New job and lunch break

LadyMissA

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Much harder to sack someone who's been there more than a year as they have better employment rights.

right or no rights everyone has the right to a break and companies like this do it for a reason.

dark_lady

proactive wrote: »

i'm tempted to say mouthfuls of what...

:rotfl::rotfl:

Evil_Olive

RE breaks away from computer screen,
I usually work in CCTV and have always been given 5 minutes during every hour period although I don't know if that's the legal minimum or not. But it's not a rest break and doesn't have to be away from work, only away from the screen - they can ask you to do five minutes filing or something instead. It doesn't even have to be away from your desk/computer as long as you're not looking at the screen...

Re the legal minimum breaks and taking them away from work - the wording of your post paddedjohn "away from your workstation" set me thinking and I had to go back and correct a post I made in the other lunch break thread where I implied that you were entitled to spend your break off-site going to the bank etc
I failed to follow my own rules and didn't make sure I thoroughly understood all the information I looked up before posting Looking again, the info on the Directgov website regarding this while not stated in the clearest manner, definitely implies that you are not necessarily entitled to spend it completely off-site but are entitled to spend it away from the part of the premises where you work (eg your desk) and therefore, presumably, not working.
Apologies to anyone who believed me :silenced:

you are allowed to spend it away from the place on your employer's premises where you work

(my italics)

And before I go...
Although the employer is acting illegally in making the OP work through their entire 30 min break paid or not if it's the only break they get, I presume they could legally pay them just for the last 10 mins and make them work just for that bit Just wondrin...

SpikyHedgehog

Bobl wrote: »

And get sacked for inefficiency - very clever!

You have statutory right to a 20 minute break if you work for more than six hours - that's all. Discuss it with the other employees and then speak to management to see if they will allow it. The problem with that particular employment 'law' is it says 'should be away from the workplace' not 'must' - I have real problems with woolly employment laws that can be interpreted.

The problem would be if the law said that the breaks must be away from the workplace, what would happen to companies where away form the workplace is hard to achieve? I work in a preschool, there's nowhere really to go at lunch time that gives one a break, I can go to the bank, farm f00ds, the bakers shop or pizza place, but there's no-where to sit & have a break at any of those, so most of us stay in at lunch time. If the law said we had to go out, we'd be stuck wandering round the streets!

And, yes, as we are there, the children do speak to us & sometimes we end up doing things with them such as last week when a child wet themselves, but the difference to my employer & OP's employer is that they'll tell us to get a break a bit later to make up for it.

System

Bobl wrote: »

Can't say I am an expert, but I have looked at this in the past and it is very confusing. There seems to be different rules for Data Input and general computer use. Be happy see a definitive link.

Itall comes under the Display Screen Equipment Regulations. No distinction is made between types of screen.

What’s the difference between a VDU, a VDT, a monitor and
display screen equipment (DSE)?
There isn’t one. All these terms mean the same thing - a display screen, usually
forming part of a computer and showing text, numbers or graphics

Data input tends to be very VDU centric so most employers will have taken advice and arranged for breaks more often whereas computer use in an office tends to be interspersed with other work so there would be less long periods of screen work.

BonandDom

!!!!!! wrote: »

computer use in an office tends to be interspersed with other work so there would be less long periods of screen work.

This is my understanding, very few, if any, jobs I have had involve me staring at a computer screen for 8 hours, there's phone calls to make, receive, filing, quering information with colleagues etc etc.

Employment law can be very woolly at times and without having a degree in employment law I would be extremely hesitant to put my head on a block and demand that I be able to take my lunch away from my desk.

Jarndyce

BonandDom wrote: »

This is my understanding, very few, if any, jobs I have had involve me staring at a computer screen for 8 hours, there's phone calls to make, receive, filing, quering information with colleagues etc etc.

Employment law can be very woolly at times and without having a degree in employment law I would be extremely hesitant to put my head on a block and demand that I be able to take my lunch away from my desk.

Employment law is far from woolly on that point. Reg 12(3) is quite clear that the worker is entitled to spend their rest break "away from his or her workstation".

I can understand your reluctance to pursue this matter but the law is there to use if you want to.

ska_lover

There are so many jobs where you are expected to work through lunch these days. On paper I get an hours lunch unpaid each day - but 99% of the time, sandwiches are eaten at desk whilst answering calls, etc. It is frowned upon to do anything other. I have been there 3 years now, and have raised this a number of times, and have been told that 'yes of course you can go out etc'. The odd times I do this, I come back to customers having been made to wait an hour for me to return, and getting very frustrated whilst other staff members pretend to not have noticed that they are waiting/or pretend they do not know how to deal with it which is total BS as I have been there for three years, and am the newest member of staff. Some have been there 15 years plus. (before anyone asks, I have complained numberous times about this as well)

At least the company are paying you for your 'break' op. If i were you, I would spend that half hour each day, surfing the net looking for another job lol

patman99

The DSER is open to varied interpretation. I spent 8 years as a CNC press-brake setter/operator, and even though I probably in total, looked at a screen for less than 1 hour a day, my employers insisted on sending me for an eye test at their expense (actually, as my eyes are both greater than -8, I get free eye tests anyway) and they paid for my safety glasses.
In my current job, I probably spend a good 4 hours a day looking-up info, checking drawings and entering inspection data, but as I spend less than 30 minutes a time doing this, I know I am not likely to get eyestrain.

bigbill

As your paid for this 30 minute break I would have thought the employer could ask you to remain at work during it, if unpaid I would say the opposite applies.

You could ask for it to unpaid and leave your place of work then.