Minnesota Meal and Rest Break Laws (2026)

The rule

	Minnesota
Rest break	At least 15 minutes, or enough time to use the nearest convenient restroom if that is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work (Minnesota Statutes 177.253)
Rest break pay	Paid. Rest periods under 20 minutes count as hours worked (Minnesota Rules 5200.0120)
Meal break	At least 30 minutes for an employee working six or more consecutive hours (Minnesota Statutes 177.254)
Meal break pay	Can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved of duty. The employer may require the employee to stay on the premises
Number of meal breaks	One. DLI says the law does not require more than one meal break, even on a long shift
Remedy for a missed break	The break time that should have been allowed, at the regular rate, plus an equal amount as liquidated damages. DLI can pursue it, or the employee can sue
Who is covered	Employees under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act. Excludes bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees, certain agricultural workers, and seasonal camp staff. A collective bargaining agreement can set different breaks
Minors	No separate break rule; teen employees get the same breaks. Under 16: not before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m., and no more than 8 hours in 24 or 40 hours a week (Minnesota Statutes 181A.04)

What changed on January 1, 2026

Before 2026, Minnesota required only adequate time to use the nearest restroom within each four hours of work, and sufficient time to eat a meal on shifts of eight or more consecutive hours. The 2025 Legislature rewrote both sections (Laws 2025, First Special Session, chapter 6, article 5), effective January 1, 2026.

Rest breaks became at least 15 minutes. The meal break trigger dropped from eight consecutive hours to six, with a 30-minute minimum. Both sections gained a remedy: an employer that does not allow a required break is liable for the break time at the employee's regular rate plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, which DLI or the employee can pursue.

Timing: within each four hours

DLI reads "within" literally: a rest break offered after four hours of work does not meet the rule. A bona fide meal break is not hours worked, so it restarts the count. In DLI's own example, an employee working 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with lunch from 11:30 to noon has worked only 3.5 hours before lunch, so no morning rest break is required, but one must be offered before 4 p.m. for the four afternoon hours.

DLI also allows breaks to be combined. A one-hour midday break can hold a 15-minute rest break, the 30-minute meal, and a second 15-minute rest break, as long as each rest break still falls within its own four-hour stretch.

Allow, not force

The statute says employers must allow breaks. Employees may choose to skip them, but DLI treats whether breaks were truly allowed as a question of fact: whether the employer has break policies, whether they were communicated, and whether work conditions made breaks possible. DLI recommends confirming a voluntary skip in writing. Pregnant employees may also ask for more frequent or longer restroom, food, and water breaks under the Women's Economic Security Act.

Minors

Minnesota's child labor law limits hours rather than adding a separate break rule, so teen employees get the same rest and meal breaks as adults. Workers under 16 may not work before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m., or more than 8 hours in a 24-hour period or 40 hours in a week. High school students who are 16 or 17 may not work after 11 p.m. on a night before a school day or before 5 a.m. on a school day, extended to 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. with a parent's written permission.

Worked example: a 20-person restaurant

A line cook paid $18 an hour works 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a 30-minute meal break from 11 to 11:30: 8 hours of work.

Morning: 7 to 11 is four consecutive hours, so a paid 15-minute rest break must fall inside it, for example at 9 a.m.
Meal: the shift is six or more consecutive hours, so the 30-minute meal break is required. It can be unpaid because the cook is completely off duty, even if the restaurant asks him to stay on site.
Afternoon: 11:30 to 3:30 is another four hours, so a second 15-minute rest break must be offered before 3:30.
If a rush means the afternoon rest break is never allowed, the restaurant owes 15 minutes at $18 ($4.50) plus an equal $4.50 in liquidated damages: $9. A meal break that is not allowed costs $9 plus $9, or $18, on top of paying for the 30 minutes worked. Ten cooks each missing one rest break a day for a five-day week adds up to $450.

How to track it

Minnesota's new law is a timing law: the record has to show a 15-minute break inside each four-hour stretch and a 30-minute meal break on six-hour shifts. Because the remedy runs per missed break, a timesheet that shows only daily totals cannot answer a claim.

ClockOut records meal and rest breaks as their own punches. Admins can set company-wide break rules of the form "after X hours worked, a break of at least Y minutes" for both the 15-minute rest break and the 30-minute meal break, and late or missing breaks show up in the manager's exception inbox. ClockOut does not calculate the liquidated damages: when a break was not allowed, the manager adds the amount owed to the next payroll. Keep rest breaks paid in payroll, since breaks under 20 minutes are hours worked, and keep a written note when an employee chooses to skip a break.

Minnesota meal and rest breaks FAQ

Are rest breaks paid in Minnesota?

Yes. Minnesota Rules 5200.0120 says rest periods of less than 20 minutes may not be deducted from hours worked, so the 15-minute rest break is paid time and counts toward overtime.

How many breaks does a 12-hour shift get in Minnesota?

One 30-minute meal break, because DLI says the law does not require more than one, plus a rest break of at least 15 minutes within each four consecutive hours of work. With a mid-shift meal break, that usually means at least two rest breaks.

Can I require employees to stay on site during the meal break?

Yes. DLI says employers can require employees to stay on the premises. As long as the employee is completely relieved of work duties, a meal break of 20 minutes or more does not have to be paid.

Can employees choose to skip their breaks?

Yes. The law requires employers to allow breaks, not force them. Whether breaks were truly allowed depends on your policies, whether you communicated them, and whether staffing made breaks possible, so DLI recommends confirming a voluntary skip in writing.

Sources, checked September 23, 2026

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the linked source.