Last verified October 25, 2026 · How we verify
Kentucky break laws
Meal and rest break rules for adult hourly workers in Kentucky, what federal law adds, teen work limits and overtime. Check your own shift below.
Meal and rest break rules for adult hourly workers in Kentucky, what federal law adds, teen work limits and overtime. Check your own shift below.
Kentucky requires a reasonable lunch period, starting between the 3rd and 5th hour of the shift, plus a paid 10-minute rest break in each 4 hours. Overtime is due after 40 hours in a workweek; there is no daily overtime.
A reasonable lunch period, as close to the middle of the shift as possible, starting no sooner than 3 hours and no later than 5 hours into the shift.
“In no case shall an employee be required to take a lunch period sooner than three (3) hours after his work shift commences”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: Kentucky Revised Statutes 337.355
A rest period of at least 10 minutes during each 4 hours worked, in addition to the lunch period, with no reduction in pay.
“No employer shall require any employee to work without a rest period of at least ten (10) minutes during each four (4) hours worked”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: Kentucky Revised Statutes 337.365
You earn time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. Kentucky also requires time and a half for hours on the seventh day if you work all seven days of a workweek and more than 40 hours in total. Seventh-day rules are explained here but not calculated by the checker.
“shall pay him at the rate of time and a half for the time worked on the seventh day.”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: Kentucky Revised Statutes, KRS 337.050 Time and a half for seventh day work
Federal law does not require meal or rest breaks. Short breaks (about 5 to 20 minutes) that an employer gives count as paid work time; meal periods of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved of duty. More on the federal rules.
Nursing employees also have a federal right to reasonable unpaid break time and a private place, not a bathroom, to pump breast milk for one year after the birth. What the federal pump-break rule covers.
How the rules above apply to four typical shifts. Hours worked exclude the unpaid lunch.
| Shift | Meal break | Rest breaks | Overtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6-hour shift, no break | Required, but the law sets no fixed length | 1 × 10 min, paid | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 8-hour shift, 30-min lunch | Required, but the law sets no fixed length | 2 × 10 min, paid | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 10-hour shift, 30-min lunch | Required, but the law sets no fixed length | 2 × 10 min, paid | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 12-hour shift, 30-min lunch | Required, but the law sets no fixed length | 3 × 10 min, paid | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
Rules for adult, non-exempt private-sector workers. Industry orders, union contracts, local laws and exemptions can change the answer. General reference, not legal advice.
Teen workers in Kentucky have limits on how long and how late they can work. Where the Kentucky and federal limits differ, the stricter one applies. Kentucky is also one of 33 states with a separate meal-break rule for minors; when a teen is covered by both the adult and the minor rule, the employer must follow the higher standard (U.S. DOL). Ask the Kentucky labor department for its details.
| Age | Hour limits | Can't work between |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 (Kentucky) | Non-school days and weeks: up to 8 hours a day and 40 a week School days and weeks: up to 3 hours a day and 18 a week | 7 p.m. (9 p.m. June 1 through Labor Day) to 7 a.m. |
| 16 and 17 (Kentucky) | School days and weeks: up to 6 hours a day and 30 a week (6- 40 school day/week with parental permission and at least a 2.0 school grade point average) | 11 p.m. (1 a.m. Friday and Saturday) to 6 a.m. when school in session. |
| Under 16 (federal) | Non-school days and weeks: up to 8 hours a day and 40 a week School days and weeks: up to 3 hours a day and 18 a week | 7 p.m. (9 p.m. June 1 through Labor Day) to 7 a.m. |
| 16 and 17 (federal) | No hour limits | No night limits |
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment, as of July 15, 2025. School-day limits usually apply only to students. In the DOL's shorthand, “8-40” means 8 hours a day and 40 a week; a third number is days a week.
If you are denied breaks that Kentucky law requires, or not paid for time you worked, you can complain to the state. File a wage and hour complaint with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet's Division of Wages and Hours, online or on paper form ES-8. Its pages do not state a filing deadline. Official page ↗ Verified October 25, 2026
You can also call the federal Wage and Hour Division free at 1-866-487-9243. Firing or punishing you for a wage complaint is illegal.
Employers with 10 or more employees must give you a paper or electronic record each payday listing every deduction and its purpose. If it is electronic, they must let you use a computer and printer to view and print it. Source ↗ Verified October 26, 2026
Paid break time counts as hours worked, at no less than Kentucky's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour (the federal minimum). Kentucky minimum wage details ↗ Keep your own record to compare: the time card calculator totals your week with Kentucky's rules and saves a PDF.
| State | Meal break | Rest breaks | Overtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | A reasonable lunch period, starting between the 3rd and 5th hour of the shift | A paid 10-minute rest break in each 4 hours | Weekly, 40 h |
| Illinois | A 20-minute meal break for shifts of 7.5 hours or more | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Indiana | None required | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Missouri | None required | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Ohio | None required | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Tennessee | A 30-minute meal break for 6 consecutive scheduled hours | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Virginia | None required | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| West Virginia | A 20-minute meal break for workdays of 6 or more hours | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
See all 50 states and DC.
Every rule on this page was checked against the official source below; the quotes are verbatim and were found in the source on the date shown next to each rule. This page was last verified on October 25, 2026, the oldest of those dates. How we verify.