After winning approval in committee, a Kentucky bill that could alter several workplace laws related to lunch breaks and rest periods is being sent to the full state House for consideration.
- Kentucky House Bill 500 could result in employees losing lunch, rest breaks
- Bill’s sponsor: It prevents confusion between state and federal law
- Opponents say it further erodes worker protections in Kentucky
House Bill 500, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Phillip Pratt of northern Kentucky, could negatively impact employees in many Kentucky workplaces, according to Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, which is a nonprofit, non-partisan research and policy organization.
The bill was introduced on Feb. 9 and went to the Small Business and Information Technology Committee. After the committee approved the bill on Wednesday, the next step is to present it on the House floor.
Some of HB 500’s impacts include allowing employers to deny seventh-day overtime pay, removing the requirement to provide employees with lunch or rest breaks, and no longer requiring employers to pay employees for time spent traveling while on the clock. For example, if an HVAC employee were to clock in, drive an hour to a job, and then drive an hour back, the company would not be required to pay for the time spent driving.
Employees of a local air conditioning company said they spend most of their days traveling, so if the bill passes, it could have a big impact on their paychecks.
The bill has been the subject of controversy. The Kentucky State AFL-CIO, which is a community of union members and household members, posted to Facebook that it has had more than 200 Kentuckians reach out to lawmakers to voice their opinions on the bill.
Bailey mentioned that he has heard about the pushback as well.
“There’s a tremendous number of people talking about this bill and a tremendous number of phone calls and emails going in to lawmakers saying ‘Please don’t take my lunch break. Please don’t take my rest break,’ ” said Bailey.
Bailey mentioned that some of those concerns were expressed during the committee hearing, and the bill could possibly be modified on the floor.
United Steel Workers Local 550 financial secretary and treasurer for Local 550 in Paducah, Jim Rodgers, said the bill is “not a path that Kentucky wants to go down.” Rodgers asserted that workplace rights are crucial to individuals, and that some may join unions to maintain their rights if the bill becomes law.
The Sun’s request for comment has not been met by the sponsor of the bill.
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HB 500’s sponsor, GOP state Rep. Phillip Pratt, says he introduced the legislation so that employers no longer have to deal with differences between state and federal law regarding lunch and rest breaks. Currently, federal law does not require employees to receive breaks.
Opponents of the law argue that HB 500 eliminates necessary worker protections.
“Repealing these guardrails will make work more dangerous by depriving workers of time and for food and rest, incentivizing them to travel too quickly to get to their job sites and discouraging them from taking proper precautions at the beginning of the shift,” Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, told the Lantern.
