Hi,I work as a salaried pharmacist in Delaware. I am salaried at 40 hrs a week. Every day my employer states that I must put in 8.5 hours per day to make up my lunch break. Most days I don't even get to take a break. How is this fair? If we work over 8.5 hrs all we receive is comp time that we can only use in 2 hour increments which is to prevent us from saving time to take a full day off. I looked at the Del. Dept of Labor web site but I didn't find anything that addresses this situation. Also, can employers prevent you from taking time off without pay? Thanks :)

Information about Delaware's meal period laws may be found at: http://www.delawareworks.com/industrialaffairs/services/LaborLawEnforcementInfo.shtml#b1

Thank you for the information. The website link was helpful. Any advice on preventing time off without pay? When I interviewed it wasn't an issue, but now as my vacation approaches it is becoming an issue. My vacation was planned and payed for before my move to the new company and I did make them aware at the interview. Thanks for all your help. :)

Your employer can refuse your request for time off, even without pay, unless the reason is due to a serious medical issue. (Refer to information about FMLA for more information on that issue.)

As far as the comp-time is concerned, I have the impression that you are a salaried exempt employee. If that is the case, then your employer does not need to reward you with comp-time. Furthermore, the use of that comp-time is at the discretion of the employer.

If, for some reason, I am wrong and you are non-exempt, you should be paid for all hours worked, rather than in the form of comp-time. Of course, in most cases, that wouldn't include a lunch break of a half-hour, as you mention.