Meal and rest break rules
"Answer the phone while you eat" is not a break — it is work.
The principles
- Once working hours pass a certain length, a rest break must be given. Check the exact thresholds with 1350.
- The break must fall during working hours — not before the shift or after it.
- You must be free to use the break as you wish. If you are on standby, it is working time.
- Breaks are unpaid — but in exchange you do not work during them.
When it isn't a break
- Time spent at your post answering phones or customers
- Time spent monitoring machinery
- Time on standby while not permitted to leave the premises
- Being in a state where you must work the moment you are called
Such time is working time and must be paid.
If a dispute arises
- Record your rota and how breaks were actually taken.
- Ask the company in writing to guarantee break times.
- Consult 1350 on whether your situation is a breach.
- If it becomes a pay issue, you can file a complaint. See wage-claim-labor-office.
Where to go
- 1350 Ministry of Employment and Labour (hours and breaks)
- 1577-0071 Foreign Workforce Support Centre
- Your local labour office
- Local migrant workers' support centres
Questions people ask
I only get ten minutes to eat. The statutory break must be guaranteed. Tell 1350 your hours and how breaks work in practice.
They tell me to answer calls during my break. That time is working time and must be paid. Record it and take advice.
Can I leave the premises during a break? Free use is the principle. Where the nature of the work restricts it, that time may not count as a break at all.
What about breaks on a night shift? The same working-hours standards apply. Breaks must be guaranteed at night too. See night-shift-health.
Take care
When "we're busy, let's just work through today" becomes routine, write it down. Once or twice may pass, but repeated it becomes grounds for a pay claim. Note the date and hours whenever you work through a break.
Related
working-hours · overtime-pay · night-shift-health · wage-statement-dispute · labor-standards-basics
Source
Ministry of Employment and Labour www.moel.go.kr / As of 2026-08