Employers must pay employees during a break period. Although breaks are not required, employers must pay employees for time they spend working and for shorter breaks during the day.For shifts 10 hours or longer, an employee is entitled to two 30-minute breaks. An employee is not entitled to any breaks if their shift is 5 hours or less. If employers choose to provide breaks, breaks less than 20 minutes must be paid. Federal law does not require breaks; however, the DOL states that breaks under 20 minutes must be paid. An employee is entitled to one 30-minute paid or unpaid break after the first 5 hours of work for shifts that are between 5 and 10 hours long. The Issue Briefs series is intended to introduce a reader to various legislatively related issues and provide useful resources to assist the. The simplest way to view and download your pay stubs is through MyGCPay. Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam.