Why do we accept having no breaks at work

[Mrsblobby12]

I work part time in residential care and I am very close to putting my notice in. I'm there about 25-30h per week and another 10h of my week is ad hoc work.
I am sick to death of not getting a proper break on shifts.
For a start care staff aren't entitled to the 11 hour rest break between shifts, so I got home at 11pm and had to be up again at 6:30.
Had things to sort out when I got in so got under 7h sleep.
We were down one staff member and couldn't get anyone else to cover so we had almost 40 residents to 3 care assistants.
Apart from wolfing down a quick bite to eat and going to the toilet twice I haven't had a break in 8 hours, yet I was only paid for 7, this is standard.
It's the usual problems, underpaid, under staffed. Even if you do try to sit down, the door goes, the phone rings, someone's asking you for something, and so on.
I don't know if it's related but I had a pounding headache at the end of my shift, I came home and vomited.
Also it's a very small home and absolutely everything is still on paper unlike many homes, so it can take a couple of hours to fill everything out due to constant interruptions.
This is the case on most shifts.
Does anybody else not get a break at work? Why do we accept it?
I can't cope anymore and it's not a healthy way of Working.

The 'opt-out' for the WTR is an opt-out on the 48-hour weekly working hours, it is not an opt-out for the eleven hour gap, the twenty minute rest break, etc. (A previous poster mentioned being told to sign the opt-out).

Who told you you're exempt from the eleven hour gap?

can you work for social services run home, or nhs?
i believe they will be better managed let alone better paid and valued

I get frustrated with my work as we’re not paid for our breaks unless we’re on duty where we get paid an entire £1.75 to spend only at the canteen.
But because it’s a unit for children with SEND there has to be a certain ratio of staff to children which means we’re not allowed to leave or be too far away and have to work every break anyway.

Fortunately, we often get to eat our lunch and use the toilet etc as there are lots of staff and we all support each other in doing so.

I would not put up with what you do.
You need a proper break.
I would not want someone caring for my relatives who hasn’t had a decent break.

I would definitely start looking for other jobs.

I genuinely don’t know why carers put up with this ! I work in a care home that is well staffed ,we get paid for hour breaks and if we are late off duty we claim the time on our timesheets. Manager treats all staff in a respectful way ,always puts a thank you on our group chat if we have had an arduous day.
Happy staff = happy well cared for residents!

@Willmafrockfit sadly you are very mistaken! This problem is universal across health and social care sectors regardless of government. Funded or independently run.
Nothing to do with how well they are run, there is not enough staff to be able to safely take breaks.
Not enough staff because the pay is appalling and roles not valued or respected by society or government.

We don’t accept it. You accept it by continuing to prop up the system. You’re not exempt from the 11 hours rule. Educate yourself and go elsewhere. You’re being taken for a ride but you can say no! It’s not your problem to solve and as a PP said, your employer is likely breaking the rules around NMW.

Yanbu. This is partly why I stick to office work where I always get a break and a 30 min walk at lunch.

I can't speak to care but it's the same for catering you don't get paid for breaks but are rarely quiet enough to take them.

30 residents isn't that small. We have 30 residents and I worked yesterday we had 8 carers and 2 nurses in the morning 9 carers after 4pm. Night shift had 4 carers and one nurse

Sorry yes it's a very small company that owns it, they own 3 homes in the area. It just wasn't possible to take a break, because there were only 2 of us on the floor for 37 residents. So for example if Sandra is incontinent, she needs 2 care staff to stand her up and take her to get changed, and so on.
It's such a shame, the residents deserve better as well as the staff.

Also most homes have keypad system now but ours doesn't, as it's the weekend there are many visitors so we're constantly up and down letting people in and out. Plus with it being a dementia home residents are trying to escape which triggers a loud alarm numerous times a day.
We then have to run around the home finding out which door they've tried to get out of.
Then there are 2 of us to hand out 37 meals and drinks, one cook, and numerous external staff who for some reason are allowed to visit during protected mealtimes, so that leaves one person to hand out 37 meals because the district nurse needs you to help her take Albert to the toilet.
I know it's hard for them too, and it's maybe the only times they can attend.
It's an absolute nightmare

Your home needs a visit from CQC . 2carers looking after 37 residents is dangerous ! Are there RNs on duty as well ?

You are working unpaid to make the care home owners a massive profit.

This is shocking and so wrong.

You need to report this to the CQC, as your management team is clearly not up to scratch.

I think there are some sectors where this is just accepted.

Education is similar.

In my last role (school management) I didn’t take a single break in my 11-hour day at school. I’d eat my lunch standing in the playground on duty and that would be abandoned if there was a fight or a discipline issue or something else that needed my attention.

And then I’d commute home and start more (unpaid!) work after dinner.

I burnt out eventually and had to leave schools for a different sector.

