Breaks and Meals

Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor Georgia law require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. However, many employers do provide breaks and meal periods. Breaks of short duration (from 5 to 20 minutes) are common. The FLSA requires workers be paid for short break periods; however an employer does not have to compensate for meal periods of thirty minutes or more, as long as the workers are free to use the meal period time as they wish and are not required to perform work during that time.