It may be easier for employers to automatically deduct 30 minutes worth of wages for required meal breaks from employees' time and attendance earnings, but it can lead to more trouble than the convenience is worth, according to Business and Legal Resources.

This practice was called into question when Margaret White, a nurse at Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corp. filed a lawsuit against her employer in attempt to collect back wages for unpaid employee attendance during meal breaks. When White was hired, she was informed that the employer's timekeeping system automatically deducted 30 minutes for meal breaks if employees worked six hours or more during a single day. If those breaks were interrupted or workers skipped them, they were instructed to note that time in an exception log and the time would be compensated.

White disregarded the practice and attempted to sue her employer to recover lost pay as the result of her noncompliance, but the suit was unsuccessful. Even though White didn't win the case, it might be in employers' best interest to require workers to punch in and out for lunch breaks to avoid any issues with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the source explains. 

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