# Kentucky — Meal and rest break requirements by US state — hours worked before a break is owed, its length, and whether it's paid, quoted from the state's own labor law

For Kentucky, meal break rule is Employers, except those subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act, shall grant their employees a reasonable period for lunch, and such time shall be as close to the middle of the employee's scheduled work shift as possible; rest break rule is No employer shall require any employee to work without a rest period of at least ten (10) minutes during each four (4) hours worked; statute or regulation is KRS 337.355 (lunch period); KRS 337.365 (rest periods), recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Kentucky _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Meal break rule:** Employers, except those subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act, shall grant their employees a reasonable period for lunch, and such time shall be as close to the middle of the employee's scheduled work shift as possible _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Rest break rule:** No employer shall require any employee to work without a rest period of at least ten (10) minutes during each four (4) hours worked _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or regulation:** KRS 337.355 (lunch period); KRS 337.365 (rest periods) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> Employers, except those subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act, shall grant their employees a reasonable period for lunch, and such time shall be as close to the middle of the employee's scheduled work shift as possible.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Meal break rule

> Employers, except those subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act, shall grant their employees a reasonable period for lunch, and such time shall be as close to the middle of the employee's scheduled work shift as possible. In no case shall an employee be required to take a lunch period sooner than three (3) hours after his work shift commences, nor more than five (5) hours from the time his work shift commences.

### Rest break rule

> No employer shall require any employee to work without a rest period of at least ten (10) minutes during each four (4) hours worked, except those employees who are under the Federal Railway Labor Act. This shall be in addition to the regularly scheduled lunch period.

### Statute or regulation

> 337.355 Lunch period requirements.

## Source

- https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=32077
- https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49845

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Meal and rest break requirements by US state — hours worked before a break is owed, its length, and whether it's paid, quoted from the state's own labor law](https://referencesource.org/meal-and-rest-break-requirements-by-state/).