breaks at work refused

[neverwinter]

Does any one know if this is legal .My wife works full time for a well known cinema and has just been given a printed memo along with other staff saying that you cannot take your allotted break without asking permission from the team leader who can refuse if she thinks it is too busy .This surely cant be right can anyone shed some light on this ....some days her shift is from 10am till 10:30pm...and she`s just had a text from a mate at work saying a staff member has just been refused a break ...this is ridiculous....

[nannamoon1]

Are you saying your wife is being refused a break or she may not be able to have a break at the time she would like?

[Guest ArthurP]

Your wife should check her employment contract regarding breaks.

 

I'd guess her employers have already inserted the clause that it is up to them when she takes it-so long as it is within the first six hours.

 

Be careful of kicking up a stink. If she gets an hours paid break they may cut it to just 20 mins which is the minimum required.

[neverwinter]

Nannamoon1 ...until this memo that was handed out today, the staff all used to work around each other ( one would cover the other while they went for a break and vice versa ) but now the manager has been told to cut wages bill there arnt enough staff to cover the shifts properly ,so if it gets really busy you may not get a break at all ( breaks used to be for 20mins every 4 and a half hrs ) we know about the 20mins minimum for every 6hrs. But can they legally make you work for a whole shift with maybe loosing your break because it was too busy for you to have one. :-?

[Guest ArthurP]

I believe the answer is that your wife must have a 20 minute break by law if she works 6 hours or more (not 4:30 hrs) but her employers could even be allowed to not pay for that 20 mins if they were so inclined.

 

So, no, they can't make her work all shift (if it is 6hrs+) without a break if she wants to take one but they can tell her when to take it (within 6hrs) and not pay for it.

 

What is the total time of her breaks per shift now? What is her normal shift? Is it nightime? And are they paid?

[blitz]

Also the break can't be at the begining or end of the shift, if the company wants to try and pull a fast one. It doesn't matter how busy it is during the day, even if its just her on. She is entitled to a break

[patdavies]

Also the break can't be at the begining or end of the shift, if the company wants to try and pull a fast one. It doesn't matter how busy it is during the day, even if its just her on. She is entitled to a break

 

But it can be 5 minutes into the shift, or timed so that the break ends 5 minutes before the end of the shift

[Guest weegirl]

Does she have a contract? This should have some guidelines about the breaks ie whether they are paid or unpaid. If it states information about breaks, ie when they can be taken and if they have been paid, they cannot just change this without negotiation and agreement from the staff, who will then sign an amended contract before the changes can take place. The standard in most places is that they are paid for a short teabreak, and get an unpaid lunch break.

 

I used to work in the tourist industry, and remember then that staff in this industry could be exempt under these rules, this was quite some time ago though and things have drastically changed since then. Unfortunately the ACAS website doesn't elaborate on what alternative, if any, is available for staff in this position. It quotes:

 

 

"Rest breaks

 

An adult worker is entitled to a rest break where the working day is more than six hours. The details of the rest break are to be set out in any collective or workforce agreement which applies. If no such agreement applies the rest break should be an uninterrupted period of not less than 20 minutes which the worker is entitled to spend away from the work station – and not at the end of the shift.

A young worker is entitled to a rest break of at least 30 minutes where their daily working time is more than four and a half hours. If possible this should be spent away from the work station."

 

"Exceptions

 

The application of certain regulations may be excluded or modified by a collective or workforce agreement. In addition certain categories of workers are excluded from all or particular regulations including those:

• who may be subject to a foreseeable surge of activity such as in agriculture, tourism and postal services
  
• affected by an unusual and unforeseeable occurrence beyond the employer's control, exceptional events or an accident or risk of accident"

The DirectGov site backs this up, and also states:

 

"Instead of getting normal breaks, you're entitled to 'compensatory rest', which is rest taken later, ideally during the same or following working day. The principle is that everyone gets 90 hours rest a week on average, although some rest may come slightly later than normal."

 

There are other exceptions along with this, but your wife's position could be argued that it is in the hospitality industry. Employment legislation is a minefield and you really would need to get the advice of a good solicitor who specialises in such matters to translate it for you.

 

Like I said though, if it already states in your wife's contract that she is entitled to these breaks, they cannot, by law, just change them without written consent from the staff. Even if no contract exists, there is a term "standard custom and practice", meaning that if the staff have been covering each other all along, this is the terms for breaks even though they haven't been written down.

 

I won a grevience in an old job over flexi-time on this point. All staff worked flexi for 18 months, and suddenly the manager decided she wanted all staff in at a certain time, just because her kids had started school and she decided it would suit her to get to work in time. I argued she couldn't do it, she referred me to my contract that had my set hours down. I raised a grevience under this point and won. The **** really hit the fan though, I had one hell of a fight and a bad atmosphere for a time.