I work for a moving company. Yesterday my first job was done by 12:00pm at which point I’d been working 4 hours without a break. We took a 30 minute lunch break then had to wait a little longer before leaving for our next job as we were supposed to unload a truck nearby into a storage unit but the truck would not arrive until 1pm.
So we arrive at about that time after our unpaid 30 minute lunch period along with a little bit extra waiting around, probably close to an hour total. Then when we get there the truck still isn’t there so that meant more waiting. Finally the truck arrives close to 2pm.
The storage unit is at a motel that one of our coworkers apparently lives at. When he came out he was excited to see us. After working about 2 hours he showed up again with some food for us so I let our crew take a 10 minute break to eat it, which I thought was ok. However the customer was obviously annoyed we stopped but we finished the job and got back to the warehouse about 5pm.
Today my office is mad at me because the customer wants a 15 minute deduction from his time. Mind you he has to pay for the hour we waited for his truck to show up between 1 and 2pm. I don’t really think it’s a big deal as we generally take a couple 10 minute breaks per job but my office is upset because they claim we already had basically a 2 hour break before the job started. Am I in the wrong here?
Here are my states break laws from the website.
Employees must be allowed a paid rest period, free from duties, of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked. Additionally:
Employees cannot be required to work more than 3 hours without a rest break.
Breaks must be scheduled as close to the midpoint of a work period as possible.
Employers can require workers to stay on the job site during a rest break.
Rest breaks taken are considered “hours worked” when calculating paid sick leave and overtime.