An employer shall allow each employee to take at least one thirty minute meal break during every continuous eight hours of labor performed. B. An employer shall allow each employee to take at least one ten minute rest period during every four hours of labor performed.
It refers to "being at work", not "actively heads-down working on something". If you come in at 9am, do work, have lunch, make coffee, work more, suffer meetings, work, chat at the water cooler, work again, and leave at 5pm, you're working 9-5.
An eight-hour workday is a standardized work schedule in which an employee works for 8 hours per day. An employee who works an eight-hour workday will often work five days a week with two days off. This is sometimes known as a full-time job or working a 9-5, which means working 8 hours a day between 9 am and 5 pm.
In most states, breaks are required by law. The employer has to, by law, enforce that employees take those breaks. If they fail to do so, it opens them up to very expensive lawsuits. I recall a decade or two back, The Gap has a massive settlement in the state of California over employees working through breaks.
Any employee working for more than 10 hours in a single shift is entitled to take 2 meal breaks comprising 30 minutes each. In such cases, the employer must provide the second meal break no later than at the end of the 10th hour.
Indiana employers aren't require to offer meal breaks or rest breaks. Although some Indiana employers provide meal or rest breaks, you might be surprised to learn that federal law doesn't give employees the right to time off to eat lunch (or another meal) or the right to take short breaks during the work day.
For a 12 hour shift pack at least one meal and two snacks. Eating a snack a few hours in, your meal around halfway through and another snack two hours before your shift is done should provide your body with the fuel it needs.
For instance, in California, employers are required to provide a 30-minute meal break for every 5 hours worked, and a 10-minute break for every 4 hours worked. In contrast, other states have no such laws, leaving it up to the employer's discretion.
Break laws by state StateRest breakMinor break Arkansas / Required for minors under 16 working in entertainment — the duration of the break is up to the employer. California A 10-min rest period for every 4 hours worked. Adult break regulations apply. Colorado A 10-min rest period for every 4 hours worked. / Connecticut / /47 more rows
An employer shall allow each employee to take at least one ten minute rest period during every four hours of labor performed.