Minnesota's law regarding meal and rest periods is located in Chapters 177 and 181 of the Minnesota Statutes and Chapter 5200 of the Minnesota Administrative Code.
177.253 Mandatory work breaks.
Subdivision 1. Rest breaks. An employer must allow each employee adequate time from work within each four consecutive hours of work to utilize the nearest convenient restroom.
Subd. 2. Collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this section prohibits employers and employees from establishing rest breaks different from those provided in this section pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.
177.254 Mandatory meal break.
Subdivision 1. Meal break. An employer must permit each employee who is working for eight or more consecutive hours sufficient time to eat a meal.
Subd. 2. Payment not required. Nothing in this section requires the employer to pay the employee during the meal break.
Subd. 3. Collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this section prohibits employers and employees from establishing meal periods different from those provided in this section pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.
181.29 Certain railroad employees, hours.
It shall be unlawful for any railroad company within the state, or any of its officers or agents, to require or permit any employee engaged in or connected with the movement of any rolling stock, engine, or train, to remain on duty more than 16 consecutive hours, or to require or permit any such employee who has been on duty 16 consecutive hours to perform any further service without having had at least eight hours' rest, or to require or permit any such employee to be on duty at any time to exceed 16 hours in any consecutive 24 hours. This section shall not apply to work performed in the protection of life or property in cases of accident, wreck, or other unavoidable casualty, and it shall not apply to the time necessary for train workers to reach a resting place when an accident, wreck, washout, snow blockade, or other unavoidable cause has delayed their train.
181.30 Duty of department of public service.
Any officer of any railroad company in the state violating any of the provisions of section 181.29 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and, upon conviction, punished by a fine of not less than $100, and not more than $700, for each offense, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than 60 days, or both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. It shall be the duty of the state department of transportation, upon complaint properly filed with it alleging a violation of section 181.29, to make a full investigation in relation thereto, and for such purpose it shall have the power to administer oaths, interrogate witnesses, take testimony and require the production of books and papers, and if such report shall show a violation of the provisions of section 181.29, the department of transportation shall, through the attorney general, begin the prosecution of all parties against whom evidence of such violation is found; but section 181.29 shall not be construed to prevent any other person from beginning prosecution for the violation of the provisions thereof.
181.939. Nursing mother; Employment rights.
An employer must provide reasonable unpaid break time each day to an employee who needs to express breast milk for her infant child. The break time must, if possible, run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee. An employer is not required to provide break time under this section if to do so would unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.
The employer must make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location, in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where the employee can express her milk in privacy. The employer would be held harmless of reasonable effort has been made.
For the purpose of this section, "employer" means a person or entity that employes one or more employees and includes the state and its political subdivisions.