Before I started working for the NHS I couldn't understand why the working week was 37.5 hours rather than 35. Then I discovered the 30 minute lunch break. Previously I'd always had an hour (unpaid).
30 minutes isn't enough time to do anything except bolt some food

I worked for 2 years in a care home and then out on community care.

It broke me. And it's not until you get a decent job that you realise how shit is actually is. I'm type 2 diabetic and it was making me really unwell to keep going so long in between eating, and it didn't matter how many times I explained that I needed a 15 minute break every 6 hours. I often ate breakfast at 7am and then didn't get a break until 4.30pm - it was too much.

Agreed. If you can't feel you can tell them whilst working there please let them know everything you've said here when you leave.

You need a conversation with the home owners about the fact that they are currently breaking the law and they need to remedy it immediately. Also, how difficult can it be for them to sort out keypad entry systems, protected mealtimes and a system which tells you which door it is that a resident has tried to get out of?

I know it's not easy for them to recruit staff, but the converse of that is that it would be very easy for you to get another job. Your employers need to be aware of that.

I’d quit, and make it really clear in your resignation letter why. As in literally write that you will be looking for a career that better supports a work/life balance and allows for proper breaks during the working day.

I used to work in care. Moved to retail work now, earn the same money and do way way less, and absolutely no stress at all.

Thank the baby boomers, their destruction of employment rights, the unions who did nothing, and the way anyone who said anything was sent on change management courses and it was made very clear they were viewed as trouble makers. I don’t get a break either and it’s shit.

I really feel for you. I used to do care work, I'd get 30 mins for lunch and 15 mins for break in evening. There was no staffroom so you'd have to sit in the lounge/diner with the residents who had dementia constantly coming over to you. You were not allowed to leave the site despite it being an unpaid break. I used to go and sit in my car just to get some peace.

So glad i left and earn waaayyy more now for far less stress.

Honestly I’d change care homes / go independent. I work in a small care home with only 26 residents two days a week. All staff get paid tea break and paid lunch break or other meals as appropriate, free meals on shift chosen from residents menu. Soup/ sandwich, salad or a hot meal. Not allowed to leave premises for breaks as still being paid but that seems fair. Some places run only on the goodwill of their staff. Your employers are taking advantage. Move on.

Your home is running on unsafe staffing. What if Sandra needs her pad changed and jim tries to get out the bed at the same time. You need more than 2 bodies on the floor. Is is a nursing home? Is there an RN?

Why is it accepted that we don't take breaks? Because we need to stand up to management and not accept unfair working conditions. Management need to either provide cover for breaks or pay you. They are stealing as a very minimum £1600 off you a year. Chances are its probably taking you under minimum wage and they owe you a whole lot more. If they can't afford to have an extra stuff member to cover breaks then they can't afford to run the home. They get away with it using guilt, 'oh I need you to come in at 6 because I'll have no one'. Then it becomes a culture and new staff feel like they can speak up to unfair and unsafe working conditions.

If I'm mentoring a student or NQ nurse the first thing I tell them is to always take their breaks. We all feel guilt to stay and stress that you'll never get anything done but our job is mentally and physically exhausting and you work more effectively if you sit down for 20 minutes and have a cup of tea.

You absolutely are entitled in law to have 11 hours as a minimum off between shifts to rest. You can't even opt out of this, if you were to make a mistake at work that was serious, like a drugs error which caused harm which was later investigated; if they saw you'd not taken the opportunity to rest then it wouldn't look good.

This is the ACAS website which highlights your entitlement.
https://www.acas.org.uk/working-time-rules/jobs-with-different-working-time-rules

Also the company is obviously taking the mick, every single one of those residents will be paying several hundred pounds a week to live there, sometimes as much as £800/week, yet the company is choosing not to pay sufficient wages to have sufficient staffing levels!?!? What you're describing is clearly unsafe.

Normally I'd advocate going to the employer and giving them an opportunity to make right, but this is so deliberately neglectful I would just go straight to safeguarding. Provide a copy of the rota, the number of patients you're expected to look after, the kind of care needs they have - not mobile/hoisted, dementia, any complexity to the drugs round. Have there been any incidents - i.e. long lie on the floor because all too busy elsewhere to realise someone had fallen, or delayed discovery as a patient who'd died are common in the homes I visit where staff are struggling. There'll be an investigation and changes will be mandated.

Recently I did a 20 hour shift, I slept for three of them and was woken twice in those three hours. I didn't leave the office/building the whole 20 hours except to move my car which took under 5 minutes.

I was lone working for all but 4 of those 20 hours and I was paid £10.40 per hour of the 12.5 hour night shift, and £11.25 per hour for the day time hours. I dealt with the police twice, and social services four times.

I ate in front of the computer while I typed and I managed to eat a sandwich when I got into bed at 1am.

I don't work there anymore...