Rest and meal breaks in New Zealand: your rights, and recording them
In New Zealand, a work period of 2 to 4 hours gives you one paid 10-minute rest break. More than 4 hours adds an unpaid 30-minute meal break, and more than 6 hours a second paid rest break, so an 8-hour shift has two paid rest breaks and one unpaid meal break. These are legal minimums, and an employment agreement cannot reduce them.
What the law gives you
Rest and meal breaks are set by Part 6D of the Employment Relations Act 2000. Every employee is entitled to them, and the employer must provide them, whether you work full-time, part-time or casually. Independent contractors are not employees, so Part 6D does not cover them.
How many breaks you get depends on your work period: the time from when you start work to when you finish, under your terms of employment, including every authorised break, paid or unpaid. A 9am to 5pm day with a half-hour lunch is an 8-hour work period, not 7.5.
These rules have stood since 6 May 2019. The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026, in force from 21 February 2026, changed other parts of the Act but not breaks.
An employer can give you more or longer breaks, in your agreement or a workplace policy. A clause that removes or reduces the minimum has no effect, so an agreement saying you work straight through cannot be enforced against you.
Paid rest breaks and unpaid meal breaks
A rest break is at least 10 minutes and is paid, at the same rate you are paid to work. Employment New Zealand says you should not be out of pocket for taking one, and that people on variable rates, such as piece rates, must still be paid for their breaks.
A meal break is at least 30 minutes and is unpaid, unless you and your employer agree to pay it. If you agree to a longer lunch, say an hour, you still work your agreed total hours, for example by finishing half an hour later.
If you are breastfeeding or expressing milk, your employer must provide appropriate breaks and facilities, so far as is reasonable and practicable given how it operates and its resources. These breaks are unpaid unless you agree otherwise, and they come on top of your rest and meal breaks. You can agree to use one break for both, and it is then paid to the same extent as the rest or meal break would be.
How many breaks for your shift length
These are the minimums by work period. Under 2 hours, the Act gives no break.
| Work period | Paid 10-minute rest breaks | Unpaid 30-minute meal breaks |
|---|---|---|
| 2 hours, up to 4 | 1 | 0 |
| More than 4, up to 6 | 1 | 1 |
| More than 6, under 10 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 hours, up to 12 | 3 | 1 |
| More than 12, up to 14 | 3 | 2 |
| More than 14, up to 16 | 4 | 2 |
When the breaks fall is for you and your employer to agree. Without an agreement, the employer must, so far as is reasonable and practicable, spread them out. On an 8-hour shift the meal break is in the middle, with a rest break halfway on either side, so an 8am to 4pm shift has rest breaks around 10am and 2pm and lunch around midday.
Our article on whether shift work is worth it weighs the extra pay for shifts against what they cost you.
When an employer can change or replace breaks
The timing can change by agreement, and the agreement has to be real. Employment New Zealand says you must have a reasonable opportunity to negotiate in good faith, and a take-it-or-leave-it approach is unlikely to count as an agreement. You can bring a representative, and what you agree should be written down.
Replacing breaks with money or time off is different. Only an exempt employer can do it: one in an essential service or protecting national security, where continuity is critical and covering your breaks with someone who has the skills and experience, without risking safety or security, would cost an unreasonable amount. You and that employer can agree a different number and timing of breaks. If you cannot agree, it must give you compensatory measures: time off at another time, at least equal to the breaks you missed; pay for that time at your ordinary rate, or your average rate if your pay varies; or a mix of the two.
Other laws can set breaks of their own, such as the Land Transport Rule's 30-minute break for drivers after 5.5 hours of driving, but you still get at least as many breaks, as long, as Part 6D gives.
If you are not getting your breaks, raise it with your employer first, in writing if talking does not work. Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20, your union or free mediation can help. The Employment Relations Authority can order an employer to comply, and can impose a penalty of up to $10,000 on an individual or $20,000 on a company.
Showing breaks on a timesheet
A record of breaks only helps if it can be checked, so write times, not totals: started 7am, rest break 9.10 to 9.20, lunch 11.30 to 12, finished 3.30pm. Paid rest breaks are part of your paid hours, so they stay in. An unpaid meal break comes off. If you worked through it, or it was cut short, those minutes were work: leave them in, and note what happened and who asked. Our guide to keeping your own timesheet covers what else to write down and how to ask for your employer's record to compare.
In Your Timesheets, each entry for a day takes a start, a finish and an unpaid break in minutes, and once the start and finish are in, the hours are worked out for you, less that break. Leave paid rest breaks out of the break box, because they count as hours worked. Each entry has a note for a missed or shortened break, a split shift can be two entries on one day, and every change is kept in the entry's history. The timer counts until you stop it, so stop it for an unpaid lunch and start it again after, or put the minutes in the break box afterwards. Your Timesheets is free on every plan, on your phone or your computer.
Keep your breaks on the record
Logging your hours, start and finish times and unpaid breaks in Your Timesheets is free on every plan, and Your Career at jobtracker.co.nz keeps your pay over time and your review dates; create an account and choose the Career and Timesheets plan, and the first 7 days are free, with nothing charged if you cancel before then. If you would rather look around first, the demo opens a full job hunt, a year of Your Career and thirteen weeks of Sam's hours in Your Timesheets, with no account.
Create your accountA card is needed to start the trial, and there is one free trial per person and per card.