UK part-time workers rights...

[Abaddon]

currently working at a call centre, 12 hours a week part-time... just wondering if we have any rights as far as paid breaks an wotnot.. cos times have just changed from 5 mins paid breaks.. to ten mins non paid... and im worried if they can do this? have we no rights to paid breaks?

cheers

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

I used to work in a call centre so I feel your pain first of all.

Second of all your break entitlement is related to the amount of time you work. ie 5 hours per day ect. Although my employment law is very shakey, I don't think there is any entitlement to pay for any kind of break.

One thing I would ask however is why, if you had a contract which allowed a 5 min paid break, did you sign up to a less favourable contract?

 

[Abaddon]

well as i only started a few weeks ago, there has been no signed contract.

The call centres ok, its small (under 10 staff usually) and £7.50 an hour.

Basically they say we were taking the piss with the 5 min breaks, so changing it to ten mins.. but wont be paying us for it.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

well as i only started a few weeks ago, there has been no signed contract.

The call centres ok, its small (under 10 staff usually) and £7.50 an hour.

Basically they say we were taking the piss with the 5 min breaks, so changing it to ten mins.. but wont be paying us for it.

To be fair, if you're getting £7.50 an hour not being paid for 10 minutes is a pretty moot point.

I'm fairly certain it's not allowed though. IIRC you're supposed to have 15 minute breaks for every 4 hours worked. Sadly I have no idea if it's 15 minutes paid break.

 

[BCLG100]

I get paid £4.30 an hour and am at work from 9-6 every week. I get half an hour paid break and 45 mins non paid. i think anyway.

 

[Truronian]

I work 5 hours a week on £5.05 per hour, and get 15 minutes paid break.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I get paid £4.30 an hour and am at work from 9-6 every week. I get half an hour paid break and 45 mins non paid. i think anyway.

You should be getting £5.05 if you're over 18, I believe. Minimum wage and all that.

 

[BCLG100]

You should be getting £5.05 if you're over 18, I believe. Minimum wage and all that.

See thats what i thought, apparantly its 4.30 though, if you have any reference then i would appreciate it.

 

[Dr Alimentado]

from HM Revenue & Customs

# Workers who are aged under 18 and no longer of compulsory school age can expect to be paid no less than £3.00 per hour
# Workers aged between 18 and 21 years can expect to be paid no less than £4.25 per hour.
# Workers who are aged 22 years or older, can expect to be paid no less than £5.05 per hour.
# Workers aged 22 years and over who start a new job with a new employer and do accredited training should be paid £4.25 per hour for the first six months only.

shocking, i thought it was £5/hr for all over 18's

 

[BCLG100]

Yer, its an ass, because 19 year olds people only a few months older than me are on £5ish and i can see no reason for it except they dont want to hire 6th formers

 

[Sidhe]

I used to work in a call centre so I feel your pain first of all.

Second of all your break entitlement is related to the amount of time you work. ie 5 hours per day ect. Although my employment law is very shakey, I don't think there is any entitlement to pay for any kind of break.

One thing I would ask however is why, if you had a contract which allowed a 5 min paid break, did you sign up to a less favourable contract?

The law is quite clear ,you get 15 minutes unpaid break per 4 hour period worked in an 8 hour period, this means any amount of time under this and it's discretionary, employers often let people have breaks. You are also entitled to have one twenty minute unpaid lunch break (used to think it was half an hour but apparently the NHS thinks differenlty, although we get half an hour) for an 8 hour work period.

As a matter of interest in our trust for 8 hours we get one paid tea break and this is discretionary(ie up to the managers) They avoid the law by saying you can make tea and coffee and drink it whenever you want, problem is there is seldom time in the day to sit for more than two or three minutes, particularly if your boss is a slave driver like mine. The NHS interpritation of the rule is a little backward but it's blanket and it's understandable when you bring nurses & doctors into the equation. Oddly though the Engineers in my department get two twenty minute tea breaks and half an hour for lunch, talk about undfair discrimination, those guys never break a sweat

EDIT: The minimum wage laws probably encourage employers to take on under 18 staff, after all they can pay them less, I agree though it's unfair discrimination and makes no sense in todays society.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

I'm pretty sure there is no entitlement to paid breaks in the UK (I used to work on payroll & personnel s/w about 12 years ago and knew the law pretty well then, and have tried to stay abreast of changes since).

Anyway, Loz (and it is you, isn't it ? Did you always have two userIDs on the go here ? Isn't that wrong ?), just finish studying, get a decent job, and forget about minimum wages. Here in the real world I can swan in and out of the office when I feel like it, decide for myself when I want to work from home, and have a reasonably high degree of autonomy over my international travel (all whilst getting paid a quite frankly obscene multiple of your earnings). All this can be yours too, my son, if you just get on with studying, pull your finger out, and get your bloody hair cut.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

from HM Revenue & Customs



shocking, i thought it was £5/hr for all over 18's

Goodness, me too.