Law regarding rest breaks is disgusting

ceridwen

Poppy9 wrote: »

Well it depends what time you start work really. If you start at 10 then you can't expect to go to lunch at 12!

Don't ever join the police force as my OH has frequently worked over 12 hour shifts with zero food/drink breaks and he's had to stand for hours at a scene, outside unable to go to the loo!! Just the nature of the job.

One of my own personal criteria for choosing a job has always been that it is hours etc that allow for me "having a life" - including dealing with bodily necessities (like having meals at mealtime). So - I am aware that there are some types of job out there that (by necessity) mean that such things become difficult/impossible - hence I personally made a decision never to even think about taking a job like that....(though - if I had - then they would have HAD to accept that if I had to "go" then I HAD to "go" - and accept thats part of what happens when women are part of the workforce too).

Horses for courses in those respects - and some people would feel they would get sufficiently high job satisfaction and/or pay to make such sacrifices worthwhile.

The gripe I have is with jobs where there is neither job satisfaction nor decent pay - and people are still expected to forget about their own "bodily needs".

scheming_gypsy

ceridwen wrote: »

Nope...definitely NOT "making it up". That IS the British norm - but then I am old enough to have come from more "civilised times" and am aware that some employers DO "pull it" these days and dont take account of peoples needs/rights/norms in this respect.

Are you from a younger generation than my own then? - because I think you would automatically understand if you had come from the Baby Boomer one or the one prior to us...

...and..yep...my stomach thinks my throat has been slit on the odd occasion I've ended up having my lunch later than 1pm...:)

so you are making it up as it's the 'British norm'. It isn't a set time but it's just what's usually accepted as lunch time.
Employers can't always give 12 - 1 as a lunch break as it means that nobody is working between those times. I hate having lunch that early. If i'm working till 5pm I don't want to have 4+ hours between lunch and going home; later lunch = shorter afternoon. and if you're on an 11 - 7, you definitely don't want to be having lunch at 12pm

scheming_gypsy

ceridwen wrote: »

(like having meals at mealtime).".

lol, meal times are at whatever time you have a meal.

Breakfast - first meal of the day
Brunch - between breakfast and lunch
Lunch (or dinner) - mid day
Tea (or dinner if you're a bit strange) - evening meal
supper - a snack before bed.

there are no set times. If you have lunch at 2pm you're having lunch, you haven't skipped lunch and having a mid afternoon snack

ceridwen

Its entirely your own choice if you dont wish to have lunch at normal lunchtime - but most of us have spent so many years doing so that our "body clock" is set at "lunchtime = have lunch or start feeling hungry/weak/ill".

LadyMissA

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Most of the secondary schools in my area only have lunch after 1pm (and start at 8.30 - my son is on the bus at 7,55). Now admittedly he is hungry by lunchtime, but a good breakfast and a decent tea mean that he can manage a late lunch.

Regarding the toilet - personally I couldn't go five hours without a visit to the loo, but my daughter can and does. She has never needed to go as often as I do. I wonder if that will change after she has had children?

When I worked for a company many years ago we never had a loo in the building so we had to go out and round the corner to use the facilities of the buliding we were below so I used to hold myself and only go once a day and over the years developed kidney stones probably due to this a bit.

LadyMissA

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

lol, meal times are at whatever time you have a meal.

Breakfast - first meal of the day
Brunch - between breakfast and lunch
Lunch (or dinner) - mid day
Tea (or dinner if you're a bit strange) - evening meal
supper - a snack before bed.

there are no set times. If you have lunch at 2pm you're having lunch, you haven't skipped lunch and having a mid afternoon snack

so then my lunch is in fact my breakfast

Tea is what you have on Sundays and dinner is the evening meal

thorsoak

Bear in mind, when statutory breaks were brought in by law, people were generally doing far more physical work than we do now - and they really needed to eat/drink during this work breaks.

Now, I think it is just that we have become accustomed to eat as and when we like - when I was at school, it was a school rule that we did not eat in the streets - and quite frankly, it would do us all good just to eat less, but at regular intervals.

ceridwen

thorsoak wrote: »

Bear in mind, when statutory breaks were brought in by law, people were generally doing far more physical work than we do now - and they really needed to eat/drink during this work breaks.

Now, I think it is just that we have become accustomed to eat as and when we like - when I was at school, it was a school rule that we did not eat in the streets - and quite frankly, it would do us all good just to eat less, but at regular intervals.

Thats as may be - but there have always been people in non-physical jobs and the law applied to them as well - so I cant think the fact that the nature of work has changed for some of the workforce has any relevance to this.

...goes off pondering what year those laws came into force - as I've been working for many years now and have never had/never even considered having any "physical" job...

ohreally

thorsoak wrote: »

it would do us all good just to eat less, but at regular intervals.

Its somewhat difficult to eat at regular intervals when an employer is denying access to breaks to eat at anytime.

catkins

Usually I can go 5 hours or more without needing the loo but sometimes like the other day I do need to go. I can't just leave the shop floor if I am on my own (which I seem to be).

There is no drinks machine and the tap water is foul. We are not allowed to take drinks on the shop floor.

It takes 45 minutes to get to work so although I do eat before I go I then do not eat for 5 hours 45 minutes (assuming I eat as soon as I finish work rather than waiting to get home). I am finding it very difficult to go this length of time without eating or drinking. I often get a migraine if I am hungry and my dr has told me that you should not go more than 3 or 4 hours without at least a snack not just because of the migraine.

I think it is disgusting and I am suprised employees all just put up with it. Luckily when Christmas comes I will be given up the job