36 | Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. © 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP found security officers’ meal break time compensable because, among other things, the officers were required to keep their radios on and remain on-site during their breaks.220 The Attorney General has enforcement authority for the meal break statute. Any employer or agent of the employer that violates the provisions of the statute may be subject to fines ranging between $300.00 and $600.00.221 a. Exemptions The statute specifically exempts employers in the following industries from the meal break requirement: Iron works Glass works Paper mills Letterpress establishments Print works Bleaching works Dyeing works222 In addition, the Attorney General may grant exemptions to factories, workshops, or mechanical establishments if such exemptions are deemed necessary because of the “continuous nature of the processes or of special circumstances affecting such establishments, including collective bargaining agreements . . . .”223 b. Liability for Missed, Late, or Short Breaks and Failure to Compensate Employees for Work Performed During Breaks As set forth above, an employer or an agent of the employer that violates the meal break statute is subject to prosecution by the Massachusetts Attorney General. An employee has no private right employer.” Id. at *1; see also Romulus v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., 321 F.R.D. 464, 470 n.4 (D. Mass. 2017) (citing DeVito for the proposition that meal time is compensable where an employee must remain on the premises). 220 DeVito, 2016 WL 8200495, at *1. 221 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 100. The meal break statute states that any “employer, superintendent, overseer or agent who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than three hundred nor more than six hundred dollars.” 222 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 101. 223 Id.
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