Meal Relief

avfc1980 · Post by **avfc1980** » 02 Jun 2019, 22:30

We are being told in our office that we must take 20 minutes of our break before we leave the office and can’t take it when we are out on delivery. Has any other office been told this? Personally I like to take 20 mins after I’ve done a couple of hours delivery and then 20 mins at the end of my duty

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 03 Jun 2019, 08:40

they are telling you this because of the pda actuals , as the pda data on leaving the office says you have taken 20 mins or half of your meal break , so if your due out time due to data is saying your due out at 9.20am but your leaving the office at 9.00am then they see that as you are out earlyier than you should be , so 20 mins more work ? in there eyes . just take it we do everyday , load the van and sit down and a drink for 20 mins then halfway round delivery we take our other 20 mins which they can track on your pdas. there are plenty in our office that don't take any meal breaks at all and the dom doesn't tell them to either .

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » 03 Jun 2019, 16:16

Take your breaks, you are paid to take breaks, you are not paid to go home during a break. The next phase is to not pay you for working through your break so everyone needs change and adapt to this.

Bahia Feliz · Post by **Bahia Feliz** » 03 Jun 2019, 16:51

I like to have one break of 30 mins out on delivery,i'm not working outdoors in the winter for 5-6 hours without a break,my health and safety is paramount

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 03 Jun 2019, 16:59

its illegal to be forced to take a break at the start of your shift.

Taking breaks
Employers can say when employees take rest breaks during work time as long as:

the break is taken in one go somewhere in the middle of the day (not at the beginning or end)

workers are allowed to spend it away from their desk or workstation (ie away from where they actually work)
It doesn’t count as a rest break if an employer says an employee should go back to work before their break is finished.

Unless a worker’s employment contract says so, they don’t have the right to:

take smoking breaks
get paid for rest breaks

https://www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work/taking-breaks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DrSatan · Post by **DrSatan** » 03 Jun 2019, 19:55

leolion855 wrote:its illegal to be forced to take a break at the start of your shift.

Taking breaks
Employers can say when employees take rest breaks during work time as long as:

the break is taken in one go somewhere in the middle of the day (not at the beginning or end)

Problem is, what is classified as the beginning or the end?

Part timers come in and band up and load van, is that OK to have break within the first hour?

The law is a big vague on it.

postslippete · Post by **postslippete** » 03 Jun 2019, 20:08

We were told by the Union to take our meal relief break before we commence our delivery. It makes sense to me when I've done a few hours of indoor work to take my break before my part-time van colleague arrives; but it makes no sense for a part-time colleague to start work with a 20 minute break when they could at least have done some work first. For them it probably makes sense to have a break when we are out on delivery.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 03 Jun 2019, 22:43

The recommended policy is to take the first half of your break just before you are ready to go out on delivery then take the second break after you have finished your delivery and have returned to the DO.
The above is generally not enforced on site neither by the union or management & in my experience posties mostly don't take any of their breaks and work all the way through. Personally I would like to see enforcement of taking breaks as it forms part of our paid duty time so if we work through it we are doing work unpaid. It isn't enforced in our DO and the majority don't appear to take any of their breaks. Not doing so leaves us open to RM justifying a incorrect view that there is either time available for more work or that we have enough time to complete the job in paid duty time. Usually neither of these assumptions are correct.
You should be grateful if your local union rep or DOM has the guts to enforce taking of breaks as it is actively defending your duties. Of course if posties are intelligent enough to do this of their own accord then this would be preferable but it usually doesn't happen.

masterblaster · Post by **masterblaster** » 05 Jun 2019, 19:03

avfc1980 wrote:We are being told in our office that we must take 20 minutes of our break before we leave the office and can’t take it when we are out on delivery. Has any other office been told this? Personally I like to take 20 mins after I’ve done a couple of hours delivery and then 20 mins at the end of my duty

Employers can say when employees take rest breaks during work time as long as:

the break is taken in one go somewhere in the middle of the day (not at the beginning or end)

workers are allowed to spend it away from their desk or workstation (ie away from where they actually work)

It doesn’t count as a rest break if an employer says an employee should go back to work before their break is finished.

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 05 Jun 2019, 19:08

Celgar wrote:The recommended policy is to take the first half of your break just before you are ready to go out on delivery then take the second break after you have finished your delivery and have returned to the DO.

I believe the recommended policy is actually to take the whole break in one go, but what youre mentioning here is an option that is given to those who want to use 20 mins of their break to finish earlier.

