How are hospitals complying with the meal and rest break law?
The law now requires employers to submit a quarterly report to the Department of Labor and Industries on compliance.
March 14, 2025 • 1 minute, 17 seconds to read
WSNA would like to know your reality with meal and rest breaks. We have an anonymous survey with four questions. Please take two minutes to fill this out.
Effective July 1, 2024, there was a change to the Meal and Rest Breaks for Health Care Facility Employees (RCW 49.12.480) law. The law now requires employers to submit a quarterly report to the Department of Labor and Industries on compliance with providing covered employees with meal and rest periods 80 percent of the time.
This new law requires employers licensed under Chapter 70.41.RCW to provide a mechanism for their employees to record missed meal and rest periods. The law also requires the employer to have a designated employee attest to the accuracy/validity of the meal and rest break data submitted.
So, who is covered by the new law?
- Healthcare employees that are entitled to additional meal and rest break protections include individuals employed by a hospital licensed under Chapter 70.41.RCW. (Facilities that do not qualify as licensed hospitals include clinics, physician’s offices, nursing homes, birthing centers, psychiatric hospitals, or any similar institutions.)
- Employees involved in direct patient care activities. This includes those that perform assessment, diagnosis, treatment, prevention of diseases and injuries, and health support/promotion activities.
- Employees with clinical training that provide services related to screening, assessment, observation, treatment, counseling, and care of a patient. Clinical services include nursing, therapeutic, technical, nutritional, social, and others involved in the patient’s plan of care.
- Employees that receive an hourly wage or are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
First compliance reporting
The first meal and rest break compliance reports were submitted to the Department of Labor and Industries on Oct. 30, 2024. Reports revealed that all but one hospital hit the 80% threshold for providing covered employee meal and rest periods between July 1-September 30, 2024.
*Quarterly reporting of meal and rest break compliance for critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals and selected other facilities is delayed until July 1, 2026. See RCW 70.41.420 (7)(b)(iv) for a complete list.
Gloria Brigham is WSNA’s director of nursing practice.