The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas bill requires mandatory employee meal and rest breaks and imposes fines for coercion
Last action · April 10, 2026: Died in Committee
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
Employers in Kansas would be required to provide a 30-minute meal period for shifts lasting six to eight hours and 15-minute rest breaks for every four hours worked, alongside strict rules allowing tip-earning food and beverage staff to waive meal breaks under specific written conditions. The legislation sets civil penalties up to $2,000 for employers who coerce workers into waiving meal periods and allows s to modify these rules.
Workers gain guaranteed break schedules and legal protections against forced waivers, while businesses face scheduling mandates, documentation requirements, and financial penalties for violations.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Employees
Employees receive guaranteed meal and rest break periods, protections against coerced waivers, and compensation when required to work through meal times.
Employers
Employers must adjust scheduling to provide mandatory breaks, maintain written records of notices and waivers, and face civil penalties for violating coercion rules.
Tipped food and beverage workers
Tipped workers are permitted to voluntarily waive meal periods under specific written conditions while retaining food-consumption opportunities.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I entitled to a meal break if my shift is six hours long?
Can tipped food service workers waive their meal periods?
What is the penalty if an employer forces a worker to waive a meal period?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died in committee.
Procedural history
3 actions- Apr 10, 2026HouseDied in Committee
- Feb 4, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced
- Feb 4, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools