nightshift- problem with breaks

kirstycobie

hi,

just a quickie....

do night shift in a carehome and have been gettin paid for 12 hours but now they have told us that we are getting an hour pay took off us duing the night as an unpaid break.

the problem is this.... we do not get a break, we are always on-call sort of incase anything happens etc resident walking the corridors, falls out of bed, has a suddden helth problem. but have been told we have to leave the floor to take this break but other problem is there is only 2 carers on a floor and you cant leave the floor and leave 1 career by herself!!!!! so how the hell are we meant to have a break?????

we only get min wage £6.08 ph to start with which is cr**p for nightshift but its a jo at the end of the day and better than not working at all.

so what i would like to know is an they actually take the hour pay from us when we are going to find it immpossible to take a break as we have checks to do and laundry and housekeeping on a shift and bearly get to sit down to start with!!!

katz03

In short - yes they can. There is a legal requirement for you to have a break - I understand what you are saying that it is not always possible for you to actually have the break - but it is down to them to ensure they have cover available for it

paddedjohn

break it up into 3 x 20 min breaks and make sure you actually leave the work place/area for that time, if it causes problems they will soon see sense.

kevineden

what company are you with a lot of care homes do pay breaks but they do not have to .do you have a contract or policy on breaks
if they are unpaid then you are entitled to leave the area that you work ie to go and sit in the staffroom but you maynot be allowed to leave the premises
regards kevin

carebabe

if it is an unpaid break then it is your time to do as you wish and that includes being able to leave the building. its up to the employer to provide cover to enable staff to do this. if employer states you cant leave the building because you are needed for cover then they cannot make any deduction for the break.

LadyMissA

kirstycobie wrote: »

hi,

just a quickie....

do night shift in a carehome and have been gettin paid for 12 hours but now they have told us that we are getting an hour pay took off us duing the night as an unpaid break.

the problem is this.... we do not get a break, we are always on-call sort of incase anything happens etc resident walking the corridors, falls out of bed, has a suddden helth problem. but have been told we have to leave the floor to take this break but other problem is there is only 2 carers on a floor and you cant leave the floor and leave 1 career by herself!!!!! so how the hell are we meant to have a break?????

we only get min wage £6.08 ph to start with which is cr**p for nightshift but its a jo at the end of the day and better than not working at all.

so what i would like to know is an they actually take the hour pay from us when we are going to find it immpossible to take a break as we have checks to do and laundry and housekeeping on a shift and bearly get to sit down to start with!!!

paid or unpaid you are allowed a break as thats the law. They have to give you a break. If you are in fact now working 12 hours for 11 hours pay they are breaking the law twice as you are now getting lower than NMW!

andyf3050

carebabe wrote: »

if it is an unpaid break then it is your time to do as you wish and that includes being able to leave the building. its up to the employer to provide cover to enable staff to do this. if employer states you cant leave the building because you are needed for cover then they cannot make any deduction for the break.

I agree... if they intend to deduct 1 hours pay for a break then by all means, make sure you take this break. It is your employers responsibility to ensure cover is provided while other employees are taking breaks. You need to make this clear to your employer. Should anything happen while insufficient cover is available, they will be investigated and believe me, heads will roll.

If you're not already a member of a union look into joining and you could also contact ACAS for some more advice...!

I hope this helps?