Overtime, hours, breaks and scheduling in Massachusetts restaurants
Massachusetts exempts restaurants from state overtime, but federal law does not. These answers cover overtime, meal breaks, scheduling and holiday pay.
General information about Massachusetts and federal rules, checked against the official sources linked under each answer on September 24, 2026. It is not legal or tax advice.
State law does not require it: the Massachusetts overtime statute excludes anyone employed in a restaurant. Federal law has no restaurant exemption, so a restaurant covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act still owes time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek.
The state Department of Labor Standards puts it plainly: restaurant employees are exempt from overtime under state law, but not under federal law. In practice, nearly every restaurant is covered federally.
A business with at least two employees and $500,000 or more a year in sales is covered as an enterprise. Below that, individual employees are still covered if their work regularly involves interstate commerce, so a small restaurant should not assume it is exempt.
No. Neither Massachusetts nor federal law requires daily overtime; it is based only on hours over 40 in a workweek. Paid holidays or other paid time off that is not worked does not count toward the 40.
Under federal law, the regular rate for the week is a weighted average: total straight-time pay from all rates divided by total hours worked. Overtime hours are then owed an extra half of that blended rate.
For example, a cook who also washes dishes at a lower rate in the same week has one blended regular rate for that week, not two separate ones. Narrow alternatives exist but generally need an agreement in advance.
Federal rules govern, because restaurants are exempt from state overtime. Overtime for a tipped employee is calculated on the full minimum wage, not the lower cash wage, and mandatory service charges paid to staff are included in the regular rate.
Tips above the tip credit are not part of the regular rate. Because the federal and Massachusetts minimums differ, the exact cash overtime figure for a Massachusetts server is not worked through in any official guidance we found. Have your payroll provider or the U.S. Department of Labor's Boston office (617-624-6700) confirm the rate your system uses.
Nothing in practice. When state law is more protective, the employer follows the state rule, and Massachusetts requires a $6.75 service rate with tips bringing the worker to at least $15.00 an hour.
Only if they pass all three federal tests: a salary of at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year), a primary duty of managing the restaurant or the kitchen, and regularly directing two or more full-time employees with real say in hiring and firing. Being on salary alone does not make someone exempt.
The 2024 rule that would have raised the salary threshold was struck down, and on May 14, 2026 the U.S. Department of Labor formally restored the $684 figure. A "sous chef" who mostly cooks on the line is unlikely to be exempt, whatever they are paid.
No, not to a non-exempt employee at a private business. Comp time cannot replace overtime pay, and an employer and employee cannot agree to waive overtime.
Yes. Anyone working more than six hours in a calendar day gets at least a 30-minute meal break. It can be unpaid only if the worker is free of all duties and free to leave; if you ask them to keep working or stay on site, the break is paid.
Employers may require workers to take the break. A working "break" on a busy night is paid time and belongs on the timecard.
No. Neither Massachusetts nor federal law requires short rest breaks. If you do offer breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes, federal law treats them as paid working time that counts toward overtime.
Very likely yes. The Massachusetts day-of-rest law requires 24 consecutive hours off in every seven days, including an unbroken 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. period, for "mercantile" establishments, and the law's definition of mercantile establishments includes restaurants.
The food-sale exemption in the next section expressly leaves restaurants out. No official guidance we found names restaurants directly, and restaurants inside hotels may fall under a hotel exemption, so confirm with counsel if you schedule anyone seven days straight.
We found no statewide predictive-scheduling law and no split-shift premium for adults as of September 2026. The state says schedules are generally a matter of agreement between employer and employee, apart from the rules for minors.
The three-hour reporting pay rule still applies when you send someone home early; see the wages page. Workers under 18 have span-of-day limits, covered on the teen workers page.
No. For workers 16 and older, federal law does not cap daily or weekly hours, and Massachusetts has no general cap for adults. Overtime, the meal break and the day-of-rest rule still apply.
No. Massachusetts Sunday and holiday premium pay applied only to certain retailers, and it ended on January 1, 2023. Restaurants are exempt under the blue laws and may open on Sundays and holidays.
If your handbook or payroll still pays a Sunday or holiday premium, that is a policy choice, not a legal requirement. The holiday scheduling and pay guide covers the season in detail.
No. Federal law does not require pay for time not worked, including holidays, and Massachusetts does not require extra pay for holiday work. Private employers must let veteran employees take Veterans Day off, but that leave can be unpaid.
Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel. These answers describe the rules; they don’t decide how they apply to your restaurant. Headcount, entity structure and the exact facts of a shift can change the answer, so confirm anything that affects pay with the agency, an employment attorney or your tax adviser.
