Small, rural hospitals must start reporting meal, rest break compliance July 1

Civil penalties begin for large hospitals whose compliance rates fall below 80%.

By Gloria Brigham, EdD, MN, RN, Director of Nursing Practice

June 12, 2026 • less than 1 minute to read

Beginning July 1, 2026, Washington State will extend new reporting requirements for meal and rest break compliance to small and rural hospitals across the state.

Hospitals are already required to provide uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for employees and to record when an employee misses a meal or rest period.

What changes on July 1 is the addition of a reporting requirement for critical access hospitals, hospitals with fewer than 25 acute care licensed beds, sole community hospitals, and island hospitals in Skagit County. These hospitals will also be required to maintain a system to record missed, waived, and required meal and rest periods and to submit quarterly summary reports to the Department of Labor & Industries.

For large hospitals that have been reporting on meal and rest break compliance since 2024, civil penalties go into effect on July 1 for compliance rates that fall below 80%. The penalties assessed will vary according to the size of the facility.