Compliance Resource Hub

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Everything your team needs to navigate labor law compliance — break requirements, wage rules, GPS tracking laws, and more — all in one place.

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Break Laws by State

Federal law doesn't require meal or rest breaks, but many states do. Rules vary significantly by industry and employee classification. Non-compliance can mean premium pay, class action lawsuits, and significant PAGA exposure. Know the rules where you operate.

Want the full picture? The Break Law Compliance Hub has state-by-state cards, penalty calculators, attestation templates, and the complete California deep dive.

Explore the Break Law Hub →
Strictest Rules
California

California is among the strictest and most heavily litigated break-law jurisdictions in the U.S. — mandatory meal periods, paid rest breaks, detailed recordkeeping expectations, and PAGA exposure. If a compliant meal or rest break is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate under California Labor Code § 226.7.

First 30-minute meal period before the end of the fifth hour, second before the end of the tenth, a paid 10-minute rest per 4 hours worked or major fraction, and paid cool-down recovery periods for outdoor heat work (8 CCR § 3395). Meal periods carry limited waiver rules — rest and recovery periods work differently. The full requirement table, waiver conditions, and attestation guidance live in the Break Law Compliance Hub.
Penalty: One additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate per workday if a compliant break is not provided (Labor Code § 226.7). Systemic violations may support a PAGA claim. Under Labor Code § 2699(f), the default civil penalty is $100 per aggrieved employee per pay period. The $200 tier applies only in defined circumstances, including a prior PAGA finding within five years or conduct found to be malicious, fraudulent, or oppressive. Courts may also reduce penalties.
Other States with Notable Break Laws

The rules of each state where work is performed generally apply, not your headquarters state. Multi-state and remote-work scenarios can be complex, so you should always confirm edge cases with employment counsel.

Colorado
7 CCR 1103-1
30-min meal (shifts > 5 hrs); 10-min paid rest per 4 hrs.
Mandatory
State guide →
Washington
WAC 296-126-092
30-min meal (shifts > 5 hrs); 10-min paid rest per 4 hrs; no more than 3 hours of work without a rest period.
Mandatory
State guide →
Illinois
820 ILCS 140
20-min meal for shifts over 7.5 hrs, no later than 5 hours after start.
Mandatory
State guide →
Oregon
ORS 653.261
30-min meal (shifts > 6 hrs); 10-min paid rest per 4 hrs.
Mandatory
State guide →
Florida
Florida Statutes
No statewide break mandate for adult employees. Minors 15 and younger: 30-min break after 4 continuous hours. Minors aged 16–17: 30-min break on days they work 8+ hours (Fla. Stat. § 450.081).
Minors Only
State guide →
Virginia
Child labor regulations
Virginia does not mandate meal or rest breaks for adult employees. Minors under 16 have lunch period protections under Virginia's child labor rules.
Adults: No Mandate
State guide →

Need another state? View the complete break law guide for all 50 states.

All state break laws →

Wage & Hour / FLSA

The FLSA sets the federal floor for overtime and recordkeeping — states often go further. Wage and hour violations are one of the most common sources of employment lawsuits in the U.S.

$259M
Recovered by DOL Wage & Hour Division in FY2025 for nearly 177,000 workers — highest since 2019

Under 29 U.S.C. § 211(c), employers must maintain accurate records of hours worked for all non-exempt employees — at least 3 years for payroll records. Public works contractors face an additional layer: the Davis-Bacon Act and California Labor Code §§ 1771 and 1776 require certified payroll records proving correct wage rates were paid, with DIR reporting obligations in California. Serious violations can result in debarment.

FLSA compliance guide

Recordkeeping Requirements

FLSA requires specific payroll and time records for non-exempt employees. For meal period disputes in California, time records showing missed, short, or late meal periods can create a rebuttable presumption that the meal period was not provided, shifting the burden to the employer to rebut (Donohue v. AMN Services). Missing records more broadly can significantly weaken an employer's defense.

