New job, no break but docked pay??

anamenottaken

How many staff who do roughly the same work are on duty at any one time? Can you organise your own roster amongst yourselves so that you can take breaks (maybe 4 x 15 minutes each)?

In a 9-hour shift (let alone a 14-hour one) you will want to (a) eat something (15 minutes) - when you can't be expected to be dealing with residents with one hand and eating a sandwich using the other and (b) go to the "bathroom" when you certainly shouldn't be taking work with you!

getmore4less

By law you are entitled to a break if you work for more than 6 hours at a stretch

Problem is that care jobs will probably fall under one the accepted exemptions.


But that excemption does not include not paying for the time.

Casperthefriendlyghost

I work in healthcare too and some days we don't have any breaks either due to the volume of work but we have an understanding with our boss that if this is the case, we put the time down on our overtime sheets for the month, as our breaks are automatically deducted from our monthly hours by payroll, so if we don't have breaks we are entitled to claim that time as overtime which helps us as overtime is paid at time and a half, so no complaints from us there.

Suppose we're lucky that our trust really looks after us as anaesthetic staff are hard to come by and I also know from speaking to others that those in old age homes and carers often get a very raw deal despite the bloody hard work that they do.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful x have a merry xmas

Casper
xoxo

anamenottaken

getmore4less wrote: »

By law you are entitled to a break if you work for more than 6 hours at a stretch

Problem is that care jobs will probably fall under one the accepted exemptions.


But that excemption does not include not paying for the time.

The only exception category that might apply to care home work would be if it were under the heading of "jobs that require round-the-clock staffing".

Even if that were the case, do they have only one member of staff on duty so that there is nobody to cover the work for a 20-minute break? And if they can't have a break, then they should be paid for all their time, not have one hour (3 times the statutory requirement) deducted.

jay_1978

Keep records because no doubt in time all these hours will catch up with your body which is what happened to me on a previous job, That way when you collapse in a heap with exhaustion and stress least you will have a nice law suit .. Good luck and merry xmas

shaven-monkey

Not sure if this is relevant but if you're working and being docked pay for a break that you don't get, are you actually receiving at least national minimum wage for the hours you do work?

Pound

I would say that a company that is pulling tricks like this probably don't treat their staff very well in general and have very little concern for your rights and welfare. Your managers could be very stingy and still comply with the law by only giving you a 20 minute unpaid break but if they can't even do that what hope do they have of doing anything else right?

You might enjoy it today but a few months down the line you might feel different when your basic legal entitlements are being ignored.

Print_Screen

I once was in a similar situation working in an electronics shop where they were too busy to give breaks but still docked pay.
Luckily for me I worked on the till so after walking away at my designated break times with a queue of customers left standing there they soon miraculously found that there weren't too busy to provide cover . :think:


As hattifattener said you are entitled to this break and if it is too busy for you to take it then it is the managements problem not yours having to make up for it.

Having said that they could just get rid of you so if I were you I would start looking for another job, unless you believe you can change the work place culture without them dismissing you.

What ever you decide Merry Christmas!

:xmassign:

jay_1978

It confuses me this country, We have thugs walking the streets, prisoners, and immigrants who all have so many human rights yet where is the human rights for just working people ? If you knuckle down in this world and try your best then you seem to get less rights than complete wasters. I think its a joke what your company are doing to you and the fact they can fire you if you go to them complaining makes it a complete !!!! take

chuckley

i dont understand why employers try to get people to work ridiculous hours with no break/food/water. i mean managers swan off whenever they feel like it, yet expect those on low wages to work 12 hr shifts with no food.