Posted  02-17-2014

Ann Kiernan replies:

No. Setting work hours, including lunch and break times, is the employer’s prerogative. Neither federal wage and hour law nor that of your state, Michigan, requires meal or break times for adults, but many state laws do. Some even specify exact times, such as the Nebraska statute that mandates ½ hour off premises between noon and one p.m. for factory workers. The federal Department of Labor has a handy chart of meal period requirements under state law.

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