3 yrs
Minimum retention for payroll records under 29 CFR Part 516 — 2 years for supplementary records

Compliance you can't document is a claim, not a defense. The retention clock runs whether your records are complete or not.

Mileage
Reimbursement Compliance

IRS accountable plan rules, state reimbursement mandates (California, Illinois, Massachusetts), and GPS mileage log requirements have their own compliance layer. Everything your team needs is in the Mileage Reimbursement Hub.

Explore the Mileage Reimbursement Hub

GPS Tracking Laws

Tracking employees during work hours via a company-approved app on their mobile device is generally permissible when implemented properly. Legality depends on how tracking is implemented — employee consent and prior notice given, if tracking is limited to work hours, and whether it extends to personal devices. Requirements vary by state and are expanding.

79.3%
of field workers have dispute exposure
74.6%
prefer GPS-enabled employers after multiple disputes

Workers who have experienced disputes actively prefer GPS-enabled employers — because it protects them too. GPS records give workers the same verifiable data employers rely on.

Read the 2026 GPS & Employee Trust Survey →
California
Penal Code § 637.7 · § 637.2
Restricts using an electronic tracking device to determine a person's location or movement. The statutory consent exception covers the vehicle's registered owner, lessor, or lessee — not employee consent generally. Civil liability under § 637.2: $5,000 per violation or three times actual damages.
Highly Restricted
State guide →
All Other States
Varies · adding requirements
Most states permit GPS tracking of company vehicles during work hours. Requirements for personal vehicles and off-hours tracking vary and are expanding. Written policy is recommended everywhere.
Policy Recommended
All states guide →
Free GPS Policy Builder
Interactive tool
Generate a compliant GPS tracking policy in minutes. Set the right expectations before tracking begins.
Free Tool
Build your policy →

Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)

Federal law requires EVV for covered Medicaid in-home services, verifying six data elements, including location, caregiver identity, and start/end times.

EVV noncompliance: states risk federal matching fund (FMAP) reductions — phased to up to 1 percentage point over time; agencies face payment recoupments under state program integrity rules. All states were required to implement EVV for personal care services by 2020 and home health services by 2023.

DCAA Time Tracking Compliance

DCAA guidance emphasizes daily time entry, documented changes, and supervisor approvals. Timekeeping failures can lead to audit findings, questioned or disallowed costs, and withheld payments — and in serious cases involving misconduct, referral for contracting remedies, including suspension or debarment.

DCAA audit guidance expects daily time entry — not weekly reconstructions. Hours are allocated to specific contracts or cost codes, supervisors approve timesheets, and corrections are documented with the reason. Undocumented edits are typically treated as audit failures.

How Timeero Helps You Stay Compliant

Built to generate documentation that holds up the moment an auditor asks for it.

75.5%
of field workers comfortable with GPS tracking
88.4%
of extremely privacy-concerned workers are comfortable with GPS tracking

Timeero surveyed 1,000 U.S. field workers, gathering insights on their feelings toward GPS tracking and its role in workplace disputes. The findings show transparent GPS implementation builds trust rather than eroding it.

Read the full 2026 GPS & Employee Trust Survey →
GPS-Verified Clock-Ins Every punch is tied to a GPS coordinate at the exact moment it happens. Proves location, prevents off-site punching, and creates a timestamped record.
Tamper-Evident Timestamps Edits cannot be made without a trace — every change is logged alongside the original, creating an audit trail for internal review and investigations.
Complete Edit Audit Trail Every timesheet change is logged — who, what, when. Manager adjustments documented alongside the original. No silent edits.
Break Attestation & Sign-Off Built for California break compliance: employees confirm breaks before clocking out, timestamped and stored with the shift record — contemporaneous evidence that may help rebut adverse inferences in a meal period dispute.
Mileage GPS Breadcrumb Trail GPS breadcrumbs are dropped during every trip — date, mileage, driving speed, from beginning to end of route. Captures the date, route, and mileage elements of accountable plan substantiation automatically; job and note records document business purpose.
Export-Ready Compliance Reports One-click export: mileage logs with GPS route data, break compliance reports, and timesheets with full edit history — the records auditors ask for. EVV visits submit through the Sandata integration in certified states.

