How Many Breaks Are Required in a 10-Hour Shift in Illinois?

On a 10-hour shift in Illinois, your employer must give you one 20-minute meal break, and it must begin no later than five hours after you clock in. That is the only meal period the law requires at 10 hours. You are also entitled to reasonable restroom breaks on top of that meal period, and if your employer offers short coffee-style breaks, those must be paid. So the short answer to how many breaks are required in a 10-hour shift in Illinois is one mandatory meal break, plus restroom time as needed.

The One Required Meal Break

The rule comes from the One Day Rest in Seven Act, usually called ODRISA. Any employee working 7.5 continuous hours or more must get at least 20 minutes for a meal, and that 20 minutes has to start within the first five hours of the shift.¹ A 10-hour shift beginning at 7:00 a.m. means your break must start by noon at the latest.

A second 20-minute meal break is only required once you work an additional 4.5 continuous hours past the initial 7.5. A 10-hour shift is 2.5 hours past that mark, which is why only one meal break is mandatory. A second meal period becomes required at roughly 12 continuous hours.¹ Your employer is free to offer more breaks than this, but one 20-minute meal period is the legal floor.

Is Your Meal Break Paid?

Whether that 20 minutes gets paid depends on whether you are actually relieved of duty. If you can leave your workstation and are not performing any work, the employer does not have to pay you for the time. If you work through the break or your employer requires you to stay at your post and remain available, the time must be paid.² An employer also cannot force you to skip the meal break. Eating at your desk while you answer phones or watch equipment is compensable time.

Restroom Breaks Are Separate

Since the 2023 ODRISA amendments, Illinois law explicitly requires employers to provide reasonable restroom breaks in addition to the meal period. Bathroom time cannot be counted against your 20-minute meal break.³ Some employers used to roll the two together, which the law no longer allows.

Short Rest Breaks

Neither Illinois law nor the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to offer short rest breaks of 5 to 15 minutes. Whether you get them is up to your employer.

If your employer does offer them, though, those breaks must be paid. Federal regulations treat rest periods of roughly 5 to 20 minutes as compensable working time. They count toward your total hours worked and cannot be deducted from your paycheck.⁴ They also count toward the 40-hour threshold for overtime. An employer that offers 10-minute breaks and then docks them from your pay is violating federal wage rules.

Pumping Breaks for Nursing Employees

If you are nursing, the Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act gives you the right to reasonable paid break time to express breast milk for up to one year after your child’s birth. Your employer must pay you at your regular rate during these breaks and cannot require you to use paid leave to cover them.⁵ These breaks can overlap with your 20-minute meal period, but additional pumping time must be accommodated when you have a physiological need.

Your employer must also make reasonable efforts to provide a private space (not a bathroom stall) that is shielded from view, located near your work area, and equipped with a functional lock.⁶ Federal law provides a parallel right under the FLSA for up to one year after birth, but federal law does not require that time to be paid. Illinois is more generous on pay, so the state rule controls for employees working here.⁷

Workers Who Are Not Covered

Not every 10-hour worker in Illinois is covered by the meal break rule. Section 3 of ODRISA carves out three groups:

Union employees whose collective bargaining agreement already addresses meal periods. If the CBA is silent on meal breaks, ODRISA still applies.²
Employees of private employers who monitor individuals with developmental disabilities or mental illness and must remain on call for an entire 8-hour shift. They must still be allowed to eat during the shift.
Employees licensed under the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act who are on call for a full 8-hour period and do not work for a local government.¹

If you fall outside those three categories, the meal break rule applies to you regardless of whether you are hourly, salaried, or classified as executive or administrative. Those broader exemptions apply to the weekly day-of-rest rule, not the meal period.

What Happens If Your Employer Skips Your Break

An employer that fails to provide the required meal break owes both a penalty to the state and damages payable directly to you. The amounts scale with the size of the business:

Employers with fewer than 25 employees: up to $250 to the Department of Labor, plus up to $250 to each affected employee, per offense.
Employers with 25 or more employees: up to $500 to the Department, plus up to $500 to each affected employee, per offense.

Each day you are denied a break counts as a separate offense. Ten missed-break shifts means ten violations, each carrying its own penalty and damages.⁸ Your employer also cannot fire you, cut your hours, or otherwise retaliate for asserting your break rights or filing a complaint.⁹

Filing a Complaint

Start by writing things down. Record the dates of each missed or shortened break, your scheduled shift times, your actual hours worked, and keep copies of pay stubs and any messages with your employer about breaks. Good records speed up the claim.¹⁰

Then file the One Day Rest in Seven Act Complaint Form, available through the Illinois Department of Labor’s website via DocuSign. A paper version can be downloaded and submitted by email to DOL.ODRISA@Illinois.gov or mailed to the Department at 115 S. LaSalle St., 37th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603.¹⁰

After you file, you will get a letter with a claim number. The Department contacts your employer to give them a chance to resolve or dispute the claim. If the employer disputes it, both sides submit responses and the Department decides whether to hold a hearing. Processing time depends on how complete your records are and how cooperative the employer is.¹¹ If you file instead with the federal Wage and Hour Division, your name is not disclosed to your employer without your permission.¹²

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 140/3
2
Illinois Department of Labor. One Day Rest in Seven Act FAQ
3
Illinois Department of Labor. One Day Rest In Seven Act (ODRISA)
4
eCFR. 29 CFR 785.18 – Rest
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 260/10 – Break Time for Nursing Mothers
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 260/15 – Private Place for Nursing Mothers
7
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 140/7 – Civil Offense
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 140/5.5 – Retaliation Prohibited
10
Illinois Department of Labor. File a Workplace Complaint
11
Illinois Department of Labor. Wage Claims Process FAQ
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Frequently Asked Questions: Complaints and the Investigation Process