Daily rest between working shifts

smc4761

I am a little concerned over some of the hours that my son is being asked to work by his employer, Sainsburys, he is over 18. He will not say anything as he and others who also get short breaks between shifts are worried they may lose their jobs if they say anything

He finished his shift last night at 22.00 and was back on shift this morning at 06.00, a break of 8 hours, less travelling time, about 20 minutes each way.

The government website is a little confusing regarding this as they advise 11hours between shifts however there seem to be many exceptions.

Is anyone able to give a definitive answer regarding this

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Guideline's are:

‘Daily rest’

Workers have the right to 11 hours rest between working days (eg if they finish work at 8pm, they shouldn’t start work again until 7am the next day).

As seen here: https://www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work

This is mandated under reg 10 of the working times regulations (1998)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/regulation/10/made

It does depend on circumstances though. Does he elect to do these as additional shifts? You don't mention how old specifically your son is, but in my early 20's I worked all manner of crazy shifts and was happy for the overtime etc. Also in the current climate, its a real positive that he is at least working. Well done to your son!

Takeaway_Addict

Is your son actually ok with this? If so no point rocking the boat.

System

There is also compensatory rest breaks if you had continued through that article which, as he is in retail, may well be covered by this.

A worker may be entitled to compensatory rest if:

• their workplace is a long way from their home (eg an oil rig)
• they work in different places which are a reasonable distance from each other
• they’re doing security and surveillance-based work
• they’re working in an industry which is very busy at certain times of the year – like agriculture, retail, postal services or tourism
• they need to work because there’s an exceptional event, an accident or a risk that an accident is about to happen
• the job needs round-the-clock staffing so there aren’t interruptions to any services or production (eg hospital work)
• they work in the rail industry on board trains or their job is linked to making sure trains run on time
• they’re a shift worker and they can’t take daily or weekly rest breaks between ending one shift and starting another

The two relevant reasons bolded.

smc4761

To be fair on him he is not that bothered and its more me that is concerned that they are taking advantage of the current economic climate. He does work hard there and has done so for last 8 years.

These are not additional shifts just his normal shifts. On numerous occasions over the past 3 or 4 months they have had him finish at 22.00 then start again at 6.00. Just does not seem right

Jules2012

He may prefer to have his shifts chunked together like this rather than have them split up over the week.

Kayalana99

Its quite common in Morrisons to finsh at 22:00 and start at 07:00...obvouisly this isn't as bad but its still 9 hours.

I highly doubt its illegal as this is actally the norm for all full time workers at Morrisons, usally doing 3 earlys, 2 lates kind of thing.

ValHaller

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I highly doubt its illegal as this is actally the norm for all full time workers at Morrisons, usally doing 3 earlys, 2 lates kind of thing.

Sfitzer has provided the link which shows that it is illegal - unless an exception can be found to justify it.

paddedjohn

ValHaller wrote: »

Sfitzer has provided the link which shows that it is illegal - unless an exception can be found to justify it.

The exemption is clearly shown in post 4 but here it is again.


Exceptions

Workers aren’t entitled to the 3 types of rest breaks if they work in:

• the armed forces, emergency services or police and they’re dealing with an exceptional catastrophe or disaster
• a job where they freely choose what hours they work (like a managing director) or where the work is not measured (ie no set hours)
• sea transport
• air or road transport (known as ‘mobile’ workers)

Air, sea or road transport workers may be covered by special rules that give them different rest rights.
Mobile workers not covered by any special rules will usually have the right to regular rest so that their health and safety (or anyone else’s) isn’t put at risk.
Different rules for rest breaks

Depending on circumstances at work or the type of job a person does, they may only have the right to take rest later (eg during the same or following day).
This is known as ‘compensatory rest’ which is the same length of time as the break (or part of it) that they’ve missed.

A worker may be entitled to compensatory rest if:

• their workplace is a long way from their home (eg an oil rig)
• they work in different places which are a reasonable distance from each other
• they’re doing security and surveillance-based work
• they’re working in an industry which is very busy at certain times of the year – like agriculture, retail, postal services or tourism
• they need to work because there’s an exceptional event, an accident or a risk that an accident is about to happen
• the job needs round-the-clock staffing so there aren’t interruptions to any services or production (eg hospital work)
• they work in the rail industry on board trains or their job is linked to making sure trains run on time
• they’re a shift worker and they can’t take daily or weekly rest breaks between ending one shift and starting another
• their working day is split up (eg they’re a cleaner and work for part of the morning and the evening)
• there is an agreement between management, trade unions or the workforce (a ‘collective’ or ‘workforce’ agreement) that has changed or removed rights to these rest breaks for a group of workers

edited due to wrong post quoted

ValHaller

paddedjohn wrote: »

The exemption is clearly shown in post 6 but here it is again.

Post 6 says

Jules2012 wrote: »

He may prefer to have his shifts chunked together like this rather than have them split up over the week.

So it was not clear in post 6. Are you referring to post 4?

Post 4 laid down the conditions for compensatory rest which I presume is lifted from https://www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work/exceptions. The problem I find with this is that it is poorly written and not straight forward to apply to the present case - becuase it does NOT explicitly lay down the criteria for less than 11 hours break - it just lays down the criteria for compensatory rest. These are 2 different issues.

eschaton

smc4761 wrote: »

I am a little concerned over some of the hours that my son is being asked to work by his employer, Sainsburys, he is over 18. He will not say anything as he and others who also get short breaks between shifts are worried they may lose their jobs if they say anything

He finished his shift last night at 22.00 and was back on shift this morning at 06.00, a break of 8 hours, less travelling time, about 20 minutes each way.

The government website is a little confusing regarding this as they advise 11hours between shifts however there seem to be many exceptions.

Is anyone able to give a definitive answer regarding this

Thanks

Shifts like this are pretty normal in retail.

There is a good chance that your son doesn't mind the shift as he will be finishing at a decent time on the 2nd day and not doing another late shift.

If he has worked there for 8 years, he will be at least 24 years old. At that age, maybe you should slacken the noose and let him look after himself, he is an adult after all.