Meal Period

Although Florida law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act do not require employers to provide meal periods, the Company has adopted the following meal period policy. Except for certain exempt employees, any employee who works five or more hours in a day is expected to take a 30-minute unpaid, duty-free meal period, which must begin before the end of the fifth hour of work. For example, an employee who starts at 8:00 a.m. must begin the meal period no later than 12:59 p.m. An employee who works more than ten hours in a day is expected to take a second 30-minute unpaid, duty-free meal period that begins before the tenth hour of work, unless the second meal period is waived as described below. Employees are entirely relieved of work duties during a meal period. For that reason, unless a written on-duty meal agreement is in place, employees must clock in and out for their meal periods or otherwise record the start and end time on their timesheet each day.

Nonexempt employees may not perform work "off the clock." All time spent working must be reported accurately on the time record.

If for any reason you are not provided a meal period under this policy, or if you feel discouraged or prevented from taking your full meal period, notify Human Resources right away.

Whenever you miss a meal period, or perform any work during a meal period that has been provided, you must inform your supervisor or Human Resources and document the reason the meal period was missed or interrupted.

Waiver of Meal Period

Employees may waive a meal period only in the following narrow circumstances. An employee whose entire workday will be six hours or less may waive the meal period. Employees who work more than ten hours in a day may, depending on their role, be eligible to waive the second meal period, but only if they actually took the first meal period and they will not work more than 12 hours that day. Speak with your supervisor to confirm whether your position allows a second meal period waiver. Any waiver must be requested in writing and approved in advance by Human Resources. Meal periods may not be waived to shorten the workday or to bank time for any other purpose.

On Duty Meal Period

In limited situations, certain designated roles may be required to work through the meal period because the nature of the duties does not allow the employee to be relieved. An on-duty meal period applies only when your supervisor instructs you that one is required and you sign a written on-duty meal period agreement. Without that direction and signed agreement, on-duty meal periods are not permitted.