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 05 Jun 2019, 19:14

avfc1980 wrote:We are being told in our office that we must take 20 minutes of our break before we leave the office and can’t take it when we are out on delivery. Has any other office been told this? Personally I like to take 20 mins after I’ve done a couple of hours delivery and then 20 mins at the end of my duty

sounds like you might have people finishing very early in your office and when questioned theyre saying "i havent had my break"
Problem is for DOMs when people are signing out / logging off PDAs 1 hr or so before their scheduled finish he has to explain to his Area Manager who only sees this data and will question the DOM about why people are going home so early and its wasted hours. At the same time the DOM is aware that people dont take their breaks and know if he just started giving everyone more work that people will just slow down, cut off and not do the extra.
By making everyone take 20 mins of their break, not only does it shift everyones finish time +20mins, but when people still return quite early and theres work left in the office they can be sent out and cant use the "but ive had no break" excuse as everyone is on the same page.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 06 Jun 2019, 00:35

Postie45 wrote:
Celgar wrote:The recommended policy is to take the first half of your break just before you are ready to go out on delivery then take the second break after you have finished your delivery and have returned to the DO.
I believe the recommended policy is actually to take the whole break in one go, but what youre mentioning here is an option that is given to those who want to use 20 mins of their break to finish earlier.

No. There used to be problems where posties wanted to take the whole of their break at the end of their duty and this is where your comment about posties being perceived to be looking to go home early comes from. The RM standard option is what you quoted me as saying above and new DOMs who wish to follow all RMs rules tend to quote it verbatim. Actually I have a feeling there is some kind of government regulation that half your break can be taken at the end of your duty as well.
I think there is another variation in some DO where local union reps have pushed through local policy for all posties to take all their break in one go before they go out on delivery. This has been to protect existing duties where some posties have been returning early to try and keep RM at bay and stop any changes.

work · Post by **work** » 06 Jun 2019, 00:51

worktotime wrote:they are telling you this because of the pda actuals , as the pda data on leaving the office says you have taken 20 mins or half of your meal break , so if your due out time due to data is saying your due out at 9.20am but your leaving the office at 9.00am then they see that as you are out earlyier than you should be , so 20 mins more work ? in there eyes . just take it we do everyday , load the van and sit down and a drink for 20 mins then halfway round delivery we take our other 20 mins which they can track on your pdas. there are plenty in our office that don't take any meal breaks at all and the dom doesn't tell them to either .

so, if part time and being tracked by pda actuals, i should therefore take 30 mins, all at once, during the halfway point/lunch; as per my contract...yes?

world class male · Post by **world class male** » 06 Jun 2019, 05:12

meal relief time is always a grey area in RM due to the different contracts people have,
say a f't-40min /p't-30min pairing, f't has 20 before leaving, p't only been in an hour if that and doesn't need a break yet, come midday the p't wants their break and f't doesn't, they want it on the back end like most do,
will the ft'er factor in an odd loop to do whilst other is having their break

yet the pt'er will have been working indoor during their break.
also no where to scrub up to eat their own food or get an hot drink and doesn't want to spend £5 in a cafe everyday (if 1 nearby) thus p/t loses some of their break or just eats a sandwich in a scruffy van in between loops that probably has more germs in it than the toilet in my house,
and i'm also f't, i just know that as usual the pt'ers get a raw deal,
why doesn't the cwu campaign for their rights to "take your break" ? they spent £1000s on silly mugs and lanyards but don't come up with an idea of the logistics to balance it out, RM know that most end up working their breaks so they're laughing

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 06 Jun 2019, 07:57

work wrote:
worktotime wrote:they are telling you this because of the pda actuals , as the pda data on leaving the office says you have taken 20 mins or half of your meal break , so if your due out time due to data is saying your due out at 9.20am but your leaving the office at 9.00am then they see that as you are out earlyier than you should be , so 20 mins more work ? in there eyes . just take it we do everyday , load the van and sit down and a drink for 20 mins then halfway round delivery we take our other 20 mins which they can track on your pdas. there are plenty in our office that don't take any meal breaks at all and the dom doesn't tell them to either .
so, if part time and being tracked by pda actuals, i should therefore take 30 mins, all at once, during the halfway point/lunch; as per my contract...yes?

If when breaks are taken is not being enforced by the DOM or union rep then take your break how and when you want so for you either 30 minutes or two lots of 15 minutes so it is identifiable. The main thing is to actually take your break/s, because most posties don't. If you work through your break and finish on time you have done 30 minutes work for free. To be honest I'm as guilty as next guy on this one. Use it or lose it as they say.