# Do Owners Have To Pay Lunch Hour Too?



## StihlRockin' (Jul 21, 2008)

Do employees who get time off for lunch, like 1/2 or a full hour, do they get paid for this as well?

Since I'm a very small company, many of the reg's don't apply to me since I'm under the 1/2 a million in annual sales. However, I do recall reading briefly something about the time employees have for lunch.

Let's do it like this:

Employee shows up for work at 9:00 am, has a one-hour lunch, then goes home at 5:00pm. 9 to 5 is 8 hours, but there was a lunch break of one-hour. Do they have to get credit for the full 8 hours or is it legal to have them clocked for 7 hours?

*Stihl*Rockin'


----------



## pdqdl (Jul 21, 2008)

It is entirely dependent on whatever agreement exists between the employer and the employees.

Usually, hourly jobs don't get paid for long lunch breaks, and salaried jobs don't get paid overtime.


----------



## bowtechmadman (Jul 21, 2008)

What kind of business? Just curious doesn't make a difference in the law. Not sure what the law is for Minn.
Here in Michigan...the UAW contract that I have to deal w/ allows us not to pay for lunch but we must give them 30 min for lunch...and allow them to punch out and leave the premisis.
They have now instated that salary will not be paid for their lunch either. To me this is ridiculus...my lunch (always eat at the shop) gets interrupted on a daily basis sometimes takes me 2 hours to eat my lunch. This is expected yet they don't want to pay me for 30 min of the day. Work 5-3 and must be available on the floor the entire time.


----------



## arbor pro (Jul 22, 2008)

If it's a non-working lunch - whether on the jobsite or away from it - and the employee is 'free' to sleep, walk around, etc (do whatever he wants) then it goes unpaid. 

If I require the employee to eat his lunch while driving or riding in a vehicle, then it's paid because he's not 'free' to do what he wants during that time.

If it's unpaid, then the employee should be able to do what he/she wants free of work responsibility. If responsibility is expected during that time, then they should be compensated for it. JMO.


----------



## CLEARVIEW TREE (Jul 23, 2008)

My help usually gets a half hour for lunch and sometimes an hr depending on the day, mood, job,etc. The time taken for lunch always gets deducted from his total hours for the week. If we work till like 1 and are done then i pay him straight thru and we eat while drivin home. Hope that helps ya.


----------



## custom8726 (Jul 23, 2008)

Probably not the best policy but I always pay the guys for lunch hr and usually pay the tab for lunch and breakfest also.


----------



## arbor pro (Jul 23, 2008)

custom8726 said:


> Probably not the best policy but I always pay the guys for lunch hr and usually pay the tab for lunch and breakfest also.



Whether a policy is good or bad depends on how your crews respond to the policy. Picking up a meal tab isn't bad policy if it improves morale and is used to reward hard work. It all comes down to figuring that cost into your overall labor cost and justifying that cost with good production from motivated employees.

Some employers completely miss the boat when it comes to employee motivation. They figure that people are just drones to work to death until they replace them with another drone. Then they wonder why employees get lazy or steal from them because they have no respect or admiration for the person/company they work for.


----------



## tree md (Jul 23, 2008)

custom8726 said:


> Probably not the best policy but I always pay the guys for lunch hr and usually pay the tab for lunch and breakfest also.



Same here.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 23, 2008)

Lunch? What's that? When you slip and and fall?


----------



## lxt (Jul 24, 2008)

me & my team start at 7am drive to site on the way there we stop get fuel, coffee, etc.. we break at 10am for 15-20 minutes we take lunch when/if we reach a goal point within the job but no later than 1pm.

I usually pick up the tab for meals if we eat somewhere, we quit when we all have had enough around 5-6pm, with a break at around 3-4pm to wind down a bit. I really dont care what the law says...I TREAT MY GUYS GOOD & better than what the law wants or says I should.

big biz is the one that wants the regulations, to me if I think im being taken advantage of then we all talk about it....its a team & my biz runs best when my team is on the same page.


LXT.........


