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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think working 6hrs without a break is a little excessive ?

111 replies

fourfingerkitkat · 08/10/2012 12:40

I know that by law you can work 6hrs continuously before your employer is obliged to give you a break, but don't you think this is a bit much ? Have just started a new temporary p/t retail job and working 6hr shifts. I was surprised at this as I'm sure when I worked as a student (15yrs ago right enough...) you got a break after 4hrs ?

OP posts:
Original poster
fourfingerkitkat · 08/10/2012 17:07

forevergreek - I wasn't having a go, just surprised that your working that long without a break but having explained your exact circumstances I understand now.

OP posts:
Shutupanddrive · 08/10/2012 17:17

Agree it's crap. I worked from 9.30am-4.00pm the other day with just a 15min break (busy coffee shop, we don't stop!)

MadameCupcake · 08/10/2012 17:38

lucky to get a proper break in 9 hours but can go for a wee when I want so not a problem!

Meglet · 08/10/2012 17:44

6 hours on a shop floor is crap. No wonder some customer service is poor.

I wouldn't be able to work well on a 6 hour shift with no time for decent food. When I was in retail I think I did 3 hours then lunch then another 3 hours.

I don't work at my screen for longer than 20 mins at a time, I have to go to the printer / toilets / kitchen.

McHappyPants2012 · 08/10/2012 17:46

Op would you be prepared to take an unpaid break.

The women in work can either finish at 1 with no break or 1:30 if they want a break

halloweeneyqueeney · 08/10/2012 18:30

I don't think the OP was talking about paid breaks TBF, they are rare as hens teeth anyway

you're not actually supposed to take your unpaid breaks off the end of your shift you are supposed to take them in the shift

Schrodingershamster · 08/10/2012 18:38

6 hours isnt so bad. My last employer had us aency staff working fir 12 hours solid no breaks at all. Wish id reported them but i needed the money so badly, makes me Angry when i know they are just abusing desperate people.

MadameCupcake · 08/10/2012 19:35

I don't think many people get paid breaks, I introduced paid breaks at the pre-school I looked after as in an emergency the staff we 'on-call' as such.

If they wanted to go out for a break they were welcome to of course but would not have been paid. They always got their breaks even if it was interupted and it would only ever be in a true emergency - in fact in the 4 years I don't think anyone actually had their paid break interupted.

Bubblegum78 · 08/10/2012 19:37

It's not illegal but allowing you to have a drink as a courtesy wouldn't kill them! x

hiddenhome · 08/10/2012 19:43

We get paid breaks, but we don't actually get breaks Hmm When I was working 13.5 hour shifts I was on the verge of collapse, so had to cut them to 7 hour shifts. Still hardly get a break. I'd rather not have the pay, but have the time to rest. It gets harder as you get older too. Some of my colleagues are in their 50s and 60s Sad

FreakoidOrganisoid · 08/10/2012 19:52

I work 8 hours without a 'break' as such (preschool)but it is very different as I can have a drink on the counter to sip from as and when and I can eat my lunch when the children are sat eating theirs. Ok I'm officially working but I get to eat my lunch. I'd find it hard to last 6 hours without a drink or a wee!

RobinSucks · 08/10/2012 20:04

I work a 12 hour day with no breaks as such- I'm a nanny, always on call so even if the baby is sleeping I'm not 'free' as I have tons of washing, cleaning, sorting stuff out. Actually in my current job I have one non-sleeper so I am literally on the go from 7am to 7pm! But on the other hand... I can go loo when I want, I can drink water all day long, I can pick up stuff I need in the shop while getting food for the kids. It all balances. And it's all legal, I think- as it's in someone's home. The only way I could have a break would be for the parents to travel back from central London to cover!

In the past, I've worked in horrific conditions. Retail! Tourist-type shops in a seaside town. My summer holidays at age 16 was spent doing six 13-hour days a week (9am to 10pm, then taxi home as Newquay after dark is scary!) then one day 9 hour- that was my 'day off'! No breaks, no chance to use the loo as the only way I could was to call someone from another of their shops to come and cover, can you imagine how embarrassing that was to a 16 year old? They would send someone to cover 5 mins so I could run and grab some lunch, I used to pop into the gross public loo then! I left in the end as they wouldn't give me time for a hospital appointment. Glad I did the job BTW, started off a saving money habit and made me re-assess the leave school at 16 plan and go to college!

attheendoftheday · 09/10/2012 19:49

Ha! I am a nurse and quite regularly do 13 hours without a break. It isn't ideal, but isn't uncommon in lots of jobs.

If you do a very physically demanding job then you might need a break sooner, but otherwise I don't think 6 hours is too bad really.

Mintyy · 09/10/2012 19:56

Yanbu. You need a break, even if its only 10 minutes, to eat something or get a drink.

