eating during the 30-minute break.
If an employer has failed to provide required meal periods and/or has failed to relieve employees of all work duties during breaks, employees are entitled to compensation for the amount of time that the required meal periods were not provided. Employees may file a Wage Claims Division complaint with the DLIR in order to recover this compensation, but enforcement of the laws is otherwise primarily left to DLIR and the Hawaii State Attorney General.
Hawaii’s Lunch and Meal Periods for Specific Industries
While the overall framework for meal periods is largely universal, there are certain industry-specific considerations that can influence how meal period policies are implemented. For example, employers in the hospitality and entertainment sectors frequently apply the 30-minute meal break requirement more liberally due to the fact that employees are often working long shifts, and their default schedule may not mesh with the standard workweek of 40 hours. A perspective from the field is that guests and patrons are not likely to welcome a brash attempt on the part of the management to place an unwanted time constraint on the employee for a meal. These types of hospitality and entertainment operations are noted for providing meals and refreshments for patrons at almost any time, so who says that a member of the staff should not be able to enjoy the same type of service?
Some employers employ a "breaks on demand" policy , which simply allows staffers access to meals at any time during their shift. However, it is helpful to note that the majority of these employers require employees to clock out prior to taking a meal, which usually serves the purpose of documenting actual off-the-clock time (please see this blog post for further information). Results among this group are varied, because while some settle for incomplete meal breaks that do not meet the components as required by law, others insist on requiring each separate meal as outlined in the law. Others have found a middle ground, where the documented time is not counted as actual time worked – but this is a very risky policy to adopt, given the fact that the law is clear in regards to taking a complete and uninterrupted meal break.
Other industries that commonly apply their own industry standards to the required lunches include the healthcare, automotive, convenience store and insurance sectors.
Common Questions and Answers on Meal Periods
It is not uncommon for employees and employers to have questions about lunch breaks. Below are some of the most common questions and their answers:
Q: How long should my lunch break be?
In Hawaii, federal law does not require breaks or meal periods at any age. However, if you are under age 14, Hawaii law requires a 30-minute lunch break after five consecutive hours of work. If you are between the ages of 14 and 18, you must receive at least a 30-minute break every 4 consecutive hours, but not more than one break per day.
Q: What happens if an employee doesn’t receive a lunch break?
Under Hawaii law, employers may not employ any employees for any period of time longer than five consecutive hours without providing the employee a whole 30-minute break during the work period. Accordingly, employees who do not receive required lunch breaks may sue to recover wages they were unlawfully denied.
Q: Does the employer have to pay the employee for a missed lunch break?
Generally, no. Again, if the employee is not provided with the required 30-minute lunch period, the employer must pay the employee for any wages lost as a result of this. But employers are only required to provide employees who work for eight hours or more a 30-minute break. In other words, if the employee works six hours, they are not entitled to additional pay even if the employer does not provide the employee with the required 30-minute lunch period.
Q: Are there any exceptions to the lunch break rules?
Overtime laws differ from lunch break mandatory requirements and do not apply to all employees. As briefly mentioned above, the overtime law requires employers to pay certain employees an additional hour for every day where the employee is not provided with an acceptable 30-minute lunch period. However, there are many exceptions to the overtime law, and you should always consult a Hawaii employment attorney before pursuing any legal action.
Guidelines for Employers and Employees
For employers, ensuring that you understand whether a meal period can be unpaid and if an employee can waive their meal period is key to preventing liability under the Hawaii Wage and Hour Law. To this end, if there is any doubt about your employee’s ability to waive a meal period and have it be unpaid, it is recommended that the meal period be paid. Implementing proper time records will also help mitigate any potential liability . If you have non-exempt employees and payroll policies where the implementation of meal periods are controlled, it is critical that you ensure this policy is enforced.
For employees, if you feel you are being denied proper meal breaks or your meal breaks are being interrupted, you should immediately report this to your employer. If your employer fails to correct this issue, you should then contact a worker’s rights attorney.
