Forced lunch breaks

[otchick]

Hello!
I work for a large nursing home/subacute care provider in NJ as the director of rehabilitation services. The company automatically deducts a 30 minute lunch if a therapist is working 6 hours or more. (These therapists are hourly employees). They are telling me to tell the staff it is a NJ labor law that after 6 hours of work, they must pull out the lunch. Is this true? Especially if they truly DO NOT take lunch? Every employee is over 18 years old.
They also continue to hav ethe therapists work during lunch ie - phone calls, speaking with families. Can the therapists firmly and legally refuse to do any work during that time frame if it is unpaid?

[Pattymd]

NJ law does not mandate breaks or meal periods for those workers over the age of 17. http://www.state.nj.us/labor/lsse/lsgenfaq.html

However, performing such tasks as you describe would not qualify the "break" as a bona fide meal period under federal law, so that time must be paid (assuming by "hourly", you also mean nonexempt). You can file a claim for unpaid wages with the state Dept. of Labor.