Kentucky Labor Law Breaks
Rather than use federal laws to regulate meal breaks, Kentucky has its own state laws in regard to meal breaks. These meal laws require that employees be given breaks for meals each day and usually are to take place anywhere between the fifth and third hour of a working day. The law does not require that an employer pay an employee for this time, but a company or business has the right to pay an employee to take a meal break if contracted. Meals however are normally unpaid and require employees to complete no work while breaking. If an employee does complete work or it still on duty, he or she is required to be paid for that time.
Under Kentucky law, employees are to break for approximately thirty minutes, unless otherwise stated by an employer. Normally breaks are to be taken after five hours of work unless a shift is to end after six hours of work. Though not required by federal or Kentucky state law, employers often also provide shorter breaks once or twice a day. These breaks last about ten minutes long and are paid breaks to promote productivity. Restroom breaks are also not required but facilities are to be readily offered.
Kentucky Overtime Laws
Kentucky does not have its own state laws for overtime and instead uses those provided by the government. Federal laws state that under the Fair Labor Standards Act employees have the right to be paid more for additional time worked. The Fair Labor Standards Act states that time worked qualifies an individual for overtime if he or she was permitted to work after his or her forty hours is completed. Pressure to meet deadlines and continued working constitute time worked and qualifies for overtime pay.
The federal minimum wage law requires that employees be paid in full for all of their time worked. Normally most employees work an average of forty hours a week. Anytime after this forty hours is considered overtime. When an employee works outside of the company’s or business premises, he or she is to be paid for that overtime if his or her job requires them to work there. For instance, an individual may deliver items for a company and be required to work off the premises.
At times some jobs provide work on an irregular basis, such as delivery schedules, so that an employee may have no work for several hours. In this case, the employer is required to pay the employee, despite having no work. This is only the case when an employee is scheduled to work for seven and one-half hours, such as from nine in the morning to 5 in the evening.
Holiday Pay
No federal law or Kentucky state law requires employers to pay employees for vacations or holidays. Employers may choose to pay employees and are legally required to do so if stated via contract. Employers are also not required to pay employees extra for working holidays. According to federal law, a company or business is legally allowed to be open every day of the year, thus requiring employees to work whenever in business.