State Faculty/Professional Leave Regulations

  • It is the responsibility of the supervisor and/or the department head to establish the scheduled time during which meals/breaks can be taken.
  • The daily meal period for an employee who is working six hours or more must be of at least one-half hour duration, not to exceed one hour.
  • Failure to take a meal period does not permit employees to shorten the workday.
  • The granting of breaks is discretionary.
  • Breaks, when granted, should be of a reasonable duration. As a guide, more than two 15 minute breaks per 7.5 or 8 hour workdays would be considered excessive.

Employees who do not take breaks are not permitted to either shorten the workday or receive any form of overtime compensation or compensatory time off. Breaks are not to be taken in conjunction with meal periods.