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.

So glad you have a new job lined up. If you can at all afford it, I would hand notice in now.

Hospitals and care homes dont follow the WTR rules, also the 11 hours between "shifts" is applicable if its a constant set shift you work, ie long days or nights.
But if your Changing shifts ( an actual shift worker ) there can be less, from my own experience 7 hours excluding actualy getting to and from work and your average rest is calculated over a longer average time period.
Quick turn arounds arent fun but its part of the "being a shift worker" thing.

I completely understand, care homes really take the p** out of their staff. All of the places I have worked in expect you to come in 15 mins early unpaid everyday for the handover, stay late if necessary with no time in lieu, the manager isn't paid for being all call the whole weekend. That's just the tip of the iceberg. And they wonder why they can't get staff!

Oh yeah, tell me about it. Expected to be in early unpaid for handover. Ridiculous.

My youngest worked in a residential home for autistic young adults.
They worked 14 hour shifts and weren't allowed a break at all, they had to eat meals with the residents while assisting the residents to eat their own meals.
Staff couldn't even find a few minutes peace to gulp a quick cuppa down because there was nowhere in the home to go without a resident around.
Staff weren't allowed to leave the premises while on shift unless on company business, such as taking the residents out somewhere.
They didn't get their 11 hours rest period between shifts either.
I don't know how they got, and continue to get away with it.
My youngest lasted less than six months before walking out like all the other staff.
How do these places get away with it? Surely CQC must notice?

You most definitely can report to CQC anonymously. If you are really worried pretend you are a relative and it is what you have witnessed regularly when visiting your great aunt/ cousin/ uncle etc ! You really should, because these vulnerable people need to be looked after .

That's a good idea, I'm going to pretend I'm a relative. I'm handing in my notice tomorrow!
Another shift tonight with zero break whilst the smokers got theirs.

@Mrsblobby12
(in my experience of smokers’ breaks they always get theirs but that means there’s just more work for everyone. And they don’t tend to class their smoke break as a break. They’ll say they didn’t get a break - ignoring the 6 times they went out for 5-10 minutes!)

anyway I’m sure you’ll feel great relief handing your notice in. I’m working my notice in my current role as 13 hours plus no break is making me ill on me days off.

I agree 100% Op, it’s disgusting.
My husband is a lorry driver who works 14 hour shifts, comes home about 6pm, has a sandwich for his tea and goes straight to bed because he’s in again at 4am and has a long commute there so has to be up before 3am. He legally has to take rest breaks but they have so much to do that his break consists of being a passenger in the lorry. The toilets on road side are utterly disgusting too so he usually tries to hold it.

As a waitress and manager of a restaurant I also never had proper breaks because we were left to run the place by ourselves meaning the second someone walked in or the phone rang we were the only ones there to deal with it. I’ve worked in coffee shops under similar conditions and my nieces have done bakery/retail/ customer service jobs and it’s always the same god damn story. Employers taking the absolute piss and I have no idea how to get around it. It’s always the people who get the least pay who work the god damn hardest.

That's rubbish for your husband too :/

Well I've emailed my notice in. Done now. It was the right thing.

Yep, 10 minute breaks every hour for the smokers is a standard!

Yup. I’m a midwife on a labour ward and it’s just deemed as acceptable not to have a break on a 12.5hr shift

Can you leave the premises for lunch? They can’t argue with that.

Just seen you’ve had handed your notice in. Well done ! They’re taking advantage.

It's insane how much people are expected to have the pateince and strength to care properly while being treating like shit themselves.

Carers (in all forms) should be getting MORE breaks than many of us - not less.

I don't blame you for wanting out, OP. It's not right.

Nhs worker, as said half hour lunch unpaid. Not that you ever get to take it

Similar in teaching. Meetings before school, during lunch time and after. Some days if I'm on break duty and running a lunchtime club, I work an 11 hour day with maybe a grabbed ten mins for lunch and even then can be interrupted if there's a problem with a pupil in my class. Am leaving end of the academic year.

Never got breaks - lucky to get to use the loo when I worked in care pre-covid. It’s a terrible industry, given it’s all about care, health etc.
just don’t move into hospitality - often expected to just do 14-16 hour shifts without prior notice, no breaks, and now they expect you to accept unpaid overtime (docking the hours you have done from the electronic system after you’ve already done them) … and they wonder why staff are leaving in droves or point blank refusing to do even a minute past their contracted hours. Effectively a huge pay cut despite the recent min wage increase.

I think a fair number of employers blame people not wanting to work, saying people have become lazy, when actually people will work, and want to work, but aren’t willing to do it for free or be treated like a robot, all whilst the company owners/shareholders get richer and richer.

So many jobs rely on the goodwill of employees and it's wrong

It’s interesting I actually work in a care home and a hospitality setting and both places are genuinely good at making sure you get your breaks. Care home in particular you get a paid break every 2-2.5 hours for a coffee/ tea or meal break. It’s such a tough job for the carers, much easier to be good at your job especially with the trickier residents if you know you can sit down with tea and biscuits in half an hour.

There are decent employers out there. I’m glad you’ve quit OP I hope you find a better job/ employer. It does the industry no good when people run themselves ragged propping up an understaffed home. Far better to quit, report and move on to a better employer.

Wow that sounds amazing, I'm glad there are good homes like that out there.
In ours the smokers just walk outside for a fag whenever they fancy (not saying all smokers are like this).
No management on evening shifts to enforce anything sadly.
Only 3 shifts to go then I'm out! Will miss the residents a lot though.

We have one very lovely resident who smokes so she’s super popular with the smokers on day shift as they take her out for a cigarette break in the garden and have one themselves. You’d get a disciplinary/ sacked for just wandering off when you felt like it.

In our home it’s the senior who would manage breaks etc. If there is not enough staff and no guidance / rota from management it’s impossible. I can’t even imagine how stressful/ demoralising it must be knowing you have such a long shift ahead without a proper break. As I said before it’s definitely the right decision to move on. Please do report though for the benefit of the residents.