By Kevin J. Skelly

New Jersey employment lawThe 3rd Circuit recently adopted a standard for determining when a meal break is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Facts

Sandra Babcock works as a corrections officer at a prison. She and the other corrections officers at the prison are subject to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Under the CBA, corrections officers work 8.25-hour shifts that include a one-hour meal break, 45 minutes of which is paid and 15 minutes unpaid.

During their meal break, corrections officers are not permitted to leave the prison without express permission from prison officials. Corrections officers must remain in uniform during the meal break and stay nearby in case they are required to respond to an emergency at the prison.

Babcock filed a lawsuit on behalf of herself and other corrections officers at the facility alleging that the prison failed to properly pay corrections officers overtime for the 15 minutes of their meal break that's unpaid.

The district court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the meal break isn't compensable because the corrections officers receive the "predominant benefit" of the meal period. Babcock appealed, asking the 3rd Circuit to decide whether the prison has a legal duty to pay the corrections officers for the unpaid 15-minute portion of their meal break.

3rd Circuit's decision

Before this case, the 3rd Circuit hadn't adopted a test for determining whether a meal period is compensable. For the first time, the court of appeals adopted the "predominant benefit" test, which asks whether an employee is primarily engaged in work-related duties during a meal period.

The fact-specific test requires the court to look at all of the relevant facts surrounding the meal period at issue. In this case, the analysis turned on the amount and nature of the restrictions the prison imposes on corrections officers during their meal break.

The 3rd Circuit acknowledged that the prison places several restrictions on corrections officers during their meal break. However, the court concluded that the restrictions do not predominantly benefit the prison. For example, corrections officers have the right to request permission to leave the prison during their lunch break.

The court also noted that the CBA requires that corrections officers receive overtime pay if they are asked to perform work during their meal break. That requirement assumes that corrections officers aren't performing any work during the meal break. As a result, the 3rd Circuit concluded that the corrections officers aren't engaged in work-related duties during the meal break and need not be paid for the break time.

Bottom line

Review your policies and practices governing meal breaks for nonexempt employees (i.e., employees who are generally paid on an hourly basis and are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week).

If your nonexempt employees are allowed to take an unpaid meal period, it's critical that you not impose significant restrictions on their freedom of movement or activities during the meal break.

For example, if an employer requires employees to eat their lunch at their workstation and answer work-related phone calls during the meal break, a court may determine that the meal period is actually work time and require the employer to pay employees for the time. The resulting FLSA collective action can be very costly to defend.

Kevin J. Skelly is a contributor of New Jersey Employment Law Letter.