Dept Store Working Hours With No Break

viktory

robpw2 wrote: »

yet smokers can have smoking breaks and not get penalised

What nonsense. Smoking is banned during working hours where I work - and it is not the only one to have done this.

onlyforboards_2

Fluffi wrote: »

even in an office if you are in back to back meetings all day it can easily be 3 or nearly 4pm by the time you eat lunch which isn't much fun if you have breakfast at 7.30am but you survive! At least if you know you are working over a meal time in retail you can plan for it by having other meals earlier/later or having a snack before your shift starts.

Every time i have worked in an office people have constantly grazed at their desks with bottles of water and meetings have been provided with at the very least a cup of tea and a biscuit and between meetings you can always quickly eat something.

There is no comparison to being sat at a desk/ in meetings and on your feet all day. Badly managed shop work really is exhausting.

As for the people who say standing working hard never killed anyone in the old factory systems where you could not leave the production line at all early heart attacks were common, just as they are now in factories in China.

SnowyOwl_2

Truegho, it looks like you're going to have to go with the flow on this point with your new employers. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for a few minutes to go to the loo when you need to. Are you female? I ask because if you need to change a sanitary dressing six hours really is far too long to wait and your employers really ought to have some sympathy with that - men don't have that to consider and if your superiors are male they probably won't realise.

Your feet will get used to you standing all the time, though that will take about a fortnight. Just make sure you wear decent shoes ie not high heels, and not shoes that rub.

Fluffi

onlyforboards wrote: »

Every time i have worked in an office people have constantly grazed at their desks with bottles of water and meetings have been provided with at the very least a cup of tea and a biscuit and between meetings you can always quickly eat something.

Actually no, when you are in back-to-back meetings that are booked so that if one overruns you are late for every other meeting then there is no time to get a cup of tea or have a biscuit because you are already late for the next meeting and I don't get to go back to my desk!

Tea and biscuits are not provided for meetings in my office unless there are visitors to impress and I don't have meetings with visitors. Somedays its not at difficult to get to 3.30pm without eating anything ... after all I have to prioritise bathroom breaks over food/drink!

iceicebaby

I work in an office and we are not allowed food or drink at out desks. Water is provided but its at a dispenser and you cant take it back to your desk. We never have tea and buscuits for meetings either.

Only place we are allowed food and drink is in the canteen on our lunch break (which I have at 1.30 after starting at 8, btw!)

wontfallforit

Truegho wrote: »

Does anybody know the full rules regarding entitlement to a break when working for a department store? I have just started as a Christmas temp for a large store, and apparently I cannot have a break until I have worked at least SIX HOURS per day! The job is physically exhausting, as I am on my feet for the hours I am contracted to, which are normally four-to five hours per day. Is this right that they can deny me a break, as I have heard that in some stores the staff are entitled to a 15 minute break after just two hours of working?

Welcome to retail

You really will get used to standing on your feet for this period of time. I'd estimate that near enough everyone in the UK has endured the delights of a part-time shop job in their teens/early 20s. It's a rite of passage. It's bloody hard work, and tiring too, but it's just one of those things.

You should be allowed to go to the loo, and grab a drink or two, during your shift - provided you let your manager know where you're wondering off to, and provided you don't take the biscuit. You should never be denied a genuine need to use the toilet, or access to water.

Retail work is almost universally rubbish. Use this time productively - try to build as much experience as you can, and you'll be able to progress one day.

Seriously, though, 6 hours on your feet is not that much, and is typical to many jobs, not just retail. As I said, you'll get used to it.

redz

Zazen999 wrote: »

The law is; that you are allowed a 20 mins break after 6 hours.

No it isn't. If your shift is expected to last 6 hours or more you are entitled to a 20 minute break within that period not after it.

As an adult worker (over 18), you will normally have the right to a 20 minute rest break if you are expected to work more than six hours at a stretch.
A lunch or coffee break can count as your rest break. Additional breaks might be given by your contract of employment. There is no statutory right to 'smoking breaks'.
The requirements are:
the break must be in one block
it cannot be taken off one end of the working day - it must be somewhere in the middle
you are allowed to spend it away from the place on your employer's premises where you work
your employer can say when the break must be taken, as long as it meets these conditions

ckerrd

redz wrote: »

No it isn't. If your shift is expected to last 6 hours or more you are entitled to a 20 minute break within that period not after it.

No - wrong. (just to be pedantic)

If your shift lasts six hours you are not entitled to a break.

redz

I stand corrected

Zazen999

redz wrote: »

I stand corrected

Thanks heavens, all those years of management and I stupidly referred to the law....