Break allowances for 8 hours..

[Karoline]

Hi, just a quick question for someone who might be in the know..

My friend it wondering if this is allowed, and i am not sure, so cant help her.

She works from 9 to 5, she gets 2 half hour breaks, they don't get paid for these breaks, so they get paid 7 hours.. (which makes sense.. )
I know you are entitled to 20 mins break for 6 hours work so should the company pay for the first 20 mins, then they don't pay for the other 40?

[MsDG]

Eh?

For years I have worked 9 - 5:30 with an hours lunch. You don't get paid for your hours lunch.

You get paid 37.5 hours per week. Which is 7.5 hours a day.

I don't see why splitting an hours lunch break into 2 half hour sessions would make any difference?

[TwoPlAnKs]

There are minimum break requirements in terms of time but there is no obligation to be paid for these.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/workingtime.htm

Payment for breaks depends on your contract of employment. For example, my current job has working day with two 15 minute breaks that are paid, but nobody really takes them since it's a desk job and sitting at your desk drinking tea is effectively the same as working time anyway. They are mostly used by smokers who divide them into 5 minute chunks throughout the day. We also get a half hour compulsory lunch break which is unpaid, and can be extended with agreement of supervisor. All this is just in our contracts, and in reality all the company needs to provide is the 20 minute break in the middle of the 6 hour day, unpaid.

A previous job I had which was variable length shifts had complex rules about breaks in the contracts, whereby you'd get a certain amount of paid breaks for shifts up to a set length then beyond that length they'd start to include compulsory hour long meals that were unpaid. I kicked up a bit of a fuss about this because I was usually the duty manager for the place at the time, and sometimes the only person aged over 18 required for the alcohol license, so I couldn't leave the store during my unpaid hour. As a result it was agreed that I would just take the paid breaks and work through my meal break since the paid breaks fulfilled the working time directives anyway, and I didn't see the point of sitting on my arse for an hour earning nothing. If your friend feels she is wasting her time spending a full extra hour in her workplace for no extra money, then she could ask her employers to do the same, although the 20 minute break is compulsory for more than 6 hours, it must be during her shift and not at one end, and there is absolutely no obligation to be paid for it.

[matt1chelski]

i sometimes work 12 hours, with 2hours worth of breaks. never get paid for them.

[petey85]

Standard 9-5 type job, you must have a long break (20 mins plus), and no obligation to pay it. Most people don't tbh.