How it works. Pick the state where the employee works and enter the shift length. You get the meal and rest breaks the state's official rule calls for, whether they're paid, and the rule's own wording and link. Tick the box for a worker under 18 to add the minors' rule.
Check the breaks for a shift
Colorado break rules
- Meal break
- An uninterrupted, duty-free 30-minute meal period when the shift is longer than 5 consecutive hours, ideally at least an hour after the start and an hour before the end.
"when the shift exceeds 5 consecutive hours."
- Rest breaks
- A paid 10-minute rest period for each 4 hours of work or major fraction: one for a shift over 2 hours, two over 6, three over 10, four over 14.
"authorize and permit a compensated 10-minute rest period for each 4 hours of work,"
- Minors
- Not confirmed on an official page.
Add the shift length above to count the breaks. Source: Colorado CDLE: COMPS Order #39, 7 CCR 1103-1
Reading the result
"Breaks are required" means the state rule we found calls for at least one break in a shift that long. Where a state's rule has no hours or minutes to count, such as Vermont's "reasonable opportunities" or Kentucky's lunch period between the 3rd and 5th hour, you get the rule in words. "No state requirement" appears only where the state's own labor agency says it has no break law; "Not confirmed" means we couldn't find an official page either way.
Union contracts, industry wage orders, city ordinances and an employer's own policy can give more. For every state at once, see meal and rest break laws by state.
General information checked November 2026 against the official pages linked in each result, not legal advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm. Union contracts, industry rules, city ordinances and federal rules (such as break time for nursing employees) can add to a state rule; the state labor agency or an employment attorney can tell you how a rule applies to one workplace.
Questions about the checker
How does the checker count breaks?
It reads the state's rule from our table and compares it with the shift length. A rule written as 'more than 5 hours' starts at 5 hours and 1 minute; one written as '6 hours or more' starts at exactly 6. Rules that add a break every so many hours are counted step by step, and a rule that lengthens a break (Rhode Island's 20 then 30 minutes) is shown as one longer break.
What does 'consecutive hours' change?
Several states count hours worked in a row. A shift broken by an unpaid meal period may restart the count, so a long day with a lunch in the middle can need fewer breaks than the same hours worked straight through. The checker assumes the hours are worked in one stretch, which gives the most breaks the rule can call for.
Why does it ask whether the worker is a minor?
Many states set breaks only for young workers, often 30 minutes after about 5 hours, and some set different ages (under 16 in Virginia and Louisiana, 14 and 15 in Oklahoma and Alabama). Ticking the box adds the state's minors' rule to the result.
Does a federal law require breaks?
Not for adults. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act doesn't require meal or rest breaks, but it treats short breaks of about 20 minutes or less as paid work time, and a meal period is unpaid only when the employee is fully relieved of duty. Federal law also requires break time for nursing employees.
Does the checker save what I enter?
No. The page reads the choices from the address bar, works out the breaks and shows them. Nothing is stored, and it works without JavaScript.