Legality of lunch break

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lcfcstephen
lcfcstephen Posts: 154 Forumite
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in Employment, jobseeking & training
My Wife has been offered a job in which the hours are 9:00 -17:30 Monday - Thursday, and 9:00 - 17:00 on Friday. In the interview the lady mentioned working half hour lunch breaks as there was no cover. When queried about this upon receieving the offer letter shes said you are entitled to an hours lunch break but would like to ask that on occasion you have your lunch at reception so queries can be dealt with by the tenants etc. I was wondering how legal this was, as to me I would expect that to have a shorter lunch break there should be some overtime involved?

Thank you
Mortgage Debt £53,879.68 as of 2nd July
Help to Buy Equity Loan Debt £26,799
Total Debt: £80,678.68 of £133,995 two bed house
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  • WestonDave
    WestonDave Posts: 5,154 Forumite
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    You are only entitled to a 20 minutes uninterrupted break if you work over 6 hours so asking her to occasionally cut her break down to half an hour wouldn't necessarily be a problem from that perspective. Pay for it is tricky - you could look for overtime, you could look for reciprocal flexibility (e.g. if she needs to leave early or come in late for childcare reasons or to go away for the weekend) or you could consider that the rate they are paying is sufficiently attractive that even with the reduced break its still worth it.
    Adventure before Dementia!
  • lcfcstephen
    lcfcstephen Posts: 154 Forumite
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    WestonDave wrote: »
    You are only entitled to a 20 minutes uninterrupted break if you work over 6 hours so asking her to occasionally cut her break down to half an hour wouldn't necessarily be a problem from that perspective. Pay for it is tricky - you could look for overtime, you could look for reciprocal flexibility (e.g. if she needs to leave early or come in late for childcare reasons or to go away for the weekend) or you could consider that the rate they are paying is sufficiently attractive that even with the reduced break its still worth it.

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for this. The pay isn't great (14 per year) and so my suggestion is asking for overtime (flexibility won't work as they want her to lock up etc) I just wanted to make sure that it sounded reasonable and not being too pernickity (sp)
    Mortgage Debt £53,879.68 as of 2nd July
    Help to Buy Equity Loan Debt £26,799
    Total Debt: £80,678.68 of £133,995 two bed house
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
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    Agreed that the law only specifies 20 minutes break as necessary.

    I wouldnt be surprised if the employer "expects something for nothing" and not to give your wife anything for working for part of her lunchbreak. She should have something for it - either overtime money or the reciprocity mentioned (her choice which). If the employer gets awkward about paying for that time in one way or another - then I am guessing the job is NMW? If it is she might need to point out that any extra "lunchbreak" time worked would mean her hourly rate would fall beneath that NMW and they would be breaking the law.
  • WestonDave
    WestonDave Posts: 5,154 Forumite
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    £14k for 37 hours per week is £7.27. £14k for 39.5 hours per week (half hour lunches with the other half worked) is £6.81 which is below the £7.20 Living Wage threshold.
    Adventure before Dementia!
  • Noctu
    Noctu Posts: 1,553 Forumite
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    An employee is legally allowed to leave the workplace during their break. I'm not sure it's legal for them to stop her from doing that.
  • glentoran99
    glentoran99 Posts: 5,821 Forumite
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    WestonDave wrote: »
    £14k for 37 hours per week is £7.27. £14k for 39.5 hours per week (half hour lunches with the other half worked) is £6.81 which is below the £7.20 Living Wage threshold.

    On occasion, not everyday
  • glentoran99
    glentoran99 Posts: 5,821 Forumite
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    Noctu wrote: »
    An employee is legally allowed to leave the workplace during their break. I'm not sure it's legal for them to stop her from doing that.

    Your not "legally" entitled to a full hour lunch break though
  • glentoran99
    glentoran99 Posts: 5,821 Forumite
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    Surely its just poor organisation that this needs done, If everybody doesn't go on lunch at the same time then there is someone to cover,


    someone goes 12.00-1300 and someone goes 13.00-1400
  • Undervalued
    Undervalued Posts: 8,853 Forumite
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    Noctu wrote: »
    An employee is legally allowed to leave the workplace during their break. I'm not sure it's legal for them to stop her from doing that.

    However, as others have mentioned, you are only legally entitled to a break after 6 hours work. Anything else is a contractual matter.

    So, the employer could quite lawfully insist someones works from 9am until 3pm before they take any kind of break. Sometimes it is best not to stand on too many "rights" but exercise a bit of give an take!
  • Jackieboy
    Jackieboy Posts: 1,010 Forumite
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    How many companies would think it a good thing to have someone on reception eating their sarny or reading a book?
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