Roffle at the competitive working-without-breaks on this thread!

I was given a job last year, 10am - 3pm two days a week, close to home and therefore still making it possible for me to pick the dc up from primary school.

But when it became apparent that there was no room in those hours for me to actually get up from my desk (let alone leave the building), stretch my legs, eat some food, think about something else for 10 minutes ... well that's when I realised the job was not for me.

notsofrownieface · 09/10/2012 20:09

Can you ask to work 15/30 mins longer and get a break that way? 6 hours on your feet especially stood behind a till is knackering.

lubeybooby · 09/10/2012 20:31

God. reading this has made me once again so thankful to be self employed.

The things I hated about being an employee were begging for breaks and applying for holiday that you might not be allowed to take if too many others were off, being looked down on for taking time off with a sick child, knowing I would never be promoted because of that, etc. Just fuck the fucking fuck off, it's my life damn you and if I need a week off, a wee or a coffee or even a SANDWICH I'm going to bloody well indulge!

I have been really busy and stressed the last year or so but this has reminded me I'm waaaay better off out of there.

I was an employee for many many miserable years and I am so grateful to be out of it.

I have barely had a day off really in the last five years but it's ok because it's on my terms and I can have a damned coffee when I like and it's been my choice to keep going and going.

Simple things like breaks make it all so much more bearable.

GockandJuice · 09/10/2012 20:33

Don't think anything illegal in it but seems a bit harsh, were entitled to a 15 minute break if we work 4 + hours and 30 mins 6 + plus

kerstina · 09/10/2012 21:39

I am finding this thread quite depressing what some people have to put up with Sad It has made me more determined to try and work for myself.
I do voluntary work at a pre-school and the staff do not get a proper lunch break. They have to eat their lunch with the children having to get up take children to the toilet etc. Seems like it is a sign of the times that people are putting up with this because of the lack of jobs.

WildWorld2004 · 09/10/2012 21:58

Reading this has made me like my job a bit more. If we work 4 hrs 15 mins we get a 15 min break, 6 hours we get 30 mins, 9 hours we get 45 mins. I can go 5 hours without a break but i couldnt go allday. I get dizzy & really grumpy.

PurplePidjin · 09/10/2012 22:03

Mintyy, it's not so much competitive as pointing out facts - as standard, those in caring professions (social care, child care, nursing, etc) are expected to work far longer than the OP's stated 6 hours without a break. In retail and catering, workers are unable to eat, drink or use a bathroom at will due to management expectations and demands of the job.

You say that you decided that job wasn't for you. To me, it sounds like heaven.

To those suggesting that shop staff should work 30 minutes longer and have an unpaid break - who exactly is going to cover that? The next shift starts as the previous one ends. The worker is entitled to a break during their 6 hours - that's why most shifts are 5.5 hours long!

kerstina · 10/10/2012 09:08

Am bumping this as I think its an important issue. If anyone ever doubted that we would be better off without unions or any sort of workers rights should read this thread.

manticlimactic · 10/10/2012 10:19

Which supermarket do you work for OP? People moan at my work when they've gone over 4 hours without a break, although they don't realise the law is every 6hours. We get a 15 minute paid break for every four hours worked in a shift. They allow the ones who start before 8am half an hour breakfast, they're the ones who don't work on the tills and normally start at 6am

If you do a 6 hour shift you would get 15 minutes paid break but if you want a lunch it would be unpaid and you'd have to work that extra half hour.

Oh and whoever said that people would complain about checkout staff drinking on tills were spot on. Checkout staff can't drink on our tills anymore for that reason. Although HO say it's so the tills aren't damaged if you drop your water, I know that people have complained about staff drinking.

Leena49 · 10/10/2012 10:28

I'm sure there is a law somewhere. My days of having formal breaks are long gone. You will have an entitlement though. Have you googled it. Thing is are you in a position to complain given the job market at the moment?

EnglishGirlApproximately · 10/10/2012 10:58

The law is 20 minutes for over 6 hours. The OP hasn't said its a supermarket has she? Contrary to popular belief supermarkets tend to give more generous breaks than many smaller retailers. In a small shop there might only be 2 people in so they can't afford to let staff have breaks above the legal requirement. That doesn't suit the view of supermarkets being the root of all evil though.

LFCisTarkaDahl · 10/10/2012 11:04

I used to work on a stall in a shopping centre where I couldn't go to the toilet for 6 hours Shock - the bloke would open it and then piss off meaning I couldn't leave the stall to go to the loo.

I was told to not drink before arriving and if I really needed to I should consider a thicker sanitary towel or adult nappy Hmm

As soon as I saw him at the bottom of the shopping concourse I literally ran to the loo.

I only managed 3 months in that job Sad and my bladder was fucked for a year after.