Part Time breaks

[cookie]

Part time staff at our office have been told to take a break soon after their duty start time to coincide with full time staff taking their break.

Surely part time staff should have their break half way through their shift after doing a bit of graft!?

[clashcityrocker]

There is a legal obligation to provide a full-timer with a scheduled meal relief.
There isn't the same imperative for anyone on a shorter day.
In most cases it makes sense for the two meal reliefs to coincide.

[ganda]

That is total out of order if you work more then six hours.

A worker is entitled to an uninterrupted break of 20 minutes when daily working time is more than six hours. It should be a break in working time and should not be taken either at the start, or at the end, of a working day.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/workingtime.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TrueBlueTerrier]

There is a legal obligation to provide a full-timer with a scheduled meal relief.
There isn't the same imperative for anyone on a shorter day.
In most cases it makes sense for the two meal reliefs to coincide.

As per ganda post - the threshold is 6 hours for a legal statutory break and all its implications.

[hellpop]

i went to speak to our union rep about it this morning. i told him that as a part timer i dont want to be asked to take a break ten minutes after i come in. i may as well have asked the works cat. totally unhelpful. wouldnt give me any idea how long we have to have been working for before we legally have to take a break.this is going to cause problems at our office.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

i went to speak to our union rep about it this morning. i told him that as a part timer i dont want to be asked to take a break ten minutes after i come in. i may as well have asked the works cat. totally unhelpful. wouldnt give me any idea how long we have to have been working for before we legally have to take a break.this is going to cause problems at our office.

If you are expected to work for 6 hours or more you are entitled to a statutory break of 20 minutes. Our agreements supercede the length of the breaks but they still MUST comply with the law.

This means that they can tell you when to take a break - but it must not be at the end or start of your working time. It must be somewhere in the middle.

(10 minutes after starting is a definite No).

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

2. 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.

[clashcityrocker]

A 6hr day is a 30 hour week.
While there may be instances of 3/4 day week p/t staff working more than 6 hours/day I would guess most aren't.
Most p/t contracts are under 30 hours/week.

Perhaps everyone would just find it more convenient to do away with the p/t meal relief.
Nobody would need to fuss about when it was taken and RM could have 5 hours productivity out of a 25 hour/week contract rather than pay 30 minutes/day meal relief.
Win Win.

[Newbie001]

As most part-timers are being pressurized every-day into not taking their breaks. Perhaps we should call their bluff and insist we take the FULL 20 mins and a toilet break before we go out the door. We can do this while some-one does our packets, D2D's and tying down which technically most of us on 5hr days aren't supposed to be doing anyway.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

totally unhelpful. wouldnt give me any idea how long we have to have been working for before we legally have to take a break

There is no legal minimum or maximum, what the law says is that if you have a shift longer than 6 hours there must be a 20 minute break, which cannot be at the very start or very end, so legally dom can get you to take that break after 10 minutes or to end 10 minutes before end of your shift if you are working a 6 hour shift, if you are working less than a 6 hour shift he can legally tell you to take break it at any time

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

Or better still, get the part timer to take their break when the full timer should be taking their outdoor break, rather than finishing 20mins early or claiming additional overtime.

[enskied]

That is total out of order if you work more then six hours.

A worker is entitled to an uninterrupted break of 20 minutes when daily working time is more than six hours. It should be a break in working time and should not be taken either at the start, or at the end, of a working day.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/workingtime.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spot on advice. It is not a break if it is at the beginning of your duty. And if a break is interrupted, it has to be given again in full. If you are due 20 mins break that is what you get not two 10 min slots.

[clashcityrocker]

A worker is entitled to an uninterrupted break of 20 minutes when daily working time is more than six hours. It should be a break in working time and should not be taken either at the start, or at the end, of a working day.

How many part-timers daily working time is more than 6 hours?
In most (probably virtually all) p/t cases these regulations simply do not apply.

[bigcol]

While there may be instances of 3/4 day week p/t staff working more than 6 hours/day I would guess most aren't.
Most p/t contracts are under 30 hours/week.

Everyone in our DO and we're by no means a small office. That's the problem with guessing.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Spot on advice. It is not a break if it is at the beginning of your duty. And if a break is interrupted, it has to be given again in full. If you are due 20 mins break that is what you get not two 10 min slots.

Part timers who are given are given a 20 min break from royal mail are working less than 6 hours with RM, this break can legally be split

Part timers working more than 6 hours have a break in excess of 30 minutes depending on how long their attendance is, if the break is interrupted and they do not get a 20 minute continuous break, they are only legally entitled to another break of 20 minutes not their full break that RM give them (unless giving them 20 minutes does not bring them up to their full break entitlement then they are also allowed the difference )

[spiderj]

8:25 start
14:30 finish
But what's on the schedule is ten mins for break and varied finish times

I take my break
Allegedly on 25 hour contract

Beggars belief that some folk don't take it.....silly beggars