{
    "schema": "amendsignal.record/1",
    "generated_on": "2026-11-04",
    "publisher": {
        "name": "AmendSignal",
        "url": "https://amendsignal.com/"
    },
    "notice": "Coverage is limited, so a missing record does not mean nothing changed. General information, not legal advice. Check the official source. Please cite the record's url.",
    "change": {
        "id": 62,
        "url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-opinion-letter-says-off-site-travel-during-an-unpaid-30-minute-meal-break/",
        "title": "Wage and Hour Division opinion letter says off-site travel during an unpaid 30-minute meal break does not have to be paid",
        "change_type": "guidance",
        "change_type_label": "Opinion letter",
        "status": "guidance_issued",
        "status_label": "Issued as agency guidance",
        "status_statement": "As of our last check on November 2, 2026, this is agency guidance, not a rule. It explains how the agency reads the law and does not create a legal requirement on its own.",
        "significance": "No new requirements",
        "jurisdiction": {
            "code": "US",
            "name": "United States"
        },
        "authority": {
            "name": "Wage and Hour Division",
            "short_name": "WHD"
        },
        "identifiers": [
            {
                "type": "opinion_letter_number",
                "label": "Opinion letter",
                "value": "FLSA2026-7"
            }
        ],
        "dates": [
            {
                "type": "publication",
                "label": "Published",
                "value": "2026-05-28",
                "precision": "day"
            }
        ],
        "in_short": {
            "what_changed": "The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It says an employer does not have to pay for, or extend a meal break to cover, time an employee chooses to spend traveling off-site during a 30-minute meal period they could take on site.",
            "whos_affected": "Employers covered by the FLSA that give non-exempt employees unpaid meal periods, especially at large or secured sites where leaving takes time. The letter answers one requester's facts.",
            "what_to_do": "This letter creates no new duties for employers. Consider confirming that your unpaid meal periods are long enough, fully relieve employees from duty, and also meet any stricter state or local rules."
        },
        "summary": "The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued opinion letter FLSA2026-7 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It says a 30-minute meal period in which employees are relieved from duty and may stay on site is a bona fide, unpaid meal period, even if employees who choose to leave the premises lose part of the break to walking and security checks. The letter is guidance based on one requester's facts and creates no new legal requirement.",
        "business_functions": {
            "state": "limited",
            "functions": [
                {
                    "slug": "human-resources",
                    "name": "Human resources"
                },
                {
                    "slug": "payroll",
                    "name": "Payroll"
                },
                {
                    "slug": "legal-and-compliance",
                    "name": "Legal and compliance"
                }
            ]
        },
        "added_on": "2026-11-03",
        "updated_on": null,
        "updates_in_progress": null,
        "last_checked": "2026-11-02",
        "record_url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-opinion-letter-says-off-site-travel-during-an-unpaid-30-minute-meal-break/record.json",
        "what_changed": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD concludes that the requester's employer provides a bona fide meal period under WHD's meal period regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 29 CFR 785.19, because the employee is relieved from duty for the 30-minute break and it is long enough to eat a meal.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opening paragraph",
                        "excerpt": "the meal period your employer provides is bona fide pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 785.19."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "your work duties during the 30-minute meal break, and the period is sufficient to allow you to use"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says an employer is not obligated to count as paid time, or to extend the meal period for, time an employee voluntarily spends traveling off-site to get or eat a meal.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "an employer is not obligated to exclude from a bona fide meal period ... consider as compensable, time voluntarily spent to travel off-site to acquire or eat a meal"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "otherwise extend the 30-minute meal period to accommodate time an employee may spend leaving"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says an employee choosing to go off-site instead of staying on the premises does not change the analysis, and that an off-site meal being hard to fit in the time does not affect whether the break is bona fide.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opening paragraph",
                        "excerpt": "employee voluntarily forgoing this option to go off-site does not alter the analysis."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "the fact that an off-site meal may be difficult to undertake in the time provided does not ... affect whether you receive a bona fide meal period."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD restates its longstanding position that requiring employees to stay on the employer's premises does not turn a meal break into paid working time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "longstanding position that requiring an employee to remain on the employer’s premises does not ... convert meal break time into compensable working time."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter does not withdraw or replace any earlier guidance. It cites an earlier opinion letter, FLSA2004-7NA, as consistent with its conclusion.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "See WHD Opinion Letter FLSA2004-7NA (Aug. 6, 2004)"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "who_is_affected": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter answers a request from an employee at a large, secured facility whose employer gives an unpaid 30-minute meal period that employees may spend on site or off the premises.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "You represent that you are employed at a “large, secured facility with controlled access points and"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "30-minute meal period, during which you have the option to leave the premises, or remain at the"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "The reasoning is most relevant to FLSA-covered employers that give non-exempt employees unpaid meal periods of 30 minutes or more, especially at sites with long walks to parking or security checkpoints.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay all non-exempt employees at least the ... federal minimum wage for all hours worked."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "Typically, “30 minutes or more is long ... enough for a bona fide meal period.”"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The opinion rests only on the requester's facts, and WHD says other facts might lead to a different conclusion.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Closing note",
                        "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Closing note",
                        "excerpt": "The existence of any other factual or historical background not contained"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "business_implications": [
