Opinion Letter FLSA2026-7, issued May 28, 2026, considered whether an employer had to pay employees for time voluntarily spent leaving a secured campus during an unpaid 30-minute meal period.
The employees could remain at the worksite and use the full break for eating or personal activities. Employees who chose to leave needed approximately five to ten minutes to walk to parking, pass through security, and then repeat the process when returning.
The Wage and Hour Division concluded that the meal period was a bona fide unpaid meal period under the specific facts because employees were relieved from duty and had enough time to eat if they remained on-site.
Federal law does not generally require meal breaks
The FLSA does not generally require employers to provide adult employees with meal periods. State law may require breaks, but the federal question is usually whether a provided break counts as compensable work time.
Under 29 C.F.R. § 785.19, bona fide meal periods are not hours worked. An employee must be relieved from duty for the purpose of eating a regular meal. Thirty minutes or more is ordinarily long enough, although the complete facts matter.
Employees do not have to be allowed to leave
Federal regulations expressly state that an employee does not have to be permitted to leave the premises when the employee is otherwise freed from duties during the meal period.
This means an on-site requirement or practical difficulty leaving the premises does not automatically convert the break into paid time. The central question is whether the break is predominantly for the employee's benefit and free from work duties.
Voluntary off-site travel
In FLSA2026-7, the employee had an on-site option that did not require walking to distant parking or passing through access gates. Choosing to travel off-site did not require the employer to extend the break or treat the voluntary travel as compensable work.
The result could differ where the employer requires the travel, where no reasonable on-site meal option exists under the actual facts, or where employees must perform work during the break.
When a meal period becomes paid work time
A meal period may be compensable when employees must:
- Answer phones, radios, emails, or customer requests
- Monitor equipment or security systems
- Remain responsible for patients, residents, or children
- Perform paperwork or production tasks
- Respond regularly to interruptions
- Stay available in a way that primarily benefits the employer
An employer cannot call a period "lunch" while requiring productive work. The actual duties control.
Short rest breaks are different
Short rest periods, usually 20 minutes or less, are generally compensable under federal regulations. Employers should not apply the unpaid-meal-period rule to a 10- or 15-minute rest break.
State laws may be more protective
The opinion letter expressly notes that state and local wage-and-hour laws may impose stricter rules. California, Oregon, Washington, and other jurisdictions have detailed meal and rest-period requirements that can differ from the federal standard.
An employer should therefore run two analyses:
- Does the meal period qualify as unpaid under federal law?
- Does state or local law require a break, specific timing, additional compensation, or penalties?
Example
An employee receives a 30-minute uninterrupted lunch break and can eat in an on-site cafeteria without performing any duties. The employee voluntarily chooses to walk ten minutes to a car, drive to a restaurant, and return through security. Under the federal reasoning in FLSA2026-7, the voluntary travel does not automatically make the break paid.
If the employee must carry a radio, respond to emergencies, or return to work repeatedly, the break may no longer be bona fide.
Employer checklist
- Confirm employees are completely relieved from work duties.
- Provide a realistic way to use the meal period for eating or personal activity.
- Train supervisors not to assign tasks during unpaid breaks.
- Create a method for reporting interrupted meal periods.
- Automatically restore deducted time when work interrupts the break.
- Check state and local break laws.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is walking to the parking lot during lunch paid?
Not necessarily. Under the 2026 opinion letter, voluntary off-site travel during an otherwise bona fide meal period was not compensable.
Must an employer let employees leave the premises?
Federal law does not require employees to be allowed to leave when they are otherwise completely relieved from duty.
Is every 30-minute break unpaid?
No. The employee must be relieved from duty. A working or regularly interrupted meal period may be compensable.
Are security checks during lunch always unpaid?
No universal rule applies. The purpose, timing, employer requirements, and relationship to work duties matter.
Can state law require more?
Yes. State and local laws may require meal periods, impose timing rules, or provide additional remedies.
Official Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor — Opinion Letter FLSA2026-7
- 29 C.F.R. § 785.19
- U.S. Department of Labor — May 29, 2026 opinion-letter announcement
This article summarizes federal guidance based on specific facts and does not replace state-law analysis or legal advice.
This calculator is for educational purposes only. Consult your employer or a labor attorney for advice specific to your situation.