The rule
| Georgia | |
|---|---|
| Meal break for adults | Not required by Georgia or federal law |
| Rest break for adults | Not required by Georgia or federal law |
| If you give short breaks | Breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked and must be paid |
| If you give a meal break | A meal period of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved of duty |
| Minors | Georgia's Department of Labor does not describe a state break rule for minors. Check its child labor pages and the federal child labor rules for hour limits on workers under 16 |
What the federal rule requires
Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. What it does regulate is pay when an employer chooses to give them.
Short breaks, usually 5 to 20 minutes, count as hours worked. They go into the weekly total and can push an employee over 40 hours into overtime. A bona fide meal period, typically 30 minutes or more, does not count as work time, but only if the employee is completely relieved from duty. Someone who eats at the register while answering questions has not been relieved, and that time is paid.
What the Georgia Department of Labor says
The Department's breaks and meals page is direct: neither the FLSA nor Georgia law requires breaks or meal periods, though many employers provide them at their discretion. When they do, the FLSA requires pay for short break periods, and it does not require pay for meal periods of 30 minutes or more as long as the worker is free to use that time and is not required to perform work.
Worked example: a 30-person warehouse
The warehouse gives two paid 10-minute breaks and one 30-minute unpaid lunch on each 8.5-hour shift.
- The 20 minutes of paid breaks per day are hours worked: 100 minutes a week per employee stay on the clock and count toward 40.
- The lunch is unpaid only when the employee is fully relieved. A lead who is asked to sign for a delivery halfway through lunch has been put back to work, and that lunch is paid.
- On an 8-hour paid day the employee is at 40 hours by Friday. Two interrupted lunches in a week make it 41 hours and 1 hour of overtime.
How to track it
Because Georgia does not require breaks, the compliance question is a pay question: are short breaks being paid, and is unpaid meal time actually work-free? Both depend on the time clock capturing the break as its own event rather than a guessed deduction.
Set the unpaid meal break as a clocked break, so the 30 minutes only come off the timesheet when the employee actually punches out for it. Leave short rest breaks on the clock so they stay paid and count toward the 40-hour overtime line. If a written break policy says 30 minutes but the punches show 18, pay the 18 as work time and fix the schedule, not the record.
Georgia meal and rest breaks FAQ
Does Georgia require a lunch break?
No. Neither Georgia law nor the federal FLSA requires meal or rest breaks. Breaks are set by employer policy, and once given, federal pay rules apply.
Do short breaks have to be paid in Georgia?
Yes. The FLSA requires pay for short break periods, typically 5 to 20 minutes, and those minutes count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold.
When can a meal period be unpaid?
When it lasts 30 minutes or more and the employee is free to use the time as they wish and is not required to do any work. An interrupted or working lunch is paid time.
Are there break rules for minors in Georgia?
The Georgia Department of Labor's guidance on breaks does not set a state break rule for minors. Check the Department's child labor pages and the federal child labor rules for hour limits on workers under 16 before scheduling them.
Related pages
Sources, checked September 9, 2026
- Georgia Department of Labor: Breaks and meals
- U.S. Department of Labor: Breaks and meal periods
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #22: Hours worked under the FLSA
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the linked source.