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.