Common Compliance Questions

The questions operations managers and HR leads actually ask — answered directly.

The break laws of the state where work is performed generally apply — not where you're headquartered. California: 30-min unpaid meal for shifts over 5 hours, 10-min paid rest for every 4 hours. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Illinois each have their own thresholds. Track which state each employee works in. Multi-state scenarios can be complex; confirm edge cases with employment counsel.

Under 29 U.S.C. § 211(c) and 29 CFR Part 516, employers must maintain records of hours worked for all non-exempt employees. Keep payroll records at least 3 years, supplementary records (time cards) generally 2 years. Records must be accurate and retrievable on demand.

Timeero's GPS records capture the date, miles, and destination elements of accountable plan substantiation, recorded at or near the time of travel; business purpose is documented through job assignments and notes. If employees don't adequately substantiate mileage, reimbursements may be treated as taxable wages.

EVV is federally required for covered Medicaid in-home services under the 21st Century Cures Act — verifying six data elements, including location, caregiver identity, and start/end time. All states were required to implement it by 2020 (personal care) and 2023 (home health). Capturing EVV requirements through GPS tracking is one compliant method, but not federally mandated. State systems and submission requirements vary.

For meal periods, time records showing missed, short, or late meal periods can create a rebuttable presumption that the meal period was not provided, shifting the burden to the employer to rebut (Donohue v. AMN Services). If a compliant break is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of pay per workday (Labor Code § 226.7). Systemic violations may support a PAGA claim — generally $100 per aggrieved employee per pay period under § 2699(f), with $200 applying in defined circumstances.

California Penal Code § 637.7 restricts using an electronic tracking device to determine a person's location or movement; the statutory consent exception applies to a vehicle's registered owner, lessor, or lessee — not to employee consent generally. Civil liability under § 637.2 runs $5,000 per violation or three times actual damages. Other states are adding requirements. All employers should have a written GPS tracking policy that employees acknowledge before tracking begins.

The DOL requires: employee name, address, occupation, pay rate, total hours worked each day and week, overtime earnings, wage deductions, total wages paid, and payment dates. Retain for 3 years. The DOL also commonly requests break documentation in investigations, even though FLSA does not explicitly mandate it.

DCAA audit guidance expects daily time entry — not weekly reconstructions. Hours are allocated to specific contracts or cost codes, supervisors approve timesheets, and corrections are documented with the reason. Silent edits are treated as audit failures. Timekeeping failures can lead to audit findings, questioned costs, and withheld payments — and in serious cases, referral for contracting remedies, including suspension or debarment.

Both trigger one additional hour of premium pay per workday, assessed separately for meal and rest violations. Meal breaks are 30 min, unpaid, given when employees work shifts over 5 hours. Rest breaks are 10 min, paid, given every 4 hours — cannot be waived. Both require employer-side documentation. Attestation strengthens an employer's position when meal period disputes arise.

PAGA allows an aggrieved employee — one who personally suffered the violation — to bring a representative action on behalf of similarly situated coworkers. The default civil penalty under Labor Code § 2699(f) is $100 per aggrieved employee per pay period. The $200 tier applies only in certain circumstances, including a prior PAGA finding within the past five years or conduct found to be malicious, fraudulent, or oppressive. Courts may also reduce penalties. Attorney fees are typically recoverable. 100 workers, 10 pay periods at $100: $100,000 before fees.

Timeero's reports export on demand to CSV or PDF: mileage reports with GPS route data, break compliance and daily sign-off reports, timesheets with complete edit history, and raw GPS breadcrumb data. EVV visits submit through the Sandata integration in certified states.

Don't wait for an auditor to find the gap.

Timeero builds the records auditors ask for — GPS-verified, tamper-evident, and ready to export the moment you need them.