Latest Information

On the 22^nd October, the UK Employment Appeals Tribunal passed a judgement which changed the established understanding of workers’ entitlement to rest breaks.

The judgement states that workers are entitled to a 20-minute unpaid break when they work over 6 hours, rather than being entitled to a 20-minute break for every 6 hours that they work.

In practice this means a worker who works 12 hours is not entitled to two breaks totalling 40 minutes; they are only entitled to one 20-minute break.

This will be of specific interest to companies who are responsible for assessing compliance with UK law, such as retailers and audit companies.

The effect of the decision is that the maximum total number of working hours in a week is now 76 provided that person has signed an opt-out from the Working Time Regulations.  Agricultural workers are still limited to a maximum of 72 hours per week.

Ridiculous, 6 hours is a long time, especially in retail/customer service. No break for 6 hours – considering that means you can’t technically eat for 6 hours, is a law that means the workers get screwed over while the companies profit. This is even more true now that jobs are scarce and people are afraid to stand up to their employers in case they lose their jobs.

Adam – thanks for your comment

Thanks for your comment Adam – we have been getting a fair amount of traffic on this blog and it is good to know that people are interested in it!

Personally I think that this is a very literal reading of the law, and seems to go against the original intention. The rules for agricultural workers are phrased differently but allow them to have a break for every 5 hours that they work. I do wonder what the EAT was going for with this one!

You are right that what would appear to be a rule intended to empower workers and improve conditions is now empowering employers and allowing them to reduce break times with impunity.

I work in a callcentre 8am – 6pm Lunch is 11am – 12pm with 2×10 minute breaks from 12pm – 6pm it is extremely busy with a constant queue of waiting calls and the computer is in constant use. 6 hours on a computer with only 2×10 minute breaks (toilet and collecting drink)is too much. Is it legal?

Thanks for your comment Jan. Your concerns are common, especially within call centres. Unfortunately there does not appear to be anything wrong with what your employer is doing, as you are being given well over the legally required rest breaks.

However, there is guidance from the Health and Safety Executive on how to ensure a safe working environment for those who are at a computer all day. You can find this here: http://www.safeworkers.co.uk/VDUsAndComputers.html

Issues like eye strain and repetitive strain injury are the main concerns. Although this guidance is unlikely to prompt your employer to increase your total breaks, it may encourage them to spread your breaks across the day to reduce the strain on workers.

I work in a cal centre where i start at 9am and finish at 5pm. I have two ten min breaks and half hour unpaid lunch. We are always busy and feel like it is none stop and I have a medical condition with my feet and sometimes I need to get up and walk around but too scared to say anything because im agency and when i need time off to go to the doctors for regular blood test they tell me they dont have to give me the time off and to book any doctors or medical appointments when im off but this is not always able to happen. am i in my right to get up and walk around and also to go to my appointments, also i believe there is a law that if your eyes hurt while at work due to the screen you are able to get up and have a break.

I work in a restaurant and often work from 11am to 11pm (and sometimes even longer) and its still only 20 minutes. Its ridiculous. 12 hours on your feet is a very long time

I work from 8am- 8pm. Getting paid for 11 h, because we are entitled to 1h break(which we don’t get paid for). My colleagues who work daytime get paid fro the full 12h including their break. I believe that when people work for 12h they need more than 20 minutes to be efficient.

I understand the ‘entitled’ bit re: 20mins but can an employee force you to do an unpaid break. For example I want to go home early and would like to work through…

I work in a busy call centre, I start work at 8am-5pm, I have a half hour lunch and a 20 mins break time which I can take when I want but I am expected to go to the toilet and get drinks within this time and if we go over this we get an email advising us that we have exceeded it and it must be reduced, we also have a 15 minute team meeting in the morning which I presume they do this to call a screen break (rather than give us an extra 15 mins to ourselves). Does this sound legal?

I am a carer for my local government and I agree the 6 hours is a long time to work without a break. I feel really tired sometimes, especially when some service users are more complex than others, reams of paperwork to do(and more to come I understand) and the concentration when driving, it really takes it out of you. Then come the 20mins break(on occasion we don’t get because of taking into consideration driving to the next location)is spent at my workplace..behind the wheel.

I work on a cross-channel ferry starting at 9:25 and finishing at 10:55 on paper, but it’s very often until 11 or 12 when we get into port. I’m given two 30 minute unpaid breaks for meals in the day although sometimes when it’s very busy they try to make us take less than that (nowadays, i’ve taken to asking when I’ll see the rest of my break and if I don’t get an answer, I go for 30. I’ve been screwed over too many times).
But the big problem we have is overtime. Like I said, officially, we work 13.5 hours and that’s what we’re paid for. But if we work 14.5 or even 15 hours, we still only get paid for 13.5 and it doesn’t get noted on our hours worked. They won’t pay for the time if it’s less than two hours extra and that doesn’t roll over. In one week (I do 7days working / 7days off, except when they decide to give us extra shifts) I worked nearly 10 hours extra and it wasn’t noted on my hours worked or my wages!
Surely that can’t be legal…

Just to clarify, when I say “10:55″ I mean 22:55 and “11 or 12″ I mean 23:00 and 00:00. Forgot to put AM and PM on them.

[...] [...]

i work 0900 -1730 and have 1 hour lunch break. i have just learned that our company have discontinued the x2 10 min breaks. are they within thier rights to do this?

i know that you are entitled to a 20 minute break when you work over 6 hours in a day. so regarding working over 6 hours a day, how long are you allowed to work continuously before your entitled to a break?

I am a delivery driver i only get 20 minutes in an 8 hour shift. I drive a 3.5 tonne van – is this right

My wife is currently working 12 hour shifts. Theoretically she gets one 20-minute break and two ten-minute breaks in 12 hours. In practice they are presently so short-staffed that they get no breaks whatsoever. Is this permitted even for the short-term emergency?

I work 8.30 – 17.00 as a driver in the motor trade mon-fri and 8am-12 every other Sat, my Boss takes 30 mins every day off my wage for lunch, although today as an example I had 12 mins to eat my lunch and get a coffee, sometimes i don’t get a break at all, is this legal as am driving all day?? oh and 17.00 finish?? pah! never finish on time but don’t get paid over time.