While most employers have been focusing their attention on preparing for the new Minnesota Paid Leave law, one other major development getting less public attention has been the changes to employee meal and rest break requirements, effective January 1, 2026. During the Minnesota legislature’s 2025 session, changes were made to both heighten and clarify standards under the Minnesota meal and rest break laws. Further guidance was provided this past fall by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) through FAQs. To avoid potentially steep penalties, employers should take proactive steps now to update their existing policies to ensure compliance.
Rest Breaks
What Has Changed
The law previously stated that an employer must allow an employee “adequate time from work” to utilize the restroom “within each four consecutive hours of work.” Under the changes effective January 1, employers must now allow an employee “a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the restroom, whichever is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work.” This adjustment to the statute stipulates two key changes to the law:
- Rest breaks may be used for any lawful purpose within company policy, beyond just using the restroom.
- The time of the break must be at least 15 minutes and may be longer if it takes longer for the individual to utilize the restroom.
Continuation of Restrictions on Timing and Pay
The new statutory language does not change the stipulation that rest breaks must be provided within, not after, the fourth consecutive hour of work. For example, it would be insufficient for an employer to provide a rest break from 4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. to an employee who started their shift at 12:00 p.m. For this hypothetical to be compliant with Minnesota law, the employer must permit the rest break to be taken prior to, not at, 4:00 p.m.
Also, there has been no change to the Minnesota Administrative Rules that require all rest periods under 20 minutes to be paid.
Meal Breaks
What Has Changed
As of January 1, Minnesota employers must also allow an employee to take at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted unpaid time for a meal break for every six or more consecutive hours of work. This is a significant change from the previous iteration of the law, which only required “a sufficient time to eat” every eight or more consecutive hours of work. Notably, the change to the law does not require employers to allow a meal break for each six-hour period worked. Thus, whether an employee works six hours or twelve hours, the employee is only entitled to one 30-minute meal break. Employers may, of course, elect to maintain a policy that exceeds this minimum standard or to establish meal breaks pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, employees may have rights to more food breaks under other laws, such as protections for pregnant individuals under the Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Act or the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Continuation of Employer and Employee Options
As noted above, the break can be unpaid and an employer may continue to require employees to stay onsite during their meal breaks without running afoul of the law.
Other Key Takeaways
Waiver Option
It is important to note that the law only requires employers to allow for employees to take the required breaks. Employees may waive their rest or meal breaks if they choose; however, employers may require the breaks to be taken. Any employee waiver should be in writing. There is little official guidance on the necessary format or frequency required for such waivers, including whether blanket waivers for all future meal periods are sufficient or if the waiver needs to be made on a meal-period-by-meal-period basis.
Time Tracking
For purposes of accurate documentation, employers should require non-exempt employees to record meal and rest breaks. As opposed to scheduling set breaks that may not end up being when the employee actually takes the break, or deducting an automatic 30 minutes from each applicable shift, employers should establish a policy for all non-exempt employees to track the precise starting and ending time for their rest and meal periods. For unpaid breaks, employers could require employees to clock out and clock back in when returning to work.
New Remedies Create Higher Costs for Non-Compliance
With changes to the meal break law, the Minnesota legislature also instituted new remedies, stating that if an employer does not allow an employee a meal break as legally required, the employer is liable to the employee for the meal break time at the employee’s regular rate of pay, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. No further guidance has been provided around how damages will be calculated by the DOLI, just that a claim can be made by the state agency or the individual employee.
Next Steps: Review, Revise, and Implement Policies and Practices
To avoid the increased penalties for non-compliance, employers should ensure all policies are aligned with the statutory changes outlined above. It will also be important for employers to inform and train supervisors and managers on proper break time procedures to ensure they are being followed on a day-to-day basis.
If you have questions about how these legal changes may impact your business, please contact Caitlin Gehlen or Emily Neumann, or your regular Lathrop GPM attorney.