Meal breaks

al64 · Post by **al64** » 05 Apr 2017, 19:03

Has anyone else been told that the business is now enforcing meal brakes due to doms ignoring there legal responsibility and you can not now book docket if you go over instead of taking break?

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 05 Apr 2017, 19:47

no , but its a good idea , why would posties work without a meal break to do extra work and make themselves ill ? its only like any other job.

TheTrolleyMan · Post by **TheTrolleyMan** » 05 Apr 2017, 19:49

I wonder if people who don't take breaks worked through them at previous employers

sussexlad · Post by **sussexlad** » 05 Apr 2017, 21:41

I wonder if someone working on the tills at Tesco ever Say's " No I don't want to go for my lunch break I want to stay sat here working!"

South_London_Postie · Post by **South_London_Postie** » 06 Apr 2017, 00:02

Obviously not Tesco is not comparable, we get paid for our break and for the most part we have a limited amount of work each day so if we skip the break in theory we get home earlier.

Now I know it's stupid but I understand why people do it.

The business should enforce breaks to be taken because in the long run Royal Mail will pay for it when the staff member becomes burned out and goes sick.

TheTrolleyMan · Post by **TheTrolleyMan** » 06 Apr 2017, 05:28

If delivery postman switched to PROCESSING would they work their Meal Reliefs ?

thecompletepackage · Post by **thecompletepackage** » 06 Apr 2017, 06:41

I don't understand why you need a meal break after 1 and half hours of starting work? I take mine near dinner time out on duty.

awesomepenguin · Post by **awesomepenguin** » 06 Apr 2017, 08:14

thecompletepackage wrote:I don't understand why you need a meal break after 1 and half hours of starting work? I take mine near dinner time out on duty.

Agree 100%. I start at 07:50 on a Tuesday then I am expected to take a 20 minute meal break at 09:00. Another winning idea dreamed up by DOM and CWU rep.

Darwinsdad · Post by **Darwinsdad** » 06 Apr 2017, 17:30

awesomepenguin wrote:
thecompletepackage wrote:I don't understand why you need a meal break after 1 and half hours of starting work? I take mine near dinner time out on duty.
Agree 100%. I start at 07:50 on a Tuesday then I am expected to take a 20 minute meal break at 09:00. Another winning idea dreamed up by DOM and CWU rep.

I'm not into a 'my dads bigger than your dad' thing, on paper I'm to have a 10 minute break at 0830. My start time on Mon, Tues and Fri is 0818!!!! It beggars belief

Anfloyd · Post by **Anfloyd** » 06 Apr 2017, 18:10

When on a HCT job, I take 20 mins break before leaving the office and always book the remaining 20 mins at the end of the shift. How are you expected to take a break when you're out on the streets in persistent rain?! Plus as far as I'm concerned I am still responsible for the mail in my HCT. A break is supposed to be away from your "workstation". I've argued this fact with managers. At the moment they are still letting us book it.

Creditshampoo · Post by **Creditshampoo** » 06 Apr 2017, 20:06

I take 20 mins off the end and leave early as per national agreement

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 06 Apr 2017, 20:24

As per the working time regulations the employer can tell you when to take your break within certain provisos.
As we have collective bargaining your meal relief is scheduled as part of your revision process. It is an agreement between management and the CWU.
If you voted to take the full 40 (30) minutes prior to delivery, then you take the full 40 (30) minutes prior to delivery.
If you voted to split the meal relief then you split the meal relief.
It isn't a personal choice.

awesomepenguin · Post by **awesomepenguin** » 07 Apr 2017, 06:25

clashcityrocker wrote:As per the working time regulations the employer can tell you when to take your break within certain provisos.
As we have collective bargaining your meal relief is scheduled as part of your revision process. It is an agreement between management and the CWU.
If you voted to take the full 40 (30) minutes prior to delivery, then you take the full 40 (30) minutes prior to delivery.
If you voted to split the meal relief then you split the meal relief.
It isn't a personal choice.

If you read the section on the gov.uk website regarding Rest breaks at work it clearly states that:

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)

So quite how RM and the CWU have devised a system where people are forced to take a part of their break at the end of the shift is beyond me.

South_London_Postie · Post by **South_London_Postie** » 07 Apr 2017, 08:34

Because that info on direct gov is referring to your statutory break.

So for a full timer the statutory part of the break is taken somewhere in the middle (20 minutes)

And as Royal Mail provide more break than is required they can choose to let you take the remainder at the end of your shift whilst still following the guidelines.

AceMark · Post by **AceMark** » 11 Apr 2017, 19:39

South_London_Postie wrote:Because that info on direct gov is referring to your statutory break.

So for a full timer the statutory part of the break is taken somewhere in the middle (20 minutes)

And as Royal Mail provide more break than is required they can choose to let you take the remainder at the end of your shift whilst still following the guidelines.

The problem with this is that I'm PT on P&L with a FT. FT's in our office take 20 mins before they leave and 20 at the end. Which means I have to take mine at the end of my shift. Personally I don't mind working through and finishing 20 mins early, but I assume it wouldn't be the same for others.