Crew break rules away from the job site: 3 states

• Mark each crew member who must work or remain on duty through a meal break, so that person's meal window is set on the Washington meal line.
• Confirm Wisconsin pay rules before any deduction for an authorized break of less than 30 consecutive minutes.
• Decide before dispatch whether a Washington crew stays on the job site during rest breaks.
• List the washing supply for crew members covered by IWC Order 16-2001 at each California stop.

The four rules above come from the Washington, Wisconsin and California pages cited in this guide. The age and agricultural note from the Washington page is a scope limit rather than a break rule, so it is covered in the night and film section below.

In Washington, employees who are required to work or remain on duty during a meal break are still entitled to 30 total minutes of mealtime, excluding interruptions, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. In Wisconsin, an employer may not deduct from wages for authorized breaks of less than 30 consecutive minutes, according to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

This guide is for owners and dispatchers who send crews to work away from the shop in more than one state. The sourced sentences here cover three places: Washington, Wisconsin and California. A route that crosses any other state needs that state's break rules checked before departure, because this guide covers only these three states.

Each state line should stay separate on the dispatch sheet. The Washington meal line concerns a worker who must stay on duty, the Wisconsin line concerns wage deductions, and the California lines concern a named group of employees and a motion picture exception. Those differences change how a dispatcher reads each line, so the lines should not be merged into one general break rule.

The table below shows one sentence from each state page, with the publisher named in its row.

Use the table as a reference row for each state, and check the full page before a crew relies on any line.

The Washington sentence applies to a worker who is required to work or remain on duty during a meal break. For each job site, a dispatcher needs to know whether the crew member will be on duty through the meal period. A crew member who takes a meal period away from the job is in a different position from one held on the job through the same window, and the sheet should show which situation applies.

Write the meal window on the route plan in the page's terms, rather than as an estimate of how long lunch usually takes.

The Wisconsin page addresses pay rather than meal timing, so the Wisconsin line is a pay limit, not a scheduling rule.

Keep the Wisconsin pay note on the Wisconsin job-site line, separate from the Washington meal line for each job. Separate lines let the crew lead see that a pay limit in one state is distinct from the meal period in another state.

Washington's page says breaks must be scheduled as close to the midpoint of a work period as possible, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. On a long day at one site, a dispatcher can compare the planned midpoint of the work window with the time set for the rest break, and move the break if the two are far apart.

A dispatcher can write the planned midpoint and the scheduled break time on the same line of the route plan, so any gap is visible before the crew leaves the shop. If the crew lead changes a break on site, the new time should be recorded on that line so the change can be reviewed later.

Waiting on site is covered too. A dispatch sheet can say whether each crew is expected to stay on site during its rest breaks, and the crew lead can share that expectation before arrival.

The page also notes that in some jobs, mini rest breaks can be taken instead of a scheduled rest break, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Before writing a mini break into the plan, check the job type against the Washington page and note the result on the crew's line. A mini break note should also name the job type it covers, so a later reader can see which job the note was written for.

California's page names employees covered by IWC Order 16-2001 alongside on-site occupations in the construction, drilling, logging and mining industries, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.

For those employees, the employer must provide an adequate supply of potable water, soap, or other suitable cleansing agent and single use towels for hand washing, according to California Department of Industrial Relations. The washing rule is tied to IWC Order 16-2001, so it should not be read as a requirement for every trade on a crew.

A mixed-trade crew may have some members covered and some not. Before a crew list goes out, confirm which employees fall under IWC Order 16-2001 and record the washing supply only for them. Each person should appear on a separate line, so the covered members are easy to identify at every stop.

The washing line applies to the California employees the page describes, so a crew working in Washington or Wisconsin should be checked against those states' lines rather than assumed to be covered by it.

The California page describes a motion picture exception. Employees in that industry may work no longer than six hours without a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, nor more than one hour, according to California Department of Industrial Relations. That exception is tied to motion picture work and is not a general rule for field-service crews, so it does not replace the Washington or Wisconsin lines.

A separate night rule covers a meal period on a shift beginning or ending from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Under all of the IWC Orders except Orders 12, 14, 15, and 16-2001, facilities must be available for securing hot food and drink or for heating food or drink, and a suitable sheltered place must be provided in which to consume such food or drink, according to California Department of Industrial Relations. A night crew working in California should be checked against that line along with the rest of the route.

The page also states that under IWC Order 12-2001, hot meals and hot drinks must be provided for employees in the motion picture industry who are required to work after 12 o'clock midnight, except off-production employees regularly scheduled to work after midnight, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.

The Washington page also states that employees under 18 and agricultural workers have different standards than those listed on that page, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Any crew member under 18 or any agricultural worker should be marked on the crew list before the Washington lines above are applied.

This hypothetical case uses three crew members on a two-day job. One member must remain on duty through the lunch period, so the meal window on the route plan allows 30 total minutes of mealtime, with interruptions left out of that count. The crew lead writes that window on the Washington meal line for the first day. On the second day, the rest break is planned as close to the midpoint of the work window as possible, and the crew lead notes whether the crew stays on site.

Each crew should carry a short record that holds the state rules for its route. The following items belong on that record for every crew:

• a state line for each stop on the route, naming the publisher of the state source used
• a meal window for each job site, with a note on whether the crew member must stay on duty
• a rest break note saying whether the crew stays on site and whether a mini break is used
• a pay note for any short authorized break in Wisconsin
• a washing supply line for crew members covered by IWC Order 16-2001
• a marker for employees under 18 and agricultural workers

Record the state source alongside each line, so the dispatcher can see which publisher a rule came from when a route changes. Keep one record for each crew rather than one for each state, so the lines for every stop on the route stay together. Copy the page's own wording into each line where possible, so the rule can be checked against the source without retyping it from memory.

The Wisconsin pay note records the deduction limit only. When a route changes, the record should be reviewed against the job site notes, and any line that depends on a job site should be updated before the crew arrives.

See also the technician rest breaks guide and the field service work order checklist for the same crew.

Next step: Add each crew's break and washing-supply notes to the dispatch sheet for every state on the route.

How much meal time must Washington employees get when they stay on duty?

The Washington page says employees who are required to work or remain on duty during a meal break are still entitled to 30 total minutes of mealtime, excluding interruptions, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. The meal window on the route plan should use that figure.

Can Wisconsin employers deduct pay for short authorized breaks?

No, an employer may not deduct pay for authorized breaks of less than 30 consecutive minutes, according to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Can Washington employers require staff to stay on the job site during rest breaks?

Yes. The Washington page says employers can require workers to stay on the job site during a rest break, according to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. A dispatch sheet can record that expectation for each crew before arrival.

Are California night shift meal facilities required under most IWC Orders?

Yes, under all IWC Orders except Orders 12, 14, 15, and 16-2001, facilities must be available for securing or heating hot food and drink when a meal period falls on a shift beginning or ending from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and a suitable sheltered place must be provided to eat it, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.