Meal and Rest Break Compliance Kit: Break Schedule Workbook, Break Planner by State, Posting and Policy Checklist and Break Log

Who it is for

Small business owners, shift managers and bookkeepers who schedule hourly staff, including workers under 18, and need each state's meal and rest break rule in one place.

Not the right fit if

Not a scheduling or timekeeping system or a legal review of your break policy; union contracts, industry wage orders and city ordinances can add rules, and where a state's page didn't say, the kit lists it to look up.

Why it is different

• Covers all 50 states and DC from each state's labor agency or statute site, checked November 2026, and leaves a state blank rather than guess.
• Says 'no state rule' only where the state's own labor agency says so, and adds the separate rules for workers under 18.
• The workbook's break counts match the free online break checker rule for rule.

What is inside

• Break schedule workbook (Excel). Shift planner that shows the breaks a state's rule calls for by shift length and age, a weekly break log that flags short shifts, and the state rules it reads.
• Start here. How break rules are written, what is paid, the states with no confirmed rule, and how to use the kit.
• Break schedule planner by state. A page to lay out each shift pattern, and every state's meal, rest and minors' rule with its official link.
• Posting and policy checklist. What to put in a written break policy, which states allow waivers, records for workers under 18, and a policy decisions worksheet.
• Break log. A printable weekly log of shift times, meal and rest breaks, initials, and missed or interrupted breaks.