My employer forces me to work through lunch but always deducts an hour from my pay anyway. Is this legal?

 

A:
No - the FLSA states that non-exempt employees should be paid for every hour they work. If you have to work through your lunch then this is compensable time under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Many employees often work through lunch, but sometimes find that a lunch hour is automatically deducted from their paycheck every day.

Meal breaks under the FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act has regulations on meal breaks and rest breaks. Under the FLSA, you must be relieved of all duties during your lunch or meal break. If your time is interrupted because you had to answer the phone or because your employer asked you to do something then the entire time is considered compensable.

If your employer automatically deducts your lunch hour, but you do not actually take a lunch you should contact our office to start a free case review of your job duties. We often find that employers often deduct lunch hours even though employees do not actually get to spend this time freely. Order our free book to learn more about wage and hour claims under the FLSA.

The Texas overtime lawyers at Kennedy Hodges represent workers nationwide and across Texas in:
Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Pasadena, Laredo, Sugar Land, Lubbock, Illinios, New York, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Charlotte, Detroit, and more.