Required Breaks, State by State
Colorado: 30 minutes for shifts over 5 hours
Scheduling a shift over 5 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 5 hours for a location in Colorado, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Colorado requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 5 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
California: 30 minutes at 5 hours, a second at 10
30 minutes for shifts over 5 hours
Scheduling a shift over 5 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 5 hours for a location in California, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — California requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 5 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
Second 30-minute break for shifts over 10 hours
A shift over 10 hours needs both breaks
With no break, both the 5hr and 10hr requirements are missing.
Adding one qualifying 30-minute break clears only the 5hr requirement.
Adding a second qualifying 30-minute break clears the rest.
Oregon: 30 minutes at 6 hours, a third at 14
30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours
Scheduling a shift over 6 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 6 hours for a location in Oregon, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Oregon requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 6 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
Additional 30-minute break for shifts over 14 hours
A shift over 14 hours needs both breaks
With no break, both the 6hr and 14hr requirements are missing.
Adding one qualifying 30-minute break clears only the 6hr requirement.
Adding a second qualifying 30-minute break clears the rest.
Minnesota: 30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours
Scheduling a shift over 6 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 6 hours for a location in Minnesota, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Minnesota requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 6 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
Massachusetts: 30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours
Scheduling a shift over 6 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 6 hours for a location in Massachusetts, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Massachusetts requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 6 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
Nevada: 30 minutes for shifts over 8 hours
Scheduling a shift over 8 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 8 hours for a location in Nevada, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Nevada requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 8 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
New Hampshire: 30 minutes for shifts over 5 hours
Scheduling a shift over 5 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 5 hours for a location in New Hampshire, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — New Hampshire requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 5 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
Vermont: 30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours
Scheduling a shift over 6 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 6 hours for a location in Vermont, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — Vermont requires a 30-minute break for shifts over 6 hours.
Adding a qualifying 30-minute break clears the warning.
West Virginia: 20 minutes for shifts over 6 hours
Scheduling a shift over 6 hours with no break
If you enter a shift over 6 hours for a location in West Virginia, with no break scheduled,
a warning appears — West Virginia requires a 20-minute break for shifts over 6 hours.
Adding a qualifying 20-minute break clears the warning.
Washington: 30 minutes, must begin 2nd–5th hour
Scheduling the break outside the required window
If you add a 30-minute break too early, before the 2nd-hour window opens,
a warning still appears — the break exists, but not within Washington's 2nd-5th hour window.
Moving the break inside the window clears the warning.
Kentucky: 30 minutes, must begin 3rd–5th hour
Scheduling the break outside the required window
If you add a 30-minute break too early, before the 3rd-hour window opens,
a warning still appears — the break exists, but not within Kentucky's 3rd-5th hour window.
Moving the break inside the window clears the warning.
Connecticut: 30 minutes, must begin 2+ hrs after start and 2+ hrs before end
Scheduling the break outside the required window
If you add a 30-minute break too early, within the first 2 hours,
a warning still appears — the break exists, but too close to the shift's start.
Moving the break inside the window clears the warning.
Delaware: 30 minutes, must begin 2+ hrs after start and 2+ hrs before end
Scheduling the break outside the required window
If you add a 30-minute break too early, within the first 2 hours,
a warning still appears — the break exists, but too close to the shift's start.
Moving the break inside the window clears the warning.
Tennessee: 30 minutes, cannot be in the first hour
Scheduling the break in the first hour
If you add a 30-minute break in the shift's first hour,
a warning still appears — Tennessee's break can't be scheduled in the first hour.
Moving the break after the first hour clears the warning.
Maine: 30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours, exempt below 3 concurrent staff
The rule only applies once three people are on at once
Entering a shift over 6 hours for a Maine location, with only this one employee on duty, doesn't warn — Maine exempts shifts staffed by fewer than 3.
Now add shifts for two more employees at the same time.
The first employee's shift now shows that a break is required, because three employees are on duty at once.
North Dakota: 30 minutes for shifts over 5 hours, only once 2+ are concurrently on staff
The rule only applies once two people are on at once
Entering a shift over 5 hours for a North Dakota location, with only this one employee on duty, doesn't warn — North Dakota's rule only applies once 2+ are on duty.
But if we add 1 other shift,
then the first employee's shift now shows the warning that a break is required, because two employees are concurrently on duty.
New York: depends on the time of day and your industry
Mercantile: 30 minutes for shifts over 6 hours spanning 11am-2pm
Scheduling the break outside the 11am-2pm window
If you add a 30-minute break before the 11am-2pm window opens,
a warning still appears — the break exists, but not within the 11am-2pm window.
Moving the break inside the window clears the warning.
Mercantile: 45 minutes touching the shift's midpoint for shifts over 6 hours starting 1pm-6am
The break has to cover the middle of the shift
With no break yet, a warning appears for the missing 45-minute break.
Adding a 45-minute break right at the start of the shift — nowhere near its 7pm midpoint — still warns, since a qualifying break must touch the midpoint, not just exist somewhere in the shift.
Moving the break to span the shift's midpoint (7pm) clears the warning.
Factory scales the same triggers to 60 minutes instead of 30/45
Factories need 60 minutes instead of 30
With no break, the warning names factory's 60-minute requirement.
An additional 20-minute evening break stacks on top of the midday requirement
Evening shifts need a second break
With no break, both the midday and evening requirements are missing.
Adding a qualifying midday break clears only that half of the warning.
Adding a qualifying evening break (5pm-7pm) clears the rest.
No warning unless the organization's industry is mercantile or factory
Other industries aren't covered
No warning appears, even with no break and a shift shape that would otherwise trigger both New York requirements.
Staff view shows the same warning
The same warnings appear in the staff view
On the schedule page, open the staff view for the week you're checking.
A warning appears on the shift for both the missing midday and evening breaks.
Clicking the warning opens a dialog with the full message.
Illinois: 20 minutes at 7.5 hours, then every 4.5 hours
20 minutes for shifts over 7.5 hours, plus another every 4.5 hours
A 12-hour shift needs two breaks
With no break, the warning says 2 breaks are required for a 12-hour shift.
Adding one qualifying break (within the first 5 hours) still leaves the second break missing.
Adding a second qualifying break clears the warning entirely.
First break must start within 5 hours of shift start
The first break has to start within 5 hours
Adding a 20-minute break that starts 6 hours in (past the 5-hour window) does not clear the warning.
Staff view shows the same warning
The same warnings appear in the staff view
On the schedule page, open the staff view for the week you're checking.
A warning appears on the shift for the missing breaks.
Clicking the warning opens a dialog with the full message.
Rhode Island: 20 minutes at 6 hours, 30 at 8
Healthcare is exempt
On the schedule page, open the staff view for the week you're checking.
No warning appears — licensed healthcare facilities are exempt from Rhode Island's meal-break rule (§28-3-14).
20 minutes for shifts over 6 hours, scaling to 30 minutes at 8 hours
Longer shifts move up to the 30-minute tier
With no break scheduled past the 6-hour trigger, a warning asks for 20 minutes.
Adding a 20-minute break clears the warning.
Extending the shift past 8 hours re-triggers the warning, now asking for 30 minutes — the same 20-minute break no longer qualifies.
Extending the break to 30 minutes clears the warning again.
Staff view shows the same warning
The same warning appears in the staff view
On the schedule page, open the staff view for the week you're checking.
A warning appears on the shift for the missing break.
Clicking the warning opens a dialog with the full message.
