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
Generally speaking, yes an employer may require that their employees take breaks, even if they are not required to provide them under the law; there is nothing in the law that would prevent them from doing so.
In Utah, there are no state laws that mandate employers to provide meal or rest breaks to their employees. However, employers have the discretion to include breaks in their employee benefits package and company policy. If an employer does provide break laws, they must establish clear guidelines for employees to follow.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has neither researched nor issued standards requiring that workers be permitted lunch and rest breaks in the course of their workday.
For an 8-hour work shift, employees are entitled to a minimum 20-minute uninterrupted break if they work more than six hours. The break should not be taken at the beginning or end of the shift, and employees must be allowed to take it away from their workstation.
Employees must be allowed a meal period when they work more than five hours in a shift. A meal period must be at least 30 minutes long and start between the second and fifth hour of the shift.
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.
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.