{"id":203069,"date":"2021-03-02T17:34:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T04:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/?p=203069"},"modified":"2025-03-25T11:58:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T22:58:31","slug":"rest-and-meal-breaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.nz\/employment\/rest-and-meal-breaks\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Employees’ Entitlements to Rest and Meal Breaks?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your employees have minimum entitlements to rest and meal breaks during work. The law recognises the importance of ensuring employees receive at least the minimum entitlements during their workday, which is set out in the Employment Relations Act<\/em>. This article will provide a comprehensive overview of an employee\u2019s entitlements to rest and meal breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Requirements for Rest and Meal Breaks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To ensure employees have adequate time for rest and to promote productivity, the Employment Relations Act <\/em>outlines specific entitlements<\/a> to breaks for employees across different industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As an employer, you must pay for your employee\u2019s rest breaks, but you are not legally obligated to pay for meal breaks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rest Breaks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Employees are entitled to rest breaks based on their work shifts as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an employee works\u2026 <\/strong><\/td>Entitlement<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
between 2 hours or more, but not more than 4 hours <\/td>minimum of 1 paid rest break of 10 minutes<\/td><\/tr>
more than 4 hours but no more than 6 hours <\/td>at least 1 paid rest break for 10 minutes<\/td><\/tr>
for more than 6 hours<\/td>at least 2 paid rest breaks for at least 10 minutes each<\/td><\/tr>
for more than 10 hours<\/td>at least 3 paid rest breaks for at least 10 minutes each<\/td><\/tr>
more than 14 hours<\/td>a minimum of 4 paid rest breaks for at least 10 minutes each<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an employer, you should schedule breaks<\/a> at a suitable time and interval to allow employees to recharge during their work day. You may also choose to allow your employees to take longer breaks, but the minimum requirement is to provide employees with breaks for at least 10 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\n

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