On Sept. 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Opinion Letter FLSA2026-11, addressing whether an uncompensated 60-minute lunch break constitutes a bona fide meal period under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) during which employees travel to and from the employer’s designated break area.

Background

The FLSA does not require employers to provide meal periods. However, if an employer chooses to provide meal breaks, the employer must comply with the FLSA’s meal period requirements. In general, bona fide meal periods are not compensable if they are 30 minutes or longer and the employee is completely relieved from duty and not interrupted by work, even for a short time. Under the FLSA, employees are not completely relieved of all duty during meal periods if they are required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating. For example, an office employee who remains at their desk while eating lunch and regularly answers the telephone and responds to customers is working. This time is compensable hours worked and must be paid because the employee has not been completely relieved from duty.

Mandatory travel time to reach a break area does not automatically convert the entire period into paid time. However, if the meal periods are of sufficient duration and are significantly reduced by travel time, frequent or lengthy interruptions, or restrictions, then the meal period or portions of it may be compensable.

Key Highlights

The employee at issue was a security therapy aide at a detention facility where employees were prohibited from bringing food beyond the entry building. Pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, employees received a 60-minute meal period. The employer required employees to walk six to 14 minutes round-trip to a designated break area to eat, resulting in 46 to 54 minutes at the designated break area.

The DOL confirmed that the meal period provided by the employer is bona fide under the FLSA because it is an uninterrupted period during which employees are relieved from their duties, and the break time is long enough to allow employees to use the break for the purpose of eating, even accounting for the required travel time. According to the DOL, employees had more than 30 minutes to eat after arriving at the break area, which is longer than the 30 minutes that is ordinarily sufficient to qualify as a bona fide meal period.

The DOL also noted that, under the predominant benefit test, the travel time to the break area was not compensable because employees needed only a few minutes to reach it. The longer meal period reinforces the conclusion that the comparatively brief travel time did not prevent employees from receiving ample time to eat a regular meal and use the remainder of the break for personal purposes.

Employer Takeaway

Opinion letters provide the DOL’s official position on how labor and employment standards apply in specific situations. Employers that rely on opinion letters may be able to establish a “good-faith defense” under the law. Employers should review the scenarios discussed in the opinion letter and determine whether the guidance affects their employment or payroll practices. This opinion letter confirms that a 60-minute unpaid meal period during which employees are relieved from duty qualifies as a bona fide meal period under the FLSA, even if employees are required to travel to and from the employer’s designated break area.

This Know Your Benefits article is to be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of an insurance professional. © 2026 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.