# Minnesota — 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 Minnesota, meal break rule is An employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes; rest break rule is An employer must allow each employee a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work; statute or regulation is Minn. Stat. § 177.254 (mandatory meal break); § 177.253 (mandatory work breaks), recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Minnesota _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Meal break rule:** An employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Rest break rule:** An employer must allow each employee a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or regulation:** Minn. Stat. § 177.254 (mandatory meal break); § 177.253 (mandatory work breaks) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> An employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes.

## 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

> An employer must allow each employee who is working for six or more consecutive hours a meal break of at least 30 minutes. § Subd. 2.Payment not required. Except for subdivision 4, nothing in this section requires the employer to pay the employee during the meal break.

### Rest break rule

> An employer must allow each employee a rest break of at least 15 minutes or enough time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom, whichever is longer, within each four consecutive hours of work.

### Statute or regulation

> 177.254 MANDATORY MEAL BREAK.

## Source

- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/177.254
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/177.253

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/).