Last verified October 26, 2026 · How we verify
Massachusetts break laws
Meal and rest break rules for adult hourly workers in Massachusetts, what federal law adds, teen work limits and overtime. Check your own shift below.
Meal and rest break rules for adult hourly workers in Massachusetts, what federal law adds, teen work limits and overtime. Check your own shift below.
Massachusetts requires a 30-minute meal break for more than 6 hours of work, but no rest breaks. Short breaks your employer gives must be paid under federal law. Overtime is due after 40 hours in a workweek; there is no daily overtime.
A meal break of at least 30 minutes when working more than 6 hours in a calendar day.
“required to work for more than six hours during a calendar day without an interval of at least thirty minutes”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 149, Section 100
No state law requires rest breaks for adult private-sector employees (not listed in the U.S. DOL state table). Rules for minors may differ.
“States not listed do not require paid rest periods.”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: U.S. DOL, Minimum Paid Rest Period Requirements under State Law for Adult Employees in Private Sector (table last revised January 1, 2023)
Unless your job is exempt, you must be paid at least 1.5 times your regular rate for every hour over 40 worked in a week.
“You must be paid at least 1.5 x the regular rate of pay for each hour over 40 hours worked in a week.”
Verified October 26, 2026 · Source: Mass. Attorney General, Guide to Workplace Rights and Responsibilities
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 | Not required for this shift | Not required by Massachusetts law | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 8-hour shift, 30-min lunch | 30 min (more than 6 hours) | Not required by Massachusetts law | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 10-hour shift, 30-min lunch | 30 min (more than 6 hours) | Not required by Massachusetts law | Counted by the week: hours over 40 in the workweek |
| 12-hour shift, 30-min lunch | 30 min (more than 6 hours) | Not required by Massachusetts law | 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 Massachusetts have limits on how long and how late they can work. Where the Massachusetts and federal limits differ, the stricter one applies. Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts labor department for its details.
| Age | Hour limits | Can't work between |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 (Massachusetts) | Up to 8 hours a day and 48 a week, 6 days a week | Only between 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year. Only between 6:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. during the summer (from July 1 through Labor Day). |
| 16 and 17 (Massachusetts) | Up to 9 hours a day and 48 a week, 6 days a week | Only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (on nights preceding a regularly scheduled school day) - if the establishment stops serving clients or customers at 10:00 p.m., the minor may be employed until 10:15 p.m. Only between 6 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. (on nights not preceding a regularly scheduled school day). Exception for restaurants and racetracks: only between 6 a.m. and 12:00 midnight (on nights not preceding a regularly scheduled school day). |
| 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.
If you are denied breaks that Massachusetts law requires, or not paid for time you worked, you can complain to the state. File a complaint with the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division online (choose Non-Payment of Wage) or call the Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465. The deadline to sue over unpaid wages is usually 3 years. Official page ↗ Verified October 26, 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.
You must get a pay stub showing your name and the employer's name, the payment date, hours worked and hourly rate, and all deductions or increases. Your employer cannot charge you for it. Source ↗ Verified October 26, 2026
Paid break time counts as hours worked, at no less than Massachusetts's minimum wage of $15.00 an hour. Massachusetts minimum wage details ↗ Keep your own record to compare: the time card calculator totals your week with Massachusetts's rules and saves a PDF.
| State | Meal break | Rest breaks | Overtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | A 30-minute meal break for more than 6 hours of work | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Connecticut | A 30-minute meal break for 7.5 or more consecutive hours | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| New Hampshire | A 30-minute meal break after 5 consecutive hours | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| New York | A 30-minute lunch for shifts over 6 hours that cover 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Rhode Island | A 20-minute meal break in a 6-hour shift and 30 minutes in an 8-hour shift | None required | Weekly, 40 h |
| Vermont | Reasonable chances to eat and use the restroom, with no fixed length | Reasonable opportunities to rest | 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 26, 2026, the oldest of those dates. How we verify.