Under normal circumstances, employers do not usually have to provide meals or meal allowances to their employees. However, there are certain exceptions to the rule.

Generally speaking, employers must provide meals (or a meal allowance) for employees who work overtime. Some awards also make provision for additional allowances if the overtime extends into any subsequent meal times.

Additionally, some employers may choose to offer meals to employees as part of their contract terms. This is common practice in the hospitality industry, for example.

 

Are employees entitled to meal breaks?

A typical meal break entitlement prescribes that an employer must not require an employee to work for more than five hours continuously without an unpaid interval of at least 30 minutes for a meal.

The provision does not restrict itself to ordinary hours; therefore, the five-hour provision is also enforceable when an employee works other hours, such as on a weekend or a public holiday. Additionally, the legislation refers to 'an employee', meaning the minimum entitlement also applies to part-time or casual employees.

However, there are facilitative provisions that can allow for an alternative agreement between an employer and an employee.

Generally, one of the terms of an award that may be varied by agreement between an employer and an individual employee is the provision for meal breaks. Additionally, specific terms of an award may be varied by agreement between the employer and the majority of employees or an individual employee. Generally, one of these terms is working in excess of five hours without a meal break.

The National Employment Standards (NES) do not provide for a statutory meal break provision for employees covered by an award or agreement. For example, a worker completing a freelance contract may technically be ‘agreement-free’ and therefore not be provided with a statutory meal break.

 

Can employees work during meal breaks?

An employer’s direction to work during a meal break raises the issue of whether payment should be made.

An employee would usually only be required to work during an unpaid meal or lunch break due to unexpected circumstances beyond the employer's control. However, work performed during an unpaid meal break is considered overtime and is payable at the applicable overtime penalty rate prescribed by the relevant industrial instrument.

In some cases, the industrial instrument also stipulates that the overtime penalty rate shall continue to apply until the employee is allowed a break.