An employer may require a nonexempt, hourly employee to take an unpaid meal period while engaged in travel time, so long as certain conditions are met, according to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The meal period is not considered work time or compensable travel time if the employee is both relieved from performing any duties during that time and the time otherwise qualifies as a bona fide meal period under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
In this case, the employer, a contractor with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), hired security officers to accompany and be responsible for deportees on flights carrying them to another country.
