An upstate New York law firm sued Massachusetts’ largest hospital chains this week, alleging they systematically failed to pay employees for all the hours they worked.

The Rochester firm, Thomas & Solomon LLP, previously won a $9 million settlement with the University of Rochester in a similar suit. And the firm has filed comparable batches of lawsuits against hospitals in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse, N.Y.

One of the key allegations of the lawsuits brought against the five Massachusetts hospital operators is that they generally don’t pay employees during a 30-minute meal break, yet still expect the employees to work during at least a portion of the break time.

“They might be able to grab a bite, but it’s not like they have a full 30 minutes’’ to eat, said Michael Lingle, a partner at Thomas & Solomon. He said employers are only legally allowed to skip paying workers if they give them an uninterrupted meal break.

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