[Question Concerning Paid Breaks and Lunch Periods for Employees]

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation asked whether it could provide its employees with an 8-hour workday which would include a paid 15-minute rest break and a paid 20-minute combination rest/meal break. GAO noted that: (1) an employee is off duty and in a nonpay status during an authorized lunch period; (2) a lunch period may be compensable work time only if the employee is required to perform substantial official duties during that period; and (3) an employee may be compensated for authorized rest periods since the purpose of a rest period is to provide a brief time away from the work routine. GAO found that: (1) an agency may grant brief rest periods when it determines that it would be beneficial to the efficiency of the federal service; (2) employees are compensated for rest periods since they are considered to be a part of the workday; (3) a noncompensable lunch period may not be extended or shortened by a paid rest period; (4) the purpose of the proposed rest/meal period would be to provide employees with a duty-free period for eating; and (5) since the employees are not required to work during their rest/meal break, there is no authority to compensate the employees for the break. Accordingly, the employees may not be compensated for the rest/meal period.