When do employees get unpaid meal breaks?

When they're required to work more than 5 hours.

The unpaid meal break must be given between 1.5 and 5 hours after the employee starts work.

How long is the unpaid meal break?

The unpaid meal break must be at least 30 minutes.

What if a meal break isn’t given?

The employee gets paid 150% of the ordinary hourly rate from the end of 5 hours until a meal break is given or the shift ends.

What if the shift is exactly 5 hours?

The employee can choose to take a 30 minute unpaid meal break. The employer can’t unreasonably refuse this.

Are there any exceptions?

Yes. An employee will be given a paid break of at least 20 minutes when:

• their hours of work fall entirely between 11pm and 8am, or
• they’re the only employee rostered to work on a particular day or shift.

The paid 20 minute break may be given instead of the unpaid meal break.

Club employs less than 10 people

Where a club employs less than 10 people, the unpaid meal break can be substituted for a paid 20 minute break.

The paid 20 minute break can be taken at any time during that day's shift. The penalty rate for working more than 5 hours without a break won’t apply.

There’s no requirement that the unpaid meal break be substituted for the paid 20 minute break.

References

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