I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8911 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers 

to allow employees to take meal, rest, restroom, and medical breaks, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2024 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. WILD, Mr. 

THANEDAR, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. OMAR, 

Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

BOWMAN, Ms. BROWN, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

ADAMS, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

ROSS, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. IVEY, Ms. BUSH, Ms. TOKUDA, and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require 

employers to allow employees to take meal, rest, restroom, and medical breaks, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Worker Rights and 

5 Support Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 

3 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

4 after section 7 (29 U.S.C. 207) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 8. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES. 

6 ‘‘(a) MEAL BREAKS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (3)(A) and subsection (e), an employer shall 

9 provide, for each 6-hour period of work performed 

10 by an employee, a period of break time of not less 

11 than 30 minutes during such period of work in 

12 which the employee may consume a meal. 

13 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT.—— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 subparagraph (B), an employer shall not be re16 quired to compensate an employee for a break 

17 required under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(B) PAID BREAKS.—In the case in which 

19 an employee is not fully relieved of all work or 

20 expectation of work, or is not free to leave the 

21 premises or work site during a break provided 

22 under paragraph (1), the employer shall com23 pensate the employee for the full period of 

24 break time under paragraph (1), at a rate that 

25 is not less than one and one-half times the regVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8911.IH H8911

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1 ular rate at which the employee is employed by 

2 the employer. 

3 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The period of break 

5 time under paragraph (1) may be waived by 

6 consent of the employee. 

7 ‘‘(B) WAIVER MAY NOT BE COMPELLED.— 

8 An employer may not compel, or attempt to 

9 compel, an employee to waive the period of 

10 break time provided under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(b) REST AND RESTROOM BREAKS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub13 section (e), an employer shall provide, during each 

14 4-hour period of work performed by an employee, a 

15 period of break time that is the longer of— 

16 ‘‘(A) 10 minutes; or 

17 ‘‘(B) a reasonable period of time to utilize 

18 the nearest functioning and accessible restroom. 

19 ‘‘(2) RATE OF COMPENSATION.—An employer 

20 shall compensate an employee for the break time de21 scribed in paragraph (1) at the regular rate at which 

22 the employee is employed by the employer. 

23 ‘‘(c) MEDICAL BREAKS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub25 section (e), an employer shall provide to an employee 


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1 periods of break time, not to exceed 20 minutes 

2 each, that the employee may reasonably require due 

3 to a medical condition communicated to the em4 ployer by the health care provider either directly 

5 from such provider or indirectly from the employee. 

6 ‘‘(2) RATE OF COMPENSATION.—An employer 

7 shall compensate an employee for the break time de8 scribed in paragraph (1) at the regular rate at which 

9 the employee is employed by the employer. 

10 ‘‘(d) TIME WORKED.—Break time paid under this 

11 section shall be considered as time worked. 

12 ‘‘(e) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS; STATE

13 LAWS.—The requirements under this section shall not— 

14 ‘‘(1) supersede any provision in a collective bar15 gaining agreement; or 

16 ‘‘(2) preempt any State law that provides great17 er protections to employees than the protections pro18 vided to employees under this section.’’. 

19 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

20 (1) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 15(a) of the 

21 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

22 215(a)) is amended— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or sec24 tion 7’’ and inserting ‘‘, section 7, or section 

25 8’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe2 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(7) to violate any of the provisions of section 

5 8.’’. 

6 (2) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 

7 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 

9 third sentence the following: ‘‘Any employer 

10 who violates the provisions of section 8 shall be 

11 liable for such legal or equitable relief as may 

12 be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of 

13 such section.’’; 

14 (B) in subsection (c), by adding at the end 

15 the following: ‘‘The authority and requirements 

16 described in this subsection shall also apply 

17 with respect to a violation of section 8, as ap18 propriate, and the employer shall be liable for 

19 such legal or equitable relief as may be appro20 priate to effectuate the purposes of such sec21 tion.’’; and 

22 (C) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘sec23 tion 6 or 7, relating to wages,’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘section 6, 7, or 8, relating to wages or break 

25 time,’’. 


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1 (3) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Section 6 of 

2 the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255) is 

3 amended, in the matter preceding subsection (a), by 

4 inserting ‘‘(and any cause of action to enforce sec5 tion 8 of such Act)’’ after ‘‘under the Fair Labor 

6 Standards Act of 1938, as amended’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 10 of the 

8 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 210) is re9 pealed. 

Æ 


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