Bona Fide Meal Periods

PURPOSE:

To outline circumstances under which time spent by an employee on a meal break is compensable or noncompensable.

ELIGIBILITY:

All employees, including those in staff, faculty, faculty equivalent/academic professional (FE/AP), non-classified, temporary and casual positions are covered under this policy.

DEFINITION OF A BONA FIDE MEAL PERIOD:

A bona fide meal period is a period set aside for a regular meal. It must be long enough to allow the employee to use it for this purpose. It must occur at a scheduled hour or within a specified period of time of day which, in light of the employee's working hours, is suitable for a normal meal period, and the employee must be completely relieved from duty. This time is not considered work time and it is not compensated by the University.

WHEN MEAL PERIODS ARE NOT COMPENSABLE:

Meal periods are not compensable if the following conditions exist:

1. The meal period is at least 30 minutes in length, although a shorter period may qualify under special conditions.
2. The employee is relieved of all duties.
3. The employee is free to leave the duty post. However, there is no requirement that the employee be allowed to leave the premises or work site.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Additional information or questions regarding the compensability of meal periods shoud be directed to the Classification and Compensation Unit, Division of Human Resources, 293-5700.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 1, 1999

WVU POLICY REFERENCE: http://www.wvu.edu/~adminfin/policies/hr_policies/WVU-HR-04.html