Rest Breaks

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has handed down its judgement in Commissionaires Management v Hughes, a case dealing with the Working Time Regulations and the issue of rest breaks. Employers need to be aware that the EAT has held:-

• An employee is only entitled to one rest break when he or she will be or has worked 6 hours or more. See Regulation 12(1) Working Time Regulations 1998. He is not entitled to another rest break should he work for 12 hours. Paras 15-16 apply.
• Where it is not possible for a rest break to be taken at the proper time, a compensatory rest break must be offered; it is not enough to suggest that the employee can rest between shifts.
• A claim before the Employment Tribunal in relation to rest breaks can only be brought within 3 months (6 if the statutory grievance procedures are invoked) of the alleged breach. The concept of continuing breaches to enable backdating does not apply to this section of the regulations.

So overall this could be read as good news for employers (one of the few occasions) however should you need further advice on these or related issues we can be contacted on 0870 756 2929.

My email address is gda@hrlegalpartners.com