Required Breaks

[thacat2000]

I work as a temp at an insurance company. I have been here for about 3 months now. I work 8 hours a day and rarely take a lunch break and when I do we have a place to pick up food on the floor and I usually just get something from there so it only takes me about 15-20 minutes to eat which sometimes I even do work while I eat. This time I always deduct from my hours. My manager now is requring me to take lunch 30 minutes. I also have never received the required paid breaks. So in reality I am giving them extra time. Is there any way that these two times can cancel out. I am 22 and this is my first job out of college what should I do?

[Beth3]

From NY's DOL website:

Q: Must meal periods and "breaks" be provided to employees?

A: Employees who work a shift of more than six hours starting before 11 A.M. and continuing until 2 P.M. must have an uninterrupted lunch period of at least half an hour between 11 A.M. and 2 P.M.

Meal periods are not considered as work time, thus employers need not pay for that time. Other "Breaks", such as for "rest periods" or "coffee breaks," are not required. If a break (of up to 20 minutes) is permitted, then it should be paid as working time.

Sounds like your employer has belatedly decided to comply with the law or perhaps recently realized they were out of compliance. You cannot disregard their new policy (or the law) as a way to cancel out their previous non-compliance. What you can do is speak with your manager about the prior unpaid work time (the breaks you worked through) and see if there is a way to resolve this and get you paid for that time. If not, then your recourse is to file a complaint with NY's Department of Labor.