WORKING
TIME REGULATIONS
SECTION
6: REST BREAKS AT WORK
Employers
must check:
- How workers’ working
time is arranged and whether they are able to take
the rest breaks they are entitled to.
- Whether any exceptions or
flexibilities apply [more]
- The different rest break
periods young workers are entitled to.
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If a worker
is required to work for more than six hours at a stretch, he or
she is entitled to a rest break of 20 minutes.
The break
should be taken during the six-hour period and not at the beginning
or end of it. The exact time the breaks are taken is up to the
employer to decide.
Employers
must make sure that workers can take their rest, but are
not required to make sure they do take their rest.
Mobile workers are excluded from the usual rest break entitlements
under the Working Time Regulations. Instead, these workers are
entitled to 'adequate rest'.
'Adequate rest' means that workers have regular rest periods.
These should be sufficiently long and continuous to ensure that
fatigue or other irregular working patterns do not cause workers
to injure themselves, fellow workers or others, and that they do
not damage their health, either in the short term or in the longer
term.
For
information on when the limits may not apply click here
Special
rules for Young Workers
Different
rules apply to young workers. If a young worker is required to
work for more than four and a half hours at a stretch, he or she
is entitled to a rest break of 30 minutes.
If a young
worker is working for more than one employer, the time he or she
is working for each one should be added together to see if they
are entitled to a rest break.
A young worker’s
entitlement to breaks can be reduced or excluded in exceptional
circumstances only. Where this occurs, the young worker should
receive compensatory rest within 3 weeks.
What
to do if you are not receiving your rights as a worker
What
records do employers need to keep?
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