North Carolina Labor Laws Breaks

NC Labor Laws Concerning Breaks

NC Labor Laws: Breaks

In the state of North Carolina, labor laws on breaks specify that an employer is not required to give a regular employee a rest break or lunch break unless they are under the age of 18 or breastfeeding for a new infant.

Federal law and NC labor laws for breaks state that an employer is obligated to give a mother a private and cleaning room for breastfeeding breaks, and these breaks usually correlate with any break schedule adopted by the employer.

Specific North Carolina Labor Laws: Breaks

The majority of North Carolina labor laws on breaks are located in Article 2A of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes. Most employers will adopt break schedules even though NC labor laws on breaks do make the breaks a requirement.

Under federal law, the employee is usually paid for a break lasting up to 20 minutes, but a lunch is usually unpaid if amounting for 30 minutes or more. Breaks associated with vacation plans are stated within Statute 95-25.12 and listed below:

“No employer is required to provide vacation pay plans for employees. However, if an employer provides these promised benefits for employees, the employer shall give all vacation time off or payment in lieu of time off in accordance with the company policy or practice.”

NC labor laws for breaks are different for minors under the age of 18, and some of these regulations are discussed in the section below.

NC Labor Laws: Breaks for Minors

Most North Carolina labor laws for breaks are listed in Statute 95-25.5—located in the link.

Important sections of these North Carolina labor laws on breaks for minors are paraphrased below:

(a) No youth under the age of 18 can work for an employer without a youth employment certificate unless exempted under law

(b) During the school year, no minor under the age of 18 can work from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. when there is school the next day

(c) No minor the age of 14 or 15 can be employed in any occupation except those permitted by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and such minors can only work upon the following conditions:

• no more than 3 hours a day during school year

• no more than 8 hours a day when school is not in session

• only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., but until 9 p.m. during the summer

• no more than 18 hours a week when school is in session, and no more than 40 hours a week

(d) This section of NC labor laws on breaks states than no person 13 years old or less can work outside school hours except for the distribution of newspapers

(e) This section of North Carolina labor laws for breaks is one of the most important sections in this statute. The statute is listed below:

• “No youth under 16 years of age shall be employed for more than five consecutive hours without an interval of at least 30 minutes for rest. No period of less than 30 minutes shall be deemed to interrupt a continuous period of work.”

For more information about more sections of North Carolina labor laws on breaks under this statute, visit the link provided above.