Employer Lunch Issue;Minnesota

[Rez]

Howdy-

I work part time as a mechanic in a well known tire shop. My employer has not been giving my co-workers and I lunches. I have heard that from others that even though we do not take lunches our employer still takes 30 mins of pay from our paychecks. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find some information regarding laws/regulations on this. Any help would be great!

[cbg]

So DOES your employer deduct 30 minutes of pay even when you don't take a lunch?

If so, that is illegal. You MUST be paid for all the time you actually work.

The state of Minnesota only requires that you be offered "sufficient" time to eat and use the restroom. There are no specific time requirements. However, it is my opinion that an employer who deducts 30 minutes from each employee (if, in fact, that is actually happening - you need more than "someone told me") wants their employees to take that long a break. You can be disciplined or fired for not taking a break if your employer wants you to; it's just that the discipline cannot take the form of not paying you.

[Rez]

My employer hasn't even been offering a lunch or says we are "too busy" for me to recieve one.Then at the end of the week they supposedly take 30 minutes,our regular amount of meal time, out of your hours even though you didn't take a lunch.

This week I am tracking everyone of my punches to see if they actually deducting the 30 mins so I have something more solid.