Deductions for breaks

[PapillonPara]

Hello, hoping someone can help me here, at present I have a basic 39hr a week contract. My employee deducts 30min a day for lunch break so 2.5 hrs a week.

when I asked why is my contract not 41.5 hrs a week so once the deductions were done it would be back at 39hrs.

from my view I’m in work 41.5 hrs each week but when it comes to holiday or any other pay it works in their favour of 39hrs and not the actual 41.5 hrs

any help and advise would be good many thanks

Papillonpara

[Good Sister]

Hi there,

 

Perfectly normal for your contract to only stipulate actual hours to be worked and for breaks to be unpaid. As you are not paid for your breaks, you are presumably free to leave site during your break time?

 

You're not losing out here - you are working 39 hours a week, your holiday is being based on 39 hours a week.

[PapillonPara]

Hi thanks for your input, so to be paid 39 hrs I have to do 41.5 hrs to cover the 5 half hour breaks a week 

I normally do 59 hrs a week but the deduction for the unpaid breaks come out of my overtime hrs so it costs me more per break than my standard hourly rate

if I only did my basic 39 hrs I would be paid for 36.5 

not the best at explaining things hope this makes some sense.

[Good Sister]

Are you saying that your breaks appear as deductions on your payslip? As in, 2.5 hours per week are automatically deducted from your wages?

 

I think it would help people if you could do the following please:

- Post up the wording on your contract as to your work hours, your breaks and any overtime.

- How these are shown on your payslip.

 

How long have you worked there and are you in a union?

[PapillonPara]

Hi.

I don’t have a contract of employment but my basic paid hours are 39 hrs when it comes to holidays I get 39 flat hours they say the clocking in clock deducts 30 min a day so to reach 39 hrs I actually do 41.5 hrs

I have just had my employer recognise that they had been working out everyone’s holiday pay wrong as they were not taking into overtime that we all do

so last week I did 6am-6pm for 4 days the 5th day I did 6am-5pm a total of 59 hrs I got paid for 56.5 hrs my concern is two fold

1: should my contract hours not be 41.5 or is it correct at 39hrs

2: if my contract hours flat are 39hrs and I get paid that every week the only place where I see the deduction of 30min per day is on any hours above my overtime, so to me it costs me more

I’m dyslexic sometimes I struggle to get things over but thanks.

Papillonpara

[farmlama]

Are you saying that you do not take the breaks, but they deduct the hours regardless? For the hours you are saying you work, you should be taking breaks

[unclebulgaria67]

Sounds like you need to start a union branch and be represented in negotiations with the employers.

 

If you don't have a contract of employment, this could lead to problems worse than unpaid breaks. 

 

https://unitetheunion.org/why-join/