If my employer makes employees clock out for cigarette breaks, is this legal?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If my employer makes employees clock out for cigarette breaks, is this legal?
My employer makes employees clock out for cigarette breaks but it’s only certain employees. There are many hourly employees who can just go out as they please without having to clock out. I thought nothing of this until recently when I was reading up on some labor laws and read that state law requires all breaks under 20 minutes to be paid. A cigarette break is usually no more than a few minutes, never close to 20. So of course my question is, is this legal for them to do? And if it’s not, what can we do about it? And if this is legal, just some clarification as to why it is.
Asked on August 5, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
From what you have written, if an employee takes cigarette breaks beyond the normal allowable breaks that an employee is entitled to under the law, such is perfectly legal. The rationale is that that the employer should not be required to pay for off time of an employee who is not working for him or her.
If the cigarette break is part of your entitled breaks by law, you are entitled to get paid for such.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.