Working Time Regulations and 11 Hour Breaks

[Shaman Mao]

Does anyone know the law regarding 11 hour breaks between attendances? The Working Time Regulations and RM policy say that a worker SHOULD take an 11 hour break. They also state that a worker is ENTITLED to this break. Nowhere do they seem to state that you MUST take an 11 hour break.

There's a bit of a discussion a our DO regarding this. I'm of the opinion that RM policy ("should take a break") means that any break of less than 11 hours is an absolute no-no.

Any clarification would be helpful. Thanks.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

postie can't be made to take less than 11 hour break but if he wants to take less of break he is not breaking any law, same as rest breaks and annual leave both must be given but no law says that they must be taken

personally i think that it should be enforced by law

are you being encouraged to work with less than a 11 hour break?

[taxi4leighton]

i think you also must have 24 hour break once a week

[Shaman Mao]

Thanks for the reply ZX. No, no-one is being encouraged to abuse the 11 hour break, just trying to clarify a situation around signing for SAs.

The Way Forward agreement also states that the minimum daily break should be 11 hours.

[Martin Walsh]

The section under the Way Forward titled Working Time Directive says all employes must have a 11. Hour gap between duties.

In recent weeks Royal Mail via PSP have identified the following and are looking to change.

Some are working above 70 hours per week ( Duty and overtime )

Some are not having a 11 hour gap between overtime and duty.

Some have not opted out of the 48 hour working week but are working above 48 hours and 33% of these are working above 70 hours per week.

The first areas being reviewed are Essex and West Midlands.

[Mikky]

Focusing on the important things I see

[mudmonster]

Ghost Busters

[parforthewalk]

The section under the Way Forward titled Working Time Directive says all employes must have a 11. Hour gap between duties.

In recent weeks Royal Mail via PSP have identified the following and are looking to change.

Some are working above 70 hours per week ( Duty and overtime )

Some are not having a 11 hour gap between overtime and duty.

Some have not opted out of the 48 hour working week but are working above 48 hours and 33% of these are working above 70 hours per week.

The first areas being reviewed are Essex and West Midlands.

Dingo please could you a Link to the Working Time Directive document, I would take great pleasure in shoving this under the noses of my Dom & Lino et el & watching them go into immediate meltdown

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 088:EN:NOT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The EU’s Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) requires EU countries to guarantee the following rights for all workers:

a limit to weekly working hours, which must not exceed 48 hours on average, including any overtime
a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24
a rest break during working hours if the worker is on duty for longer than 6 hours
a minimum weekly rest period of 24 uninterrupted hours for each 7-day period, in addition to the 11 hours' daily rest
paid annual leave of at least 4 weeks per year
extra protection for night work, e.g.
average working hours must not exceed 8 hours per 24-hour period,
night workers must not perform heavy or dangerous work for longer than 8 hours in any 24-hour period,
night workers have the right to free health assessments and, under certain circumstances, to transfer to day work.

[Martin Walsh]

The Working Time Agreement within the Way Forward which is a collective agreement and therefore covers all uniformed grades in Royal Mail key points were

3rd April 2000 maximum gross hours of 80 per week

2nd October 2000 maximum gross hours of 70 per week plus at least a 9 hour uninterrupted break in every 24 hours and one uninterrupted 24 hour break in each 7 days.

December 2000 onwards - Maximum gross hours for christmas period 72 hours per week plus the appropriate daily break. There is no mandatory weekly break during Christmas.

1st October 2001 minimum daily break increased to 10 hours

7th October 2002- Average net hours ( not including meal reliefs ) could not exceed 55 hours with no single week exceeding 65 hours gross hours.

6th October 2003 onwards - average net hours 48 hours per week with no single exceeding 65 gross hours. Minimum uninterrupted daily break increased to 11 hours.

Only individuals who have voluntarily signed the opt out forms will able to work more than an average of 48 net hours per week.

All of these were in the Way Forward National Agreement. Clearly in some areas this has not been kept to but due to the fact that the HSE have questioned some issues that Royal Mail are now looking to apply to the terms of the agreement.

[halfull]

The Working Time Agreement within the Way Forward which is a collective agreement and therefore covers all uniformed grades in Royal Mail key points were

3rd April 2000 maximum gross hours of 80 per week

2nd October 2000 maximum gross hours of 70 per week plus at least a 9 hour uninterrupted break in every 24 hours and one uninterrupted 24 hour break in each 7 days.

December 2000 onwards - Maximum gross hours for christmas period 72 hours per week plus the appropriate daily break. There is no mandatory weekly break during Christmas.

1st October 2001 minimum daily break increased to 10 hours

7th October 2002- Average net hours ( not including meal reliefs ) could not exceed 55 hours with no single week exceeding 65 hours gross hours.

6th October 2003 onwards - average net hours 48 hours per week with no single exceeding 65 gross hours. Minimum uninterrupted daily break increased to 11 hours.

Only individuals who have voluntarily signed the opt out forms will able to work more than an average of 48 net hours per week.

All of these were in the Way Forward National Agreement. Clearly in some areas this has not been kept to but due to the fact that the HSE have questioned some issues that Royal Mail are now looking to apply to the terms of the agreement.

we have people in our office working all week (6days) as we are on the week off rota then working the sunday in the callers office on a sunday from 11:45-4:15 then they are back on the very next day (monday) at 6:30 doing their duty as normal for the next 6 days!!! Can they do this? They are not even having one day off!

[parforthewalk]

Thanks Dingo & 'TBT' for your clarification on these issues.

This could certainly open a can of worms, RM are already struggling to cover work load now!
If unit D/O's etc are forced to abide by these regs & curtail the excess hour-age including Ghosting then there is real trouble ahead