Driving and eating is no fun, at least that's what the Fifth Circuit thinks. According to Michael Thompson of Epstein Becker Green, the court recently held that an employer may have to compensate employees for meal breaks if a significant amount of travel time is required to reach the break area.

In the case, Securiguard employees were watching over gates at a Naval air station. Some only had to travel a few yards to the designated break areas, but for others it was a 12-minute round trip. They asked to eat at the stations, but Securiguard said no, because they didn't want it to look like the guards were slacking at their duties.

At trial, the District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi dismissed the guard's claim, saying Securiguard's restrictions were insubstantial. But on appeal, the Fifth Circuit stood by the proposition that meal periods are not work time. They said the travel time was “a meaningful limitation on the employee's freedom,” and as Thompson explains, “was imposed for the benefit of the employer—rendering that time compensable.” The case was remanded back to trial court. Thompson explains that, “employers (particularly those in the Fifth Circuit) should evaluate any restrictions imposed on employee meal-periods in light of the ruling…”