Is it true that you have to take your half hour lunch break/dinner breaks

GuEsT78 · Jun 15, 2015

That meal break and two fifteen-minute coffee breaks are typically mandated by state laws. In most situations, they're good ideas. In some cases they're not. Since their enforcement depends totally on you reporting infractions, you'll need to use your judgment.

You can read about how that works out practically in a book I wrote, My Nights with Leukemia. Most is about when I worked nights as the nurse tech paired with a nurse caring for children with cancer, typically leukemia.

I can't recall taking any coffee breaks on nights. Caring for very sick kids in the middle of the night requires constant alertness. That short break wasn't enough time to offer any real rest. Instead, it would render me a bit less alert when I came back. If the night was slow enough to make a break practical, I preferred to spend the time talking with the nurses I was working with. Call that a talk break.

That half-hour meal time I considered as time in the bank, to be used where it was most valuable. About two-thirds of the time, I used it for a meal break, if a big container of yogurt with wheat germ can be called a meal. Half-an-hour was long enough that getting off my feet felt good.

But about a third the time, the general workload, a particularly sick child or a child without parents who needed to be rocked to sleep, meant I spent that half-hour on patient care. That wasn't a bad thing. I'd have felt worse if I'd taken that meal break and felt guilty about giving a lower standard of care. Having that time in the bank was helpful. What was frustrating was when abandoning all my night-time breaks still didn't open up enough time for what I needed to do. It was sad. We literally had dying children abandoned to our unit with no family member ever visiting much less staying overnight. I wanted to give them more time but couldn't.

----

After 16 months of that, I shifted to days caring for teens. The unit was in perpetual chaos and as nursing staff we were dreadfully overloaded, much of it mere busy work. As contradictory as it sounds, it was in precisely that context that those two coffee breaks and particularly the lunch break mattered most. In the midst of all that stress, I needed all three breaks to simply survive. Abandoning them wouldn't have helped. There was always too much to do. My resignation letter was an appeal to the director of nursing to move every task that could be moved to the much less burdened evening shift. Changing bed linens and doing showers on day shift made no sense.

You've mentioned another area that matters, staff helping other staff with their work so no one is overloaded and can't take breaks. I was fortunate that the teams I worked with were quite good about sharing the load, with nurses picking up my work when I was overloaded. On nights, I took care of what was technically RN work so a nurse could go on break.

On days, the nurse and I needed to take our breaks at different times, so I let her choose since her work was more time-dependent than mine. Then I took the slot that was left. In the end, you shouldn't be the one who's telling your fellow workers you've been left in the lurch with too much too do. Your supervisor should be the one who does that, perhaps with a little prompting.

Also, keep another factor in account. Meals are a major factor in staying alert on the job. On days, that lunch meal was absolutely necessary. On nights, since most people don't eat at 3 a.m., it mattered little. Evenings is more like days. You need to eat. Not getting a chance to eat your dinner until after 11 p.m. wasn't good. If you're like me, you're more likely to make mistakes when you're hungry.

----

I'm not sure if I've offered much help with my "it all depends," but it does depend on circumstances. In general, the more chaotic your work, the more useful those breaks are for your sanity. On nights, I didn't find them that helpful. I preferred to keep up a steady, unbroken pace to stay alert and to be there if something happened. On days, I don't know how I would have managed without those breaks. Evening shift is likely to lie between the two.

--Michael W. Perry

mirandaaa · Jun 15, 2015

It's technically illegal to not take a 30 minute break for an 8 hour shift. When I was working 12s, we were actually required to take 2 30 minute breaks (or just one 1-hour break).

Employers can get in big trouble if their employees are not taking their mandatory breaks to eat and/or decompress.

Although most staff members in nursing don't really have the time to take their breaks, oftentimes their supervisors "overlook" this, but they can definitely get in trouble for it.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jun 15, 2015

It depends on the state. You cannot be docked pay for a break you did not take/were not able to take. But in NJ unless you drive a truck or train or are under 18 there are no mandated breaks whether you work 8 12 or 16 hours for adults. If you can't take a break (for example private duty home care where you cannot leave your client) you must be paid for all time worked.

There are states with mandated breaks per 8 or 12 hour shift. Just like there are states that go above federal law and mandate OT pay for hours worked over 8 in a day

allnurses Guide · Jun 15, 2015

It depends on the state. You cannot be docked pay for a break you did not take/were not able to take. But in NJ unless you drive a truck or train or are under 18 there are no mandated breaks whether you work 8 12 or 16 hours for adults. If you can't take a break (for example private duty home care where you cannot leave your client) you must be paid for all time worked. There are states with mandated breaks per 8 or 12 hour shift. Just like there are states that go above federal law and mandate OT pay for hours worked over 8 in a day

In California the law requires that you take a lunch break 1/2 hour for 8 hours worked and that that break be taken before the 5th hour of work. If you work 12's it's supposed to be an hour though many facilities have agreements with staff to sign 1/2 hour away voluntarilly. At the facility where I work It's seems to be expected thatyou clock out for lunch but continue working or clock out at the end of your shift and continue charting. I refuse to do this. My executive director took me to task on this and I explained that accessing patient records off the clock was a HIPAA violation and surely she wasn't telling me to break a feceral law? I have't heard anything else about this - and I don'ttalk about it with other staff but if they try to fire me the labor board will receive a call.

Hppy

mcclot1993 · Jun 16, 2015

what time do you guys go on your lunch/dinner breaks.

jaycam, RN · Jun 16, 2015

I work in a home care type setting where I can't leave. I just get paid for the entire shift rather than getting a lunch break. I usually eat my lunch with them or right after.

mcclot1993 · Jun 16, 2015

Is it really that big of a deal to take a lunch break. I never complained to my co workers at all. Everyone on daylight found out and made a big deal about it. I think they were more upset that I was not getting enough help. Another question. Do you think evening shift is as tough as daylight shift or easier.