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Freshman asks committee to sponsor bill requiring meal and rest periods for employees
Summary
A college freshman asked the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development to sponsor RS 0785, a proposal that would require employers to provide meal and rest periods to employees. Committee members asked about overlap with federal law and requested data; the bill was introduced for consideration.
Carson Cazero, a college freshman, asked the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development to sponsor RS 0785, a measure “concerning labor and employment requiring every employer to provide each employee with meal periods and rest periods.”
The request came during the committee’s bill-introduction portion of the meeting. Representative Sutton asked whether the proposal duplicated federal law; Cazero replied that federal rules govern payability of breaks—stating, “Federal law only mandates that if you have a 30 minute break or more, it's not paid. And if it's less than 30 minutes, that it has to be paid. Other than that, it goes to state law, and Kansas is 1 of the 32 states that does not have any law on this.”
Representative Corbett asked whether Cazero had data on how widespread the issue is in Kansas. Cazero said he did not have specific numbers and described the proposal as work that began as a class paper during his freshman year; he said the draft mirrors provisions in other states that apply to minors or to all employees.
No formal action on RS 0785 was recorded during the hearing beyond Cazero’s request that the committee sponsor the draft and the committee’s agreement to introduce the bill for consideration.
