Minimum Rest Breaks for Employees

A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed the following in relation to rest breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998:-

1) An employee is entitled to one rest break after working 6 hours but he is not entitled to any further breaks for time worked in excess of 6 hours.

2) If a break cannot be taken at the usual time, the employer should offer them an alternative compensatory rest break. Only allowing the employee to rest between shifts is not sufficient.

3) A claim in relation to rest breaks can only be bought for the three month period before presenting the claim (six months if taken through a grievance procedure).

The decision does confirm to a large extent what we already anticipated would be the case but it is a useful decision nonetheless.


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