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State law requires rest breaks I have a question about the 10-minute breaks companies give employees. Are they mandatory? Are they 10 minutes or 15 minutes long? Is it more if the company is doing business out of state or with the government? And can they make you take one after one hour and then make you work three hours before another one? I know some companies do this. Is it legal? -- Dave B., Eagle Point You have five questions by our count, Dave, and the answers -- according to the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries -- are: yes, 10, no, no and no. State law requires companies to give employees a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked, according to bureau spokeswoman Joanie Stevens-Schwenger. And employees are required to take them; it's in the employers' best interest to make employees take the breaks, because companies can be held liable when employees don't get breaks, Stevens-Schwenger said. The rest breaks are 10 minutes, not 15, and aren't longer if the company does business out of state or with the government. Rest-break laws are formulated at the state level and applied uniformly throughout Oregon. As for when the break should be taken, the law says the break should be given as close as possible to the middle of each four-hour segment. And workers must be given a break if they work more than two hours. So employers are not allowed to force employees to work three hours straight without a break. Stevens-Schwenger says the bureau receives about 30,000 labor questions a year. Many of the answers -- including information on meal and rest breaks -- are available on the bureau's Web site at: www.boli.state.or.us The bureau also can be reached at (503) 731-4200. (Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA