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法律英语:120 Are Employers Legally Required to Give

时间:2010-11-19 03:27来源:互联网 提供网友:fi1171   字体: [ ]
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by Adam Freedman

Today’s topic: are employers legally required to give employees breaks?
And now, your daily dose of legalese: This article does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. In other words, although I am a lawyer, I’m not your lawyer.  In fact, we barely know each other. If you need personalized legal advice, contact an attorney in your community.
The podcast edition of this article was sponsored by Go to Meeting.  With this meeting service, you can hold your meetings over the Internet and give presentations, product demos and training sessions right from your PC. For a free, 45 day trial, visit GoToMeeting.com/podcast.
Are Employers Legally Required to Give Employees Breaks?
Bruce writes in to ask about a worker’s right to coffee breaks, otherwise known as “rest breaks.” Bruce works in construction, where he gets one 30-minute break and one 15-minute break. In his prior job--at a telephone call center--he used to get one 30-minute break and two 15-minute breaks. As Bruce points out, construction is harder work than answering phones, so intuitively, one would think that construction workers should get more breaks. How is it, he asks, that different segments of the workforce1 can have different breaks?
It’s a great question, but here’s the best part: it’s not that Bruce is lazy; after all, he’s a construction worker. But he tells me that he’s using up his break time to listen to Legal Lad! If he could get another break, he could download a few more episodes.
Bruce, the quick and dirty answer is that until I can persuade Congress to pass the Omnibus Legal Lad for Everyone bill, you’re at the mercy of state law. There are tremendous differences among state laws, but I’ll summarize some general principles in this episode. Chances are that you’ll have to squeeze your podcast listening into your existing breaks.
Are Employers Legally Required to Give Meal Breaks?
First, let’s look at Bruce’s 30-minute break. That would be considered his lunch break. Federal law does not require employers to set aside a certain amount of time for meal breaks. However, if an employer grants a short meal break-- generally 20 minutes or less--then the break must be paid. Likewise, if the employee is expected or allowed to work during the meal break, then that also must be paid. An employer can provide unpaid2 meal breaks if the break is 30 minutes or longer and the employee is completely relieved of his or her duties during the break.
It’s a Matter of State Law
Beyond those principles, it’s mainly a matter of state laws and regulations. As it happens, many states do require meal breaks, usually around 30 minutes. But other states have no such requirement, meaning that lunchtime is a matter of private contract between employer and employee. And even when state law does require a certain meal break, such laws can be trumped3 by a collective bargaining agreement between a union and business.
Many States Mandate4 Employers Give Employees 10-Minute Breaks
The same principles apply to rest breaks: there’s no federal requirement, but many states do mandate such breaks. The state laws that do exist tend to specify5 a 10-minute break that accrues6 every four hours or every eight hours, or something in-between. Coincidentally, Bruce writes that one of his co-workers told him that their rest break is only supposed to be 10 minutes; so possibly Bruce works in one of those 10-minute states.
More Strenuous7 Jobs Don’t Necessarily Come With More Breaks
So, why does Bruce get only one rest break in his tough construction job, whereas he used to get two rest breaks in his more sedentary telephone job? I’m not sure, but there’s no general principle that more strenuous jobs must come with more frequent breaks. In Bruce’s case, a number of possible explanations come to mind. It could be that his former job was located in a state with more generous rest break laws. Or maybe the hours at his old job were longer, thus entitling him to an additional rest break under state law. Or perhaps state law has nothing to do with it--maybe his old employer simply offered better contract terms.
Remember, state laws are only a minimum requirement. Even if Bruce is not entitled to an additional break under state law, he can always try to negotiate one with his boss. Bruce: I’m not sure it will help your case to say that you’re listening to Legal Lad during your break, but you can certainly give it a try!
Thank you for reading Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful8 Life. Let me give a quick shout-out to two of my Quick and Dirty Tips colleagues: The Nutrition Diva and The Public Speaker have just released their one hundredth podcast episodes this week.  If you aren’t already a subscriber9 to these shows, check them out.  You can learn how to eat healthier and communicate more persuasively10 from these gurus.
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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
2 unpaid fjEwu     
adj.未付款的,无报酬的
参考例句:
  • Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
  • He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。
3 trumped ccd8981ef2e9e924662f9825da2c2ce2     
v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去分词 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造
参考例句:
  • That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他,使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 mandate sj9yz     
n.托管地;命令,指示
参考例句:
  • The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
  • The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。
5 specify evTwm     
vt.指定,详细说明
参考例句:
  • We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
  • Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。
6 accrues 7943be70390b5042496a2143270d5805     
v.增加( accrue的第三人称单数 );(通过自然增长)产生;获得;(使钱款、债务)积累
参考例句:
  • If you put money in the bank, interest accrues. 如你将钱存于银行,则自然生息。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Interest accrues on a bank accout. 银行账户的利息在增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 strenuous 8GvzN     
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的
参考例句:
  • He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
  • You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。
8 lawful ipKzCt     
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的
参考例句:
  • It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
  • We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。
9 subscriber 9hNzJK     
n.用户,订户;(慈善机关等的)定期捐款者;预约者;签署者
参考例句:
  • The subscriber to a government loan has got higher interest than savings. 公债认购者获得高于储蓄的利息。 来自辞典例句
  • Who is the subscriber of that motto? 谁是那条座右铭的签字者? 来自辞典例句
10 persuasively 24849db8bac7f92da542baa5598b1248     
adv.口才好地;令人信服地
参考例句:
  • Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理,并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
  • He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道,但我觉得有些可疑,于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句
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