Understanding Delaware break laws is essential to protect employees’ rights to proper rest and meal breaks, helping employers stay compliant and avoid costly penalties.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of Delaware labor laws regarding breaks at work, including provisions for rest breaks, meal breaks, breastfeeding periods at work, breaks for minors and the consequences of violating these rules.
This Article Covers
- Rest Breaks in Delaware
- Meal Breaks in Delaware
- Breastfeeding Breaks in Delaware
- Breaks for Minor Employees in Delaware
- Penalties for Violating Delaware Break Laws
Rest Breaks in Delaware
Employers in Delaware are not required by state or federal law to provide rest breaks to employees. However, if rest breaks are offered and they last five to 20 minutes, these breaks should be compensated under FLSA guidelines. Rest periods are also considered as work hours for overtime pay calculations in Delaware.
Additionally, paid rest break hours cannot be offset against other work hours, such as on-call or waiting times.
Meal Breaks in Delaware
Employers in Delaware must provide a 30-minute meal break to employees working at least 7.5 consecutive hours or more. This break must be given some time after two hours of starting work and before the last two hours of an employee’s shift.
Meal breaks don’t need to be paid. However, the employee must be completely relieved from job duties and must be allowed to enjoy an uninterrupted meal period.
Exemptions to Meal Break Rules in Delaware
Some employers in Delaware don’t have to provide a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break to workers. Exemptions to break laws in Delaware apply when:
- The employee is a professional certified by the State Board of Education.
- A collective bargaining agreement or written employer-employee agreement sets different rules.
- A 30-minute break will harm public safety.
- Only one employee can perform the job duties.
- Fewer than five employees are working on a shift at a location.
- Employees must constantly be available for urgent or unusual situations at work. For example, in jobs related to chemical production or health care services.
Even if exempted, Delaware employers must still let employees eat at their workstations and use the restroom as required, and these periods must be paid.
Additionally, employers running non-overlapping, back-to-back shifts may give employees a shorter break of at least 20 minutes if it is fully paid.
Breastfeeding Breaks in Delaware
Breastfeeding Breaks for State Employees in Delaware
State agencies in Delaware are required to provide nursing employees reasonable break time for up to one year after childbirth, along with a private, non-bathroom space to express milk. Employees must be fully relieved from job duties during this time; otherwise, the break must be paid.
FLSA Protections for Nursing Employees in Delaware
Delaware employers covered by the FLSA must also allow reasonable break time for nursing employees to express breast milk at their workplace for up to one year after childbirth. They must provide a private space, shielded from view and free from intrusion, that is not a bathroom, to pump at work.
If an employee is not completely relieved from job duties during pumping, the time must be counted as hours worked for minimum wage and overtime purposes. Employees may also use their existing paid break times for pumping, and be paid as usual.
Explore your overtime rights in Delaware.
Breaks for Minor Employees in Delaware
Minors under 18 years of age are entitled to at least a 30-minute break (non-working period) for every five consecutive work hours.
Additionally, minors are prohibited from working in certain industries, and there is also a limit on the number of hours a minor can work each day and week. For details about work hour prohibitions, refer to Delaware’s official guide on child labor laws.
Penalties for Violating Delaware Break Laws
Employers in Delaware are prohibited from firing, punishing, or discriminating against an employee for reporting meal break violations to the Delaware Department of Labor.
Employees are also protected from employer retaliation for taking part in court proceedings or testifying against their employer for the violation of meal break laws at the workplace. Retaliation can lead to an administrative fine of up to $1,000 per violation.
Employers who violate a minor employee’s break rights or permitted work hours may face civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.
Furthermore, under federal FLSA rules, if an employee takes an unauthorized rest break longer than 20 minutes, the extra time does not count as hours worked, and the employer may discipline the employee for this unauthorized extension.
Lastly, violating the FLSA’s pump-at-work requirements in Delaware can result in serious consequences for employers, including reinstatement, promotion, lost wages, liquidated and compensatory damages, and, in some cases, punitive damages.
These penalties apply to violations of both break-time and private-space requirements, as well as any retaliation against nursing employees asserting their rights.
Important Cautionary Note
This content is provided for informational purposes only. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, we cannot guarantee that it is free of errors or omissions. Users are advised to independently verify any critical information and should not solely rely on the content provided.
