Leaving site on Lunch breaks

Lorian

Energize wrote: »

If someone is on duty as a first aider all day how can they be considered to be on a "break"?

Presumably they have to take their days off at work too.

LittleVoice

I wonder what period the £50 covers - annual payment or monthly or shorter period? I also wonder whether the work environment is one where a first aider has to be present. Perhaps we will never know as the opening post is the only one this new poster has made.

Detroit

It seems pretty clear to me that Sangie is explaining that the law does not say employees are entitled to leave the premises for breaks.

Equally, the law does not say employees can't leave the premises.

On the matter of leaving the premises, the law is silent. Therefore rights come down to the contract.

The OP wants to know if they are entitled to leave the premises. Sangie correctly advised there is no law giving them the right to do so.

JReacher1

I am not sure why people are getting so fraught about the law as it is irrelevant here.

Being a first aider is voluntary and you get paid for it. If you want to do the role then there are conditions attached and one of those is that you cannot leave the site during your breaks.

If you want to leave the site when you are on the first aid Rota then you obviously can but then they very likely will take the first aid role off you.

Personally I think it is a sensible policy as if I need a first aider at work I would prefer they were onsite!

System

This why my work has several first aiders. Covers for annual leave, days off, being away for meetings etc.

The £50 payment is yearly. I have been approached several times if I would like to train to be a first aider. I have declined as it's not enough and got a fear of blood

pete-20-11

ScarletMarble wrote: »

This why my work has several first aiders. Covers for annual leave, days off, being away for meetings etc.

The £50 payment is yearly. I have been approached several times if I would like to train to be a first aider. I have declined as it's not enough and got a fear of blood

Yeah, and what if the first aider has an accident.

Clearly need more than one first aider!

Energize

Wow, £34 a year after tax for effectively working an extra 30mins a day no thanks!

Savvy_Sue

To the OP: are there multiple First Aiders, and is there any kind of agreement about how many must be on the premises at any one time? Would this mean that if you particularly wanted to leave the premises, you could check that another was available?

We have several, but we're a small organisation, not high risk. Perhaps we should have some kind of record to ensure that there is a first aider on site at all times, but we don't. Equally we don't pay extra ...

elsien

Energize wrote: »

Wow, £34 a year after tax for effectively working an extra 30mins a day no thanks!

The OP mentions a first aid rota, so they're not doing it every day. Seems silly to agree to be paid then quibble about having to stay on the premises when quite clearly you can't carry out the role if you're not there. Be interesting to know how often the £50 covers though.

scd3scd4

I don't need a big long post of nothing to answer this one. If you don't like it, tell them to poke the £50 and go out for lunch as you please. That's the only relevance you need to know.