Meal and rest breaks
Breaks during a shift are set by the award or agreement, and sometimes by state or territory law. How to find the rule for each employee, and how to put breaks on a roster so they are actually taken.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules differ between awards, agreements, contracts and states, and what applies depends on the employee. Check the official source, and ask a workplace relations professional when it matters.
The short answer
The National Employment Standards do not give employees meal or rest breaks. Awards and enterprise agreements usually do, and some state and territory laws have rules too, for example for children.
Awards commonly set how far into a shift a break is due, how long it is, and whether it is paid. The details differ between awards.
| Question for the award | Why it matters for the roster |
|---|---|
| After how many hours is a break due? | Where the break sits in a long shift |
| Is it paid or unpaid? | Whether it comes off the hours on the timesheet |
| How long is it? | How much cover the break needs |
| What if it is not given on time? | What is owed when a busy shift runs through it |
Official sources
Check the rule against these, in their current versions, before relying on it.
| Source | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award | The breaks clause in the award that applies |
| Fair Work Ombudsman: hours of work | Maximum weekly hours, reasonable additional hours and averaging |
Worked examples
General examples of where to look. They are not advice about any particular employee.
| Situation | What to check |
|---|---|
| A seven hour cafe shift with a 30 minute unpaid meal break | When the award says the break is due, and that the timesheet takes off 30 minutes and no more |
| A rush means a cook cannot take their break on time | What the award says follows when a meal break is delayed |
| A 15 year old works a Saturday shift | The state or territory child employment law on breaks, as well as the award |
Employer checklist
- Find the break rules in each award you use
- Put breaks on the roster at the time they are due
- Record breaks as they are taken
- Take only unpaid breaks off the hours
- Check child employment law for young employees
What Roster Flow records, and what it does not decide
- Clock ins and outs, and breaks started and ended, as they happen
- Unpaid break minutes on each shift, taken off the estimated hours
- When a break is due, how long it is, or whether it is paid
- What anybody is paid, including penalty rates, loadings and overtime
Review log
13 September 2026: written by Roster Flow from the structure of the National Employment Standards and modern awards.
18 September 2026: every statement on this page checked against the official sources it names, by Roster Flow. It is general information, not advice from a workplace relations professional.
What that check covers, and what to confirm for your own situation:
- That the National Employment Standards give no meal or rest breaks
- Which state and territory laws set break rules, and for whom
- That every source link opens the current version of the source
Questions
What do the rules say about meal and rest breaks?
The National Employment Standards do not give employees meal or rest breaks. Awards and enterprise agreements usually do, and some state and territory laws have rules too, for example for children.
Is there more to meal and rest breaks than that?
Awards commonly set how far into a shift a break is due, how long it is, and whether it is paid. The details differ between awards.
Does Roster Flow decide meal and rest breaks for me?
No. It does not interpret an award and it does not work out what anybody is paid. When a break is due, how long it is, or whether it is paid stays with the business and its own advisers, and this page is general information rather than advice about your situation.
Where do the rules on meal and rest breaks come from?
Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award, covering the breaks clause in the award that applies. Fair Work Ombudsman: hours of work, covering maximum weekly hours, reasonable additional hours and averaging. Read them in their current versions before you rely on anything here, because they change.