Requiring employers to provide employees with meal periods and rest periods and providing penalties

This bill requires an employer to provide an employee with appropriate meal periods and appropriate rest periods. The bill states that an appropriate meal period shall be not less than 30 minutes during an employee’s work period of at least seven hours. The meal period is to be taken between the second and fifth hours of the work or, if the employee works more than seven hours, between the third and sixth hours. The bill states that an appropriate rest period shall be a paid period of not less than 10 minutes during every four-hour work period. The rest period is taken in the middle of the work period. The rest period is in addition to the meal period and cannot be added to the meal period or deducted from the work period to reduce the overall length of the total work period. The bill defines an “employee” as a natural person who is employed in this state for wages by an employer.1, who employs a natural person for wages. The bill provides that an employer is not required to pay for a meal period if an employee is free from work duties during the employee’s entire meal period. The bill allows three exemptions to the meal and rest period requirements. The first exemption is if the meal and rest period requirements are modified by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. However, the exemption is valid only if the collective bargaining agreement entered into by the employees prescribes specific terms concerning meal periods and rest periods. The second exemption states that meal and rest period requirements apply to hourly paid and salary-paid employees. However, management or employees involved in certain agricultural jobs are not required to have breaks or meal breaks. The third exemption is if an employer shows that the ordinary nature and circumstance of the work prevented the employer from establishing and maintaining a regular scheduled meal period. The bill provides civil penalties for violating the new Code chapter. An employer who violates the provisions shall be subject to a penalty of up to $100 for each violation. The director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing may recover the penalties under Code chapter 17A contested case procedures. Any penalties recovered shall be deposited in the general fund of the state. The director may propose that an employer be assessed a penalty by serving the employer with notice of a penalty in the same manner as an original notice is served under the rules of civil procedure. The bill provides the director with the authority to provide further exemptions from the requirements of the bill by rule when reasonable. Also, the director or the director’s designee may inspect employment records relating to rest periods for employees and interview an employer or employee or an agent of the employer or employee, during working hours or at other reasonable times.