Rest and meal breaks are an important part of how we work in New Zealand. They make sure you have time to rest, eat, refresh and attend to personal needs during your work period.
Employers are required to provide their employees with rest and meal breaks that are appropriate to the length of your work period and that provide you with a reasonable opportunity, during your work time, for rest, refreshment, and to attend to personal needs.
Reaching an agreement with your employer
You and your employer need to agree to when and how long you take your breaks. Your employer must provide you with a reasonable opportunity to negotiate in good faith. You and your employer might already have agreed on rest and meal breaks that are working well for you.
Specifying breaks where there is no agreement
Your employer may only tell you the times and length of breaks where neither of you have been able to agree. An employer can tell you reasonable times and length of breaks so they can continue to provide services or produce goods. When deciding, your employer will need to think about your interests, the environment the business operates in or the resources they need to run their business.
Rest breaks must be paid. Whether your meal breaks are paid will depend on what you and your employer agreed to. You should check what you have agreed to in your written employment agreement.
Sometimes breaks may be restricted or instead of breaks, you could be provided with compensatory measures. You might agree to this with your employer if it suits you, or if not, your employer must meet certain requirements under the law before they can tell you that your breaks will be restricted or that compensatory measures will be provided instead of a break.