----------



## BlueRidgeMark (Jul 24, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> It is entirely dependent on whatever agreement exists between the employer and the employees.
> 
> Usually, hourly jobs don't get paid for long lunch breaks, and salaried jobs don't get paid overtime.





Uh, no. It is NOT up to whatever agreement! It's governed by state and federal laws, and not complying can be expensive!


Usually, lunch is not paid, but check with your state labor department to be sure.


----------



## pdqdl (Jul 25, 2008)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> Uh, no. It is NOT up to whatever agreement! It's governed by state and federal laws, and not complying can be expensive!
> 
> 
> Usually, lunch is not paid, but check with your state labor department to be sure.



I'm afraid you'll have to educate me on this one. I don't know of any federal or state law that regulates whether a lunch period is paid or not. I have no doubt that there may be some somewhere that make an employer let people have TIME for breaks, but I know of no laws (or regulations enforced by government entities) that dictate whether the employee gets paid.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 25, 2008)

lxt said:


> me & my team start at 7am drive to site on the way there we stop get fuel, coffee, etc.. we break at 10am for 15-20 minutes we take lunch when/if we reach a goal point within the job but no later than 1pm.
> 
> I usually pick up the tab for meals if we eat somewhere, we quit when we all have had enough around 5-6pm, with a break at around 3-4pm to wind down a bit. I really dont care what the law says...I TREAT MY GUYS GOOD & better than what the law wants or says I should.
> 
> ...



Dam! You are the man! What a guy. Where are you going to take the boys for lunch tommoroww? Can I have the lobster?
Wait! 7 am?


----------



## treemandan (Jul 25, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> I'm afraid you'll have to educate me on this one. I don't know of any federal or state law that regulates whether a lunch period is paid or not. I have no doubt that there may be some somewhere that make an employer let people have TIME for breaks, but I know of no laws (or regulations enforced by government entities) that dictate whether the employee gets paid.



I always got an atititude about not being paid for lunch, it was the key motivation for me to start my own business, I haven't eaten lunch in 3 F-ing years.
So here I am, not being paid and on my lunch break and the homeowner or the boss asks me a question pertaining to the job... Whose time is whose time?
Yeah get real : would you like me to feed you your timeclock for lunch? ( of this is just a generalization but if anyone wants to bother me on my lunch break you better be paying).


----------



## buzz sawyer (Jul 29, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> It is entirely dependent on whatever agreement exists between the employer and the employees.
> 
> Usually, hourly jobs don't get paid for long lunch breaks, and salaried jobs don't get paid overtime.



Salaried = lots of overtime and few lunch breaks. But of course, there are perks - like getting to work at home in the evening where it's nice and quiet. :computer:


----------



## OLD CHIPMONK (Aug 2, 2008)

We start at 6:30 AM sharp & are home by dark, except for Sundays ! A lunch is always good during peak hours, but try to make it quick! Work comes first ! Old School ! Now days 2 breaks & a one-hr. lunch with pay ! About 5 hrs. work for 8 hrs. pay ! That's if you count fuel-up time & travel time.


----------



## BC WetCoast (Aug 6, 2008)

OLD CHIPMONK said:


> We start at 6:30 AM sharp & are home by dark, except for Sundays ! A lunch is always good during peak hours, but try to make it quick! Work comes first ! Old School ! Now days 2 breaks & a one-hr. lunch with pay ! About 5 hrs. work for 8 hrs. pay ! That's if you count fuel-up time & travel time.



Start at 6:30. When do you start your saws up? Around here, municipal noise bylaws regulate the time you can operate (except in emergencies).

The bylaws are more aimed at building construction, but we fall under the same umbrella.


----------



## ponderosatree (Aug 6, 2008)

buzz sawyer said:


> Salaried = lots of overtime and few lunch breaks.



Salaried means a flat wage. No overtime.

EDIT: Oops! I guess you meant lots of unpaid overtime which is correct.


----------



## OLD CHIPMONK (Aug 6, 2008)

The City Ordinance states " No loud noises before 8am. ", so we use handsaws til then. It sure does get the blood flowing ! Also you can't run a saw after 8pm. or on Sunday. They sure are strict ! We do cheat a little & put silencers on the chainsaws !!!!!!


----------

