Break allowances

hullight

At the call centre I have just moved to, I work some Saturdays 0800 - 1400. The wording of the law is confusing me...

It says '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'.

The company will only give me a ten minute break, and they say this is a break for 'comfort' i.e. getting a drink or going to the toilet.

They have told us that what they are doing is legal, probably because I don't work more than six hours, but six hours exactly. But then they have the issue that if a call is in progress when it hits two, they have made me work more than six hours without the 20 minute uninterrupted break.

I want to sort out this issue but don't want them to sack me for complaining.

SarEl

Then I am afraid that the only answer is don't complain. Your shift doesn't last more than 6 hours and they can't be expected to know in advance that it will be a few minutes longer. It isn't a paid break anyway so you will just end up at work longer. Or are you proposing to stop mid call for a break then phone back to finish the call after you have eaten.

cr1mson

As I understand it it has to be expected to be more than 6 hours so a shift from 0800-1400 would not qualify.

C

anamenottaken

hullight wrote: »

At the call centre I have just moved to, I work some Saturdays 0800 - 1400. The wording of the law is confusing me...

It says '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'.

The company will only give me a ten minute break, and they say this is a break for 'comfort' i.e. getting a drink or going to the toilet.

They have told us that what they are doing is legal, probably because I don't work more than six hours, but six hours exactly. But then they have the issue that if a call is in progress when it hits two, they have made me work more than six hours without the 20 minute uninterrupted break.

I want to sort out this issue but don't want them to sack me for complaining.

Assuming you are paid for six hours work, then the company are giving you more than your entitlement.

If you take a 10-minute break and do not work more than 10-minutes beyond 2 pm to finish a call then you have not worked for more than 6 hours.

WeakHeart

I think you would have to work more than 6 hours AFTER returning from your 10 minute break to be entitled to a 20 minute break.

As others have said, if they are giving you a 10 minute break within your 0800-1400 shift they are giving you MORE than you are entitled to.

It's not unusual to have to take that last call that takes you past the official end of your shift - someone has to take it, you can't have everyone logged off before 1400 so I wouldn't say anything.

xxJudexx

SarEl wrote: »

Or are you proposing to stop mid call for a break then phone back to finish the call after you have eaten.

I don't think anyone would entertain the idea of stopping mid call for a break, so why say it?

SarEl

xxJudexx wrote: »

I don't think anyone would entertain the idea of stopping mid call for a break, so why say it?

Because I don't think many people would be demanding a 20 minute lunch break for occasionally working a few minutes over six hours on the odd Saturday.

LittleVoice

WeakHeart wrote: »

I think you would have to work more than 6 hours AFTER returning from your 10 minute break to be entitled to a 20 minute break.

As others have said, if they are giving you a 10 minute break within your 0800-1400 shift they are giving you MORE than you are entitled to.

It's not unusual to have to take that last call that takes you past the official end of your shift - someone has to take it, you can't have everyone logged off before 1400 so I wouldn't say anything.

Not sure what you mean by your first sentence.
If you mean that the person would need to work for a complete 6 hours after the 10-minute break to be entitled to a 20-minute break (that is ignore the time before the 10-minute break), then that is not correct.
But you probably didn't mean that at all.