Orlando, FL asked in Employment Law and Employment Discrimination for Florida

Q: Can job charge PTO for bathroom breaks?

They give us 2 15 min breaks daily. Anything else over 10 minutes they are going to charge against our PTO. We are in FL. is this legal?

1 Lawyer Answer
Mitchell Feldman
PREMIUM
Mitchell Feldman
Answered
  • Employment Law Lawyer
  • Tampa, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: If you are a full time employee and you are not given a meal break of 20 minutes or more, then I think it would be improper to deduct pay for the 10 minutes, but, using pto time is not an unlawful practice as long as you are still paid for the time. I think the more important question here is whether you are a full time employee or not and if so, what is the meal break policy. If you do not have pto time, and pay is deducted there can be an claim, although 10 minutes may be dminimis and not something to pursue. when employers do offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the work week and considered in determining if overtime was worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished.

Bona fide meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes), serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable. See the DOL website.

Regardless, I suggest you have a more indepth consultation with an employment attorney with experience in wage and hour claims.

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