Connecticut meal break rule

Does Connecticut require a meal break? Yes: 30 consecutive minutes for anyone working 7.5 or more consecutive hours, after the first 2 hours and before the last 2 (Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-51ii(a)).

Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-51ii(a)

"No person shall be required to work for seven and one-half or more consecutive hours without a period of at least thirty consecutive minutes for a meal. Such period shall be given at some time after the first two hours of work and before the last two hours."

Example: an 8-hour shift starting at 8:00 a.m. The meal period must start after 10:00 a.m. and end by 2:00 p.m. (arithmetic).

Who is left out

• The Labor Commissioner "shall exempt" an employer if the Commissioner finds that compliance would harm public safety, where only one employee can do the job, where fewer than five employees work a shift at one place (for that shift only), or where continuous operations need staff on call and those staff are paid for break and meal periods (31-51ii(c)).
• Professional staff certified by the State Board of Education and employed by a local or regional board of education to work directly with children (31-51ii(d)).
• Employers and workers may agree in writing to a different meal schedule (31-51ii(e)).
• Employers that give 30 or more total minutes of paid rest or meal periods within each 7.5-hour work period (31-51ii(f)).
• Collective bargaining agreements in effect on July 1, 1990 are not changed (31-51ii(b)).

Worked example: a 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. shift

The shift is 8.5 consecutive hours, so the rule applies. The first 2 hours end at 11:00 a.m. and the last 2 hours start at 3:30 p.m. A 30-minute meal period that sits fully inside that window starts between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (arithmetic from 31-51ii(a)). A shift of 7 hours, such as 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., is under the 7.5-hour trigger and the section does not require a meal period.

Breaks at a glance

Item	Connecticut rule
Trigger	7.5 or more consecutive hours
Length	At least 30 consecutive minutes
Timing	After the first 2 hours and before the last 2
Paid or unpaid	The section does not say
Different schedule	Allowed by written agreement

Who enforces it

The Connecticut Department of Labor's Wage and Workplace Standards Division takes complaints about labor law violations. File one on its wage complaint page. On its home page the division describes itself as "a law enforcement unit using criminal and civil remedies to ensure compliance."

Penalties

Section 31-51ii(g) says an employer who violates it "may be subject to civil penalties in accordance with section 31-69a." Section 31-69a(a) makes a violator of chapter 557 "liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of three hundred dollars for each violation," and 31-69a(c) has the Attorney General sue to recover it on the Labor Commissioner's complaint. Section 31-51ii does not mention a lawsuit by the worker.

Federal law. Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks (U.S. Department of Labor). Short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes that an employer offers count as hours worked and are paid (29 CFR 785.18). A bona fide meal period, ordinarily 30 minutes or more with the worker completely relieved from duty, is not work time and can be unpaid (29 CFR 785.19). The state rule above sits on top of that.

Connecticut's overtime rule is not covered here; this page covers only the meal rule.

Not legal, tax or payroll advice. Read on October 27, 2026 from the General Assembly's chapter 557 (Internet Archive copy dated October 11, 2026) and chapter 558 (copy dated July 17, 2026), because cga.ct.gov did not answer our connection. The complaint page was read on the live Department of Labor site.