Kelsey Introduces Bill Aimed At Meal Breaks For Workers | Pith in the Wind | Nashville Scene

Meal breaks are under attack in Tennessee. Last week, Sen. Brian Kelsey introduced a measure that would allow hourly employees to surrender their right to a 30-minute unpaid meal break — something now required under state law after an employee works six straight hours.

Employee activists and labor attorneys consider the proposed law, which is sure to pass the Republican supermajority in both chambers, a disappointing setback for workers’ rights and one that will likely stoke additional friction between workforces and employers.

Two years ago, meal-break laws changed in Tennessee for people who work in the restaurant industry in the same way. For servers and others whose hourly wage includes tips, 30-minute unpaid meal breaks can now be waived. Kelsey’s bill attempts to make this the norm for all workers on the clock.

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To attorney David Garrison, whose practice focuses on wage and hour lawsuits, viewing breaks as a rare luxury sets a troubling precedent for hourly workers. That mentality, he says, is furthered by Sen. Kelsey’s recent bill.

“Given that Tennessee has practically no state statute that protects workers’ pay, it’s disappointing that the legislature would seek to attack a law that simply provides workers with a decent break during their work day,” Garrison says.

One of the most common violations of the break law, Garrison says, is when employers dock the 30-minute unpaid break from employees’ checks when, in fact, they are not given any rest period. Doing this is a Class B misdemeanor and can trigger fines. But in Tennessee, an employee cannot sue over meal-break violations. It’s up to already inundated state officials to enforce it after complaints come in.

This, Garrison says, is part of a trend in Tennessee of passing labor laws that can only be enforced by the government, not private employees. Investigating the offenses is often expensive and time-consuming and rarely a top priority of understaffed state agencies.

Kelsey Introduces Bill Aimed At Meal Breaks For Workers | Pith in the Wind | Nashville Scene