I was under the impression that in the state of Pennsylvania, when breaks are taken and those breaks are less than 20 minutes, the employee is not required to clock out.

My manager has been forcing me and my coworkers to clock-out regardless of how short the break may be. Is this legal?

I work as a cook at a restaurant

Under federal rules (which would include PA) breaks on less then 20 minutes must be paid, assuming that we are talking about Non-Exempt employees.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/breaks.htm

Thank you for the quick response DAW

I do believe I am a "non-exempt" employee but then again, I am not really sure what that term refers to.

The clocking in/out, in and of itself, is not illegal. If you are nonexempt, however, those breaks of 20 minutes or less must still be paid.

Let's start here. As a cook, if you are paid hourly, you are nonexempt.

Rest and Meal Periods: Rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are common in industry (and promote the efficiency of the employee) and are customarily paid for as working time. These short periods must be counted as hours worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished. Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time. The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. The employee is not relieved if he/she is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.pdf (http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.pdf)

ArmyRetCW3 just quoted from the link DAW provided. There is no new information there.

If you are not being paid for rest breaks as required by law you can file a claim for unpaid wages with the state Dept. of Labor.