To take a lunch break I'm not entitled to ?

[Vanillamanilla1]

I work in the leisure industry, I'm new there , think a little short of 2 months
It's the only job I could get at the time as I left previous job on the spur of the moment but I am looking at other jobs and I applied for loads and loads , this Came up
I get paid literally minimum wage , last night was very busy so didn't get a break , which is ok but I was lead to believe in extreme circumstances of busyness I would be paid
This turns out be untrue , if I don't take it I lose it , found this out from another manager last night
Now , we get 1/2 hour to close down. Last night it just never happened..I stayed unpaid for over an hour on top of the 1/2 hour allowance and had no break so realistically they owe me 2 hours ... We HAD to finish the job
I didn't realise this either but it's a case of " well we can't leave it for the person in the morning it's unfair '
I feel like shit and got a cold coming , doing a smallish shift where I'm.not entitled to a break
However the shift leader I'm working with is very very hot on clicking out for cigarette breaks ( I don't smoke ) or making phones calls which I have done previously as I've got a latch key kid and want to make sure she's home safe
I feel rubbish but know I will struggle a little towards the end of the shift but would like 1/2 hour just to take medication, perhaps have something quick to eat it or drink
I know she will make me " clock out " so it's unpaid but to be fair the company owe me nearly 2 hours from last night unpaid as well as other shifts where it's too busy to take a break
Would it be UR for me to say " actually no I won't be clocking out , I'm taking some unpaid time back " of course this won't be at the expense of the business needs and won't make the others work harder I anticipate it being a quiet day
I never once complain about staying the extra 15-20 minutes unpaid or the breaks I've missed but equally I don't feel well and just know I'll struggle a little later
I won't not go in , I feel feverish but wouldn't see this as excuse to bunk off work ,
How would you handle todays situation , she doesn't really like me so I can see this escalate a little of my refusal to clock out

I work in leisure and it's well known that employees are treated like second class citizens. Of course by law (working time directive?) you are entitled to your breaks but in reality it often doesn't happen and management turn a blind eye. They will certainly not allow you to have a break on the next shift to make up for the one missed the shift before. I agree whole heartedly it's unfair and don't think YABU but your employer won't agree.

I was told by my manager and area manager that they will not pay for unplanned overtime and it's just what happens in the leisure industry and that it's industry standard. My trade union rep laughed at them but I'm a minnow to the massive organisation I work for.....

Is this not similar to the highly publicised Sports Direct minimum wage senario?
SD employees were forced to stay after their shift to have their bags searched. If I remember correctly, this could take up to an hour and it was successfully argues that m
Not paying them for that hour took their oay under the minimum wage.

Min wage jobs treat you like crap because you’re disposable and replaceable. Your only option is to find another job and let them find another sucker to work for free. Personally I’d refuse to work after clocking out and would insist on my break. If I got sacked then whatever, I’ll just get another min wage job.

If you can afford to lose it I’d be clocking out leaving/refusing to clock out.

Unlawful, not illegal. You can’t be arrested for it.

It's illegal if expressly forbidden, unlawful if not expressly permitted.
There are some slightly older reasons for the difference too - illegal being forbidden in statute and unlawful being judged to not be legal via law (that isn't covered by statute).

That's my understanding.