# Washington — 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 Washington, meal break rule is Employees shall be allowed a meal period of at least thirty minutes which commences no less than two hours nor more than five hours from the beginning of the shift; rest break rule is Employees shall be allowed a rest period of not less than ten minutes, on the employer's time, for each four hours of working time; statute or regulation is WAC 296-126-092, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Washington _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Meal break rule:** Employees shall be allowed a meal period of at least thirty minutes which commences no less than two hours nor more than five hours from the beginning of the shift _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Rest break rule:** Employees shall be allowed a rest period of not less than ten minutes, on the employer's time, for each four hours of working time _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or regulation:** WAC 296-126-092 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> Employees shall be allowed a meal period of at least thirty minutes which commences no less than two hours nor more than five hours from the beginning of the shift. Meal periods shall be on the employer's time when the employee is required by the employer to remain on duty on the premises or at a prescribed work site in the interest of the employer.

## 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

> Employees shall be allowed a meal period of at least thirty minutes which commences no less than two hours nor more than five hours from the beginning of the shift. Meal periods shall be on the employer's time when the employee is required by the employer to remain on duty on the premises or at a prescribed work site in the interest of the employer.

### Rest break rule

> Employees shall be allowed a rest period of not less than ten minutes, on the employer's time, for each four hours of working time. Rest periods shall be scheduled as near as possible to the midpoint of the work period. No employee shall be required to work more than three hours without a rest period.

### Statute or regulation

> WAC 296-126-092 Meal periods—Rest periods.

## Source

- https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=296-126-092

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/).