# Maine — 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 Maine, meal break rule is may be employed or permitted to work for no more than 6 consecutive hours at one time unless the employee is given the opportunity to take at least 30 consecutive minutes of rest time; statute or regulation is 26 M.R.S. § 601, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Maine _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Meal break rule:** may be employed or permitted to work for no more than 6 consecutive hours at one time unless the employee is given the opportunity to take at least 30 consecutive minutes of rest time _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or regulation:** 26 M.R.S. § 601 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> may be employed or permitted to work for no more than 6 consecutive hours at one time unless the employee is given the opportunity to take at least 30 consecutive minutes of rest time, except in cases of emergency in which there is danger to property, life, public safety or public health. This rest time may be used by the employee as unpaid mealtime, but only if the employee is completely relieved of duty.

## 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

> may be employed or permitted to work for no more than 6 consecutive hours at one time unless the employee is given the opportunity to take at least 30 consecutive minutes of rest time, except in cases of emergency in which there is danger to property, life, public safety or public health. This rest time may be used by the employee as unpaid mealtime, but only if the employee is completely relieved of duty.

### Statute or regulation

> §601. Rest breaks

## Source

- https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/26/title26sec601.html

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/).