Meal breaks: being forced to take 20 before you go out and 20 out. Is that correct?

[postmanzach]

Sorry I made a mistake they take 30 minutes off new employees and we get 45 when it’s 9+hours.

[postmanzach]

At my office it seems to be frowned upon if you take a break. Everyone just works right through.

That’s mad.
The new people in our office work 8 hours then get 40mins pay deducted as it’s a legal requirement to have a break only theirs isn’t paid.

They are getting wages deducted?? are they paying new starts at your office using SISO times?

It’s like I said if they start at 8 and finished at 4 the manager takes off 40 minutes.

So new starts are getting wage deductions for finishing before their time at your office? Not sure I follow zach

No, if they are scheduled to work 8-4 or 9-3 and they start and finish at those times, the manager takes off the minutes for their meal break regardless if they took one or not. You understand?

[yellowbelly]

I took 5mins before I went out and stopped for 32
Mins whilst I was out and been called up on it.
Told suppose to only take 20 at a time.
Anyone got a link to annoying official about this?

It is 40 mins "OR" 20 + 20
No 5 & 32

Not according to the law.
https://www.papershift.com/en/lexicon/w ... tes%20once.
“If the working time is longer than 9 hours, 45 minutes of rest are required.
Time Split: The breaks can be divided into sections of 15 minutes each. It is also possible to divide it up to 15 minutes and 30 minutes once.
Without a rest period, no worker is allowed to work more than six hours at a time.
The design of the rest periods is left to the employee himself and the employer must not influence this.
The time of rest may be specified by the employer, but must be reasonable and timely.“

You're quoting from a German website. They base their rests/breaks on the European Working TIme Directive, which now might differ to the UK Working TIme Reuglations which ACAS bases the following on:

https://www.acas.org.uk/rest-breaks

Rest breaks during the working day

If someone works more than 6 hours in a day, they have the right to a rest break of at least 20 minutes.

These rest breaks should be:

planned in advance
taken during the working day, not at the start or end of the day

If they work more than 6 hours, there's no automatic right to more breaks. For example, a 12-hour shift does not mean they're entitled to a 40-minute break, but the employer should consider it.

Extra breaks

An employer can offer longer or extra breaks in the working day, such as:

a lunch hour
breaks for smokers

Employers must also consider any need for extra breaks for the health and safety of everyone, depending on the type of work their organisation does. For example, people doing repetitive or very heavy work may need more rest breaks.

Someone might ask for extra rest breaks due to a disability. The employer must agree to this if it's a reasonable adjustment.

Any rules on extra breaks should be written in the employment contract.

The employee or worker has the right to take their rest break:

uninterrupted
away from where they work, for example away from their desk
at a time that's not the very start or end of their working day

There is no entitlement to pay for this break unless either:

it's written in the employment contract that it's paid
the employer has agreed with the employee that it's paid

If there needs to be a change to how this break is taken

In rare circumstances, someone might have to take their break in a different way. This could be if something happens at work that's unexpected and outside of the employer's control, for example an accident or emergency.

In this situation the right to rest stays the same, so they should still find a way to rest but this could be in a different way. For example, they could still have their 20-minute break but take it later in the day.

[postmanzach]

I took 5mins before I went out and stopped for 32
Mins whilst I was out and been called up on it.
Told suppose to only take 20 at a time.
Anyone got a link to annoying official about this?

It is 40 mins "OR" 20 + 20
No 5 & 32

Not according to the law.
https://www.papershift.com/en/lexicon/w ... tes%20once.
“If the working time is longer than 9 hours, 45 minutes of rest are required.
Time Split: The breaks can be divided into sections of 15 minutes each. It is also possible to divide it up to 15 minutes and 30 minutes once.
Without a rest period, no worker is allowed to work more than six hours at a time.
The design of the rest periods is left to the employee himself and the employer must not influence this.
The time of rest may be specified by the employer, but must be reasonable and timely.“

You're quoting from a German website. They base their rests/breaks on the European Working TIme Directive, which now might differ to the UK Working TIme Reuglations which ACAS bases the following on:

https://www.acas.org.uk/rest-breaks

Rest breaks during the working day

If someone works more than 6 hours in a day, they have the right to a rest break of at least 20 minutes.

These rest breaks should be:

planned in advance
taken during the working day, not at the start or end of the day

If they work more than 6 hours, there's no automatic right to more breaks. For example, a 12-hour shift does not mean they're entitled to a 40-minute break, but the employer should consider it.

Extra breaks

An employer can offer longer or extra breaks in the working day, such as:

a lunch hour
breaks for smokers

Employers must also consider any need for extra breaks for the health and safety of everyone, depending on the type of work their organisation does. For example, people doing repetitive or very heavy work may need more rest breaks.

