Q: We have an employee in our Urgent Care Medical area requesting an additional 10 minutes of pay for a meal break they couldn’t take due to the practice being busy. What is their legal entitlement?

Have you encountered this situation before? What would you advise?

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A: Yes, this is covered under the Employment Relations Act:

69ZEB: Compensatory Measures

(1) If the employer and employee are unable to reach an agreement under section 69ZEA(4), the employee is entitled to, and the employer must provide, compensatory measures. (2) In this section, compensatory measure: (a) Means a measure that is reasonable and designed to compensate the employee for a failure to provide rest or meal breaks in accordance with section 69ZD(1). (b) May include (without limitation): (i) Time off work at an alternative time during the employee’s work period (e.g., a later start, earlier finish, or accumulated time off to be taken later). (ii) Financial compensation. (iii) A combination of time off and financial compensation.