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Employers that meet the letter's conditions do not need to lengthen meal breaks or pay for walking and security time that employees choose to spend leaving the site.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "otherwise extend the 30-minute meal period to accommodate time an employee may spend leaving"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "The conclusion depends on employees actually being free from work during the break. A meal period in which employees are required to work would need a different analysis.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "Determining whether a meal break is bona fide also requires consideration of whether “work” was"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "There is no indication in your request that"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter is an official interpretation that may be relied on under section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act, even if it is later modified, rescinded or held invalid.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "This interpretation may be relied upon ... in accordance with section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD notes that state and local wage and hour laws may be stricter than the FLSA, so this federal view may not settle meal break pay under state or local law.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 4",
                        "excerpt": "It is also important to remember that applicable state and local wage and hour laws may have rules and ... requirements that are more stringent than the FLSA’s requirements."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says whether a meal break is paid time is a fact-intensive, case-by-case question.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "fact-intensive analysis that must be applied on a case-by-case basis."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "required_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter restates the existing FLSA requirement that covered employers pay non-exempt employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. Bona fide meal periods are not hours worked.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay all non-exempt employees at least the ... federal minimum wage for all hours worked."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter restates the existing FLSA requirement to pay non-exempt employees overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "payment “at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which [the employee] is ... to all non-exempt employees for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "recommended_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider confirming that unpaid meal periods are at least 30 minutes and that employees are fully relieved from duty during them, whether they stay on site or leave.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "Typically, “30 minutes or more is long ... enough for a bona fide meal period.”"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "“It is not necessary that an employee be permitted to ... leave the premises” if the employee is “freed from duties during the meal period.”"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider reminding supervisors not to assign work during unpaid meal breaks, and recording any interrupted breaks in timekeeping.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "Determining whether a meal break is bona fide also requires consideration of whether “work” was"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider checking state and local meal break rules before relying on this letter, since they may be stricter than the FLSA.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 4",
                        "excerpt": "It is also important to remember that applicable state and local wage and hour laws may have rules and ... requirements that are more stringent than the FLSA’s requirements."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider comparing your own meal break facts with the requester's before relying on the letter, and keeping a copy with your pay policy records.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Closing note",
                        "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "This interpretation may be relied upon ... in accordance with section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "required_actions_assessment": null,
        "applicability": [
            {
                "criterion": "where",
                "label": "Where",
                "answer": "United States, nationwide",
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "evidence": []
            },
            {
                "criterion": "employer_type",
                "label": "Employers",
                "answer": "Employers covered by the FLSA that give non-exempt employees unpaid meal periods; the letter itself answers one requester's facts.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay all non-exempt employees at least the ... federal minimum wage for all hours worked."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Closing note",
                        "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "size",
                "label": "Size",
                "answer": "The letter sets no size threshold; it speaks of employers covered by the FLSA.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay all non-exempt employees at least the ... federal minimum wage for all hours worked."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "industries",
                "label": "Industries",
                "answer": "All industries; the letter names none, and its facts involve a large, secured facility with controlled access points.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "You represent that you are employed at a “large, secured facility with controlled access points and"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "functions",
                "label": "Functions",
                "answer": "Payroll and HR, which track hours worked and set break policies, with legal and compliance support.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles",
                        "excerpt": "The amount of wages an employee is entitled to receive cannot be determined ... without knowing the number of hours worked."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "applies_if",
                "label": "Applies if",
                "answer": "You give an unpaid meal period of about 30 minutes, employees are relieved from duty and may stay on site, and some choose to leave the premises.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "your work duties during the 30-minute meal break, and the period is sufficient to allow you to use"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opening paragraph",
                        "excerpt": "employee voluntarily forgoing this option to go off-site does not alter the analysis."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "action",
                "label": "Action",
                "answer": "No new duty; consider checking meal break practices and state rules against the letter.",
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 4",
                        "excerpt": "It is also important to remember that applicable state and local wage and hour laws may have rules and ... requirements that are more stringent than the FLSA’s requirements."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "open_questions": [
            {
                "question": "Would WHD reach the same conclusion for an unpaid meal period shorter than 30 minutes?",
                "context": "The letter says 30 minutes or more is typically long enough and analyzes only a 30-minute break."
            },
            {
                "question": "Does the conclusion hold if employees have no practical way to eat on site, such as no food or eating area available?",
                "context": "The letter relies on the requester's employer allowing employees to stay on site and use the break there, and says other facts might change the result."
            }
        ],
        "events": [
            {
                "event_type": "originating_action",
                "label": "Issued",
                "occurred_on": "2026-05-28",
                "summary": "FLSA2026-7: Whether time spent during a meal break voluntarily traversing an employer’s premises and passing through a controlled access entry and exit is compensable under the FLSA when the employer allots employees a 30-minute meal period during which they are allowed to remain on the premises.",
                "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf"
            }
        ],
        "corrections": [],
        "sources": [
            {
                "label": "Whether time spent during a meal break voluntarily traversing an employer’s premises and passing through a controlled access entry and exit is compensable under the FLSA when the employer allots employees a 30-minute meal period during which they are allowed to remain on the premises.",
                "publisher": "Wage and Hour Division",
                "role": "primary",
                "url": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-7.pdf"
            }
        ]
    }
}