Someone might ask for extra rest breaks due to a disability. The employer must agree to this if it's a reasonable adjustment.

Any rules on extra breaks should be written in the employment contract.

The employee or worker has the right to take their rest break:

uninterrupted
away from where they work, for example away from their desk
at a time that's not the very start or end of their working day

There is no entitlement to pay for this break unless either:

it's written in the employment contract that it's paid
the employer has agreed with the employee that it's paid

If there needs to be a change to how this break is taken

In rare circumstances, someone might have to take their break in a different way. This could be if something happens at work that's unexpected and outside of the employer's control, for example an accident or emergency.

In this situation the right to rest stays the same, so they should still find a way to rest but this could be in a different way. For example, they could still have their 20-minute break but take it later in the day.

Okay
How about the official Royal Mail policy, anyone?

[postmanzach]

I took 5mins before I went out and stopped for 32
Mins whilst I was out and been called up on it.
Told suppose to only take 20 at a time.
Anyone got a link to annoying official about this?

It is 40 mins "OR" 20 + 20
No 5 & 32

Apologies,
You are correct.
https://www.cwusouthmidspostal.org/wp-c ... -A4-NN.pdf

[yellowbelly]

Okay
How about the official Royal Mail policy, anyone?

I don't think it's changed since the Way Forward Agreement has it?

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=11941

[Barnacle]

At my office it seems to be frowned upon if you take a break. Everyone just works right through.

That’s mad.
The new people in our office work 8 hours then get 40mins pay deducted as it’s a legal requirement to have a break only theirs isn’t paid.

They are getting wages deducted?? are they paying new starts at your office using SISO times?

It’s like I said if they start at 8 and finished at 4 the manager takes off 40 minutes. New starters don’t get paid meal relief but have to have them by law.

The manager has misinterpreted the law and how to apply it to pay. If they don’t physically take a break they have to be paid for their time worked, or they finish 40mins earlier.

[TopperGas]

More fool them then as why would anybody work 40 mins each day without pay?

[postmanzach]

More fool them then as why would anybody work 40 mins each day without pay?

I think new people feel sense of anxiety being on trial period and don’t want animosity from co workers despite us clearly telling them it’s normal to leave half a frame.

I was thinking asking our area manager hypothetically would he rather 5 tracked parcels from Zara ( likely clothes that get tried on and sent back)
Or 100 nhs letters that haven’t been out for a week and at least one mother has said her son is waiting on need for appointment for a brain tumour operation…
I know the answer already, it’s like they watch and study politicians.. chat loads of waffle without answering the question and leave guilt free.

Sooner or later someone is going to have a stroke or die of heart attack in our office from stress or in the town from poor service from Royal Mail. But they won’t feel guilty, it will always be someone else’s fault. C*nts

[Smoothbackground]

I can only speak from my own experience at my own DO. Practices do seem to vary wildly across RM.

Those of us on 40-hour contracts don’t have anything deducted from our pay. Instead, our eight-hour shift is actually 8hr 40mins in duration, meaning we work from, for example, 8.20 am to 5.00 pm, and we have a 40-minute unpaid break “allowance”(!) during that 8hr40 shift. Those of us on 40-hr contracts actually spend 43hrs20mins at work each week!

[qwer1010]

Would love some more insight on the new contract break deductions. I asked my manager about this over Christmas and she had no idea if they were taking it off automatically or not. If I work a 10 hour day, including a 50 minute break to however long it should be should I be recording 5 hours overtime on the overtime sheet ( and let them automatically deduct the break), or write 4h10mins? I haven't received any clarity on this, but have felt my pay over Christmas for example was pretty light, as though they were deducting breaks perhaps.

[Barnacle]

Would love some more insight on the new contract break deductions. I asked my manager about this over Christmas and she had no idea if they were taking it off automatically or not. If I work a 10 hour day, including a 50 minute break to however long it should be should I be recording 5 hours overtime on the overtime sheet ( and let them automatically deduct the break), or write 4h10mins? I haven't received any clarity on this, but have felt my pay over Christmas for example was pretty light, as though they were deducting breaks perhaps.

Are they deducting for a break regardless of whether you take one or not?

[qwer1010]

That is the question I'm asking

[postmanzach]

I can say that this is what happens, by law you have to have a break so they take that time away.

[Barnacle]

That is the question I'm asking

They can’t do that. That is docking your pay.

In the NHS they aren’t paid for breaks so every month they work half a shift without pay to cover their breaks. Their pay isn’t docked each shift.

At RM taking a break is optional unless you are a driver, so they can’t dock pay unless you have taken a break.