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- Category: Meal and Rest Breaks
Minnesota requires an employer to allow a meal break of at least 30 minutes to any employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours.
That rule took effect January 1, 2026 and replaced a considerably weaker one. The details around it decide most real disputes: what counts toward the six hours, how many breaks a long shift earns, and whether the time has to be paid.
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What the Statute Requires
Minn. Stat. § 177.254, subd. 1 provides that an employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes.
The change is significant on both numbers. Before 2026 the statute required “sufficient time to eat a meal” and only for employees working eight or more consecutive hours. Neither the duration nor the trigger was fixed, and a great deal of scheduling was built around the eight-hour threshold.
| Before January 1, 2026 | From January 1, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Sufficient time | At least 30 minutes |
| Triggered by | Working eight or more consecutive hours | Working six or more consecutive hours |
| Purpose | To eat a meal | To eat a meal |
| Stated remedy for denial | None in the section | Break time at the regular rate plus an equal additional amount as liquidated damages |
Source: Minn. Stat. § 177.254 and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry work breaks and rest periods guidance. Verified September 5, 2026.
The shift from eight hours to six is the change that reaches the most workers. A six or seven hour shift carried no meal break obligation under the old rule and carries a full 30-minute obligation now. If your employer’s scheduling practice has not changed since 2025, that is worth examining.
Six Consecutive Hours, and What Counts Toward Them
The trigger is six or more consecutive hours of work, which raises the question of what counts as work.
DLI states that hours worked include training time, cleaning time and any other time performing work duties. It also states that hours worked do not include the 30-minute or longer meal break itself, provided the employee is completely relieved of work duties during it.
That second point has a practical consequence. An employee scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a meal break from 11:30 to noon has not worked six consecutive hours before the break, because the morning block is three and a half hours. The consecutive count restarts after a genuine meal break.
The broader question of what counts as hours worked reaches preparation, cleaning, required meetings and waiting time, all of which DLI identifies as compensable.
Only One Meal Break a Day, However Long the Shift
This is easy to miss and it is worth stating plainly. DLI’s guidance addresses an employee working from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and answers that the employer must allow at least one meal break, because the employee is working six or more consecutive hours, and that the updated law does not require more than one meal break where an employee works six or more consecutive hours.
A twelve-hour shift and a six-hour shift therefore carry the same single meal break obligation under this section. Rest breaks work differently. Section 177.253 requires one within each four consecutive hours, so they accumulate with shift length.
Paid or Unpaid
The statute does not require the meal break to be paid, and the way it says so matters.
Subdivision 2 is titled “Payment not required” and provides that except for subdivision 4, nothing in the section requires the employer to pay the employee during the meal break. Subdivision 4 is the remedy provision, so the carve-out preserves the damages measure.
That is not the same as saying the break is unpaid. Two separate rules decide whether a particular meal break has to be paid. Under Minn. R. 5200.0120, subp. 1, rest periods of less than 20 minutes may not be deducted from total hours worked, so a meal break shorter than 20 minutes is compensable regardless of what it is called. And under subp. 4, a bona fide meal period is not hours worked only where the employee is completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating a regular meal. An employee who is required to perform any duties while eating, whether active or inactive, is not completely relieved.
Timing, Combining and What the Employer Controls
The statute sets the length and the trigger. It does not say when in the shift the break must fall, and DLI’s guidance leaves scheduling to the employer within the limits of the requirement to allow the break.
An employer may also combine rest and meal breaks. DLI’s guidance addresses a schedule running 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a single hour from 11:45 to 12:45 and treats it as permissible, on the basis that the employee still receives a 15-minute rest break within each four consecutive hours of work and a 30-minute meal break, with the rest breaks sitting either side of the meal period.
An employer may also require you to remain on the premises during the meal break, and doing so does not by itself make the time payable. That answer surprises most people. What matters is whether you are completely relieved of duties for the whole period, which is a separate question from where you spend it.
Who Is Not Covered
The break requirements are part of the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act and apply to employees as defined in Minn. Stat. § 177.23, subd. 7. DLI states that exceptions to that definition include, among others, certain agricultural workers, individuals employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity, and certain seasonal day camp staff, and that employers are not required to allow breaks under Minnesota law for workers who fall under these exceptions.
Two cautions belong with that. Being paid a salary or carrying a supervisory title does not establish an exemption, which depends on meeting both salary and duties requirements. And some MFLSA exemptions apply only to overtime and do not remove break rights. The exemption tests turn on the specific statutory category, and coverage is worth confirming rather than assuming in either direction.
A collective bargaining agreement may also establish different meal periods, which subdivision 3 expressly permits.
If You Are Not Getting the Break
The remedy is in subdivision 4. Where an employer does not allow meal breaks as required, it is liable for the meal break time that should have been allowed at the employee’s regular rate of pay plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, and DLI states that these remedies can be pursued by the department or through a private right of action.
Missed meal breaks commonly arise in workplaces where coverage cannot easily be dropped, such as healthcare, warehousing, food service and manufacturing. Our page on unpaid wages for Minneapolis warehouse workers covers one of those settings, and our overview of Minnesota meal and rest break requirements sets out both statutes together. A claim is worth the break time at your regular rate plus an equal amount as liquidated damages for each break denied, and it can be brought through DLI or directly in district court. Missed breaks often sit alongside other unpaid time, and our page on unpaid wages in Minneapolis covers how those claims are pursued in the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does my shift have to be before I get a lunch break?
Six or more consecutive hours of work. That is a change from the previous eight-hour threshold and it took effect January 1, 2026. Shifts of six and seven hours that carried no meal break obligation under the old rule now carry a 30-minute obligation.
Do I get two meal breaks on a twelve-hour shift?
Not under this section. DLI’s guidance states that the updated meal break law does not require more than one meal break where an employee works six or more consecutive hours, and uses a 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. shift as its example. Rest breaks are separate and do accumulate across a long shift.
Does my lunch break have to be paid?
Section 177.254, subd. 2 provides that the section does not require the employer to pay you during the meal break, subject to the remedy provision. Whether a particular break must be paid then turns on two rules: a break under 20 minutes may not be deducted from hours worked, and a meal period is only excluded from hours worked where you are completely relieved of duty.
Can my employer decide when I take it?
Generally yes. The statute sets a minimum length and the shift threshold that triggers the obligation, and does not prescribe timing. The employer’s discretion is bounded by the requirement that it actually allow the break, which DLI treats as a fact-intensive question about policies, communication and whether work circumstances make taking a break possible.
What if I work through lunch voluntarily?
DLI’s guidance recognizes that employers must allow breaks while employees may choose not to take them. The distinction that matters is whether the break was genuinely available. Where the workload, staffing or supervisor expectations make working through the standard practice, calling it voluntary does not resolve the question, and if the time was deducted from your pay you may have an unpaid wages claim in addition to a break claim.
This article provides general information about Minnesota law and is not legal advice. The break statutes took effect January 1, 2026 and agency interpretation of them continues to develop. Confirm current requirements with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry or an attorney.
