Legal Question in Employment Law in Ohio

Back during the summers of 2008 and 2009 I worked at an Amusement Park in Ohio as a Ride Operations Supervisor. The way the structure was set up, there was only one supervisor per zone on duty at a time. During our "45 minute lunch break" We still had to keep our radios on, answer calls, respond to guest complaints, ride shutdowns, etc. However, even though we were still doing work, 45 minutes per shift was still taken out of our pay per day for "lunch." Would this be a good case for back pay? The law states "you can exclude meal breaks from compensate time, but only if the employee is completely relieved of duty for at least 30 minutes"


Asked on 7/10/12, 8:15 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Betty Tsamis Tsamis Law Firm PC

The situation you describe would entitle you to be compensated for your lunch break.

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Answered on 7/10/12, 8:45 am
Patrick Vitone Pat Vitone, Attorney at Law

I agree with Betty. Under FLSA (as you apparently realize) you would be entitled to pay for those "meal" periods. You may want to give the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division a call at 1-866-487-9243.

I am not currently taking cases. In any case, I think that your first step should be a call to Wage and Hour. BTW, you seem to be able to research law pretty well. Maybe you should consider law school???

This message is not intended as legal advice nor does it establish an attorney/client relationship.

Good luck.

Pat Vitone

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Answered on 7/11/12, 7:43 am


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