South Carolina Labor Laws Regarding Breaks
- Based on federal law, no company in South Carolina is required to provide breaks or meal times to its employees. They cannot stop employees from using the restroom or eating during the course of the work day, but they do not have to provide their employees with specified break times. However, each individual company is free to set its own policy for breaks. The company can decide how many breaks to offer employees, as well as the duration of these breaks.
- Some South Carolina companies offer employees several shorter breaks throughout the day. These breaks are more common in fields such as manufacturing that require hard labor and concentration. The breaks help to keep employees fresh and efficient with their work. When a company offers its employees breaks that are 20 minutes or less, the company must pay the employee for the duration of the break. Companies may offer employees one or two of these breaks spaced throughout the work day.
- Many companies offer a meal break to any employee that works more than a specific number of hours. For some companies, this threshold is six hours, while others require eight hours of work for a meal break. Offering a meal break to employees allows the employee to take the time to eat. If an employee does not get a meal break, he is more likely to eat on the job, which can cause issues, such as messes and distractions. Meal breaks typically last at least 30 minutes but may last up to an hour. Employers do not need to pay employees for these longer breaks.
- The definition of a break in the working world is to remove yourself from your work and relax or eat. Therefore, an employee should not work during the time when she is supposed to be on break. This is particularly true of the longer meal breaks. If the employee's job requires constant attention, it is up to the employer to provide someone else to relieve the employee so she can enjoy her break. If a company requires a person to work through her meal break, she must be compensated for her time. However, if she chooses to work through her meal break, the company does not need to compensate her, as it was her decision.