Neither federal nor North Carolina labor laws require employers to give employees rest or meal breaks if they are over the age of 16. Workers have a right to at least a 30minute meal break or each 6 hours worked in a calendar day.Generally, if an employer does give breaks, then the break must be at least 30 minutes for the employer to be able to deduct the time from an employee's pay. Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. Employees who work more than 5 hours in a shift are entitled to a 30-minute food break. Meal breaks should be given between the second and fifth hour of work. Requiring a note for each absence is in conflict with the FMLA's re-certification procedure, because it in effect treats each absence as a new re-certification. State law requires a paid 10 minute break every 4 hours of work and an unpaid 30 minute meal break every 5 hours of work. Strictly speaking, workers are not entitled to lunch breaks, only a 20 minutes rest break per day, after working 6 hours. All enrollments must be complete within.