Meal relief.....again

[ashadd]

Does it state anywhere that i have to a meal relief at work ? Can a lino make just you , take a meal relief at work? Can i not take a meal relief when i choose to and not when told to? Are there any guidelines to this question please?

[Pat Ostman]

A manager can tell you when to have your meal relief I believe, but not soon after your start-time.

[AnotherLimey]

Only job i know where people complain about being asked to take a break, It's madness i tell you

[BelfastPostie]

And thats where one of the major problems lie. Theres a part of this new agreement where it states that we will be working a shorter week, 37 hours I believe, with no paid meal reliefs. So in real terms we will be actually workin more as currently we work a 40 hour week with a paid 40 minute meal relief. So 5 multiplied by 40 makes 200 minutes (glad I took GCSE Maths!) which broadly makes 3 hrs and 20 mins a week paid break. Take this away from 40 hours equals 36 hrs 40 mins working. With the new 37 hours total working we can take a meal relief in the middle of our duties but no one is going to take it and it will be rush rush rush. And thats where RM have us by the balls you only have to take a look inside the canteen at break time to see who takes their break. At least if you take a break it puts a spanner in the works of management sendin posties out on delivery as soon as they are up. Because if u take ur time and dander round to the bus stop, buy a paper read it on the bus and just relax things would be a lot more chilled instead of this institutionalised nevousness to make time on ur walk, feckin madness

[ronpetetrevchris]

And thats where one of the major problems lie. Theres a part of this new agreement where it states that we will be working a shorter week, 37 hours I believe, with no paid meal reliefs. So in real terms we will be actually workin more as currently we work a 40 hour week with a paid 40 minute meal relief. So 5 multiplied by 40 makes 200 minutes (glad I took GCSE Maths!) which broadly makes 3 hrs and 20 mins a week paid break. Take this away from 40 hours equals 36 hrs 40 mins working. With the new 37 hours total working we can take a meal relief in the middle of our duties but no one is going to take it and it will be rush rush rush. And thats where RM have us by the balls you only have to take a look inside the canteen at break time to see who takes their break. At least if you take a break it puts a spanner in the works of management sendin posties out on delivery as soon as they are up. Because if u take ur time and dander round to the bus stop, buy a paper read it on the bus and just relax things would be a lot more chilled instead of this institutionalised nevousness to make time on ur walk, feckin madness

Surely that cant be right. They cant expect us to actually vote yes to taking a longer working week can they?

[island_boy]

From the working time regulations

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ ... G_10029451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rest breaks - a break during your working day

As an adult worker (over 18), you will normally have the right to a 20 minute rest break if you are expected to work more than six hours at a stretch.

A lunch or coffee break can count as your rest break. Additional breaks might be given by your contract of employment. There is no statutory right to 'smoking breaks'.

The requirements are:


the break must be in one block

it cannot be taken off one end of the working day - it must be somewhere in the middle

you are allowed to spend it away from the place on your employer's premises where you work

your employer can say when the break must be taken, as long as it meets these conditions

[ashadd]

Ok , try it this way, can a lino try and bully you into having a meal relief when you dont one. Nobody else just you. Would that be Harrassment? I was always led to believe that you can have one where and when YOU choose as long as it is not at the end of your duty.Would i be correct in that assumption? and would i be able to refuse " THERE REASONABLE REQUEST?"

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Ok , try it this way, can a lino try and bully you into having a meal relief when you dont one. Nobody else just you. Would that be Harrassment? I was always led to believe that you can have one where and when YOU choose as long as it is not at the end of your duty.Would i be correct in that assumption? and would i be able to refuse " THERE REASONABLE REQUEST?"

I heard a rep was instructed in a very bullying way by the stand in manager and DOM but he quoted "Custom and Practice" and did not take his break when instructed to do so. They took him off pay (which eh got back in the end I was told) but did not suspend him so he stayed in the office till the end of his normal hours.

The Law as on the directgov website - which someone has posted on here already says:

They can instruct when to take a break as long as it is somewhere in the middle of the working day.
They cannot tell you WHERE to take the break.

My reading of forcing 1 person to take a break separate from the rest or on their own whilst not against the law per-se combined with custom and practice, fairness of treatment and perhaps even Human rights would be questionable and certainly worth a Grievance complaint.

As with most things it would ultimately depend on how far you want to push it and how much support you would get.