Is this too many work breaks?

[officeissues]

NC obviously
been told to have less breaks outside my breaks…
i get 30 mins lunch in 8.5hrs but I split it into 2 x 15 mins
outside of that I’ve used 12 mins to make a coffee and go to the toilet
does that seem unreasonable?

Not at all it sounds like you're not getting enough breaks if anything

That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. Though it very much depends on your particular work environment, what breaks your colleagues take, and what impact taking a break has.

In one place I worked, if we worked 8.5 hrs we’d get an hour for lunch, and another 30 minute break. In a different place I worked 8.5 hrs and only got a 30 minute lunch break, but was allowed to nip to the loo or make a coffee whenever I wanted.

It depends what you do. If you’re a paramedic going off to make a coffee when someone needs urgent attention, those minutes could have killed them. If you work in an office and it doesn’t impact anyone else then I don’t see the issue, apart from the fact that if it involves screens you should have more breaks.

definitely can’t kill anyone! If there are calls queuing then I am as quick as I can but there is calls queuing all day and sometimes I need the toilet

You are legally entitled to a 20 minute break for an 8.5 hour shift so your employer is giving you an extra 10 minutes!

How do you get any kind of break by splitting it into 2 x 15 minutes? By the time you go to the toilet, make a coffee and get your sandwich out your 15 minutes is up.

Are you allowed to eat while you work? Are you allowed to get coffee and go to the toilet in work time? Does your employer think you have too many toilet breaks and too many cups of coffee? Are you spending lots of time talking to other people while you are making the coffee? I have had employers that have monitored number of toilet breaks and visits to the kitchen.

15 mins is just enough to eat, make a coffee, wee and have a cigarette (bad habit!)
I’ll even put the kettle on before I go outside so that I’m not waiting about for the kettle to boil
but to walk to the toilets, wee, wash hands, walk back is 6 mins and that’s with rushing as much as I can

No eating while working
yes to coffee and toilet and no! I put the kettle on while I run to the toilet, we never go on a break at the same time

If you work in a call centre and are presumably in front of a computer screen all day, you’ll find some supportive information to help with necessary breaks here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/work-routine.htm

We get what we are entitled to and a bit more so over the 20 mins in 6hrs
not data entry so we aren’t looking at the screen all day

When do you eat?

Why do I feel like this is about a colleague and you’re pissed off about breaks they are having ?

I could be wrong though …

Oh no, it’s about me. If I was pissed off about a colleague I CBA posting, I would just go to my manager

On one of my 15 mins

Not giving anything actually as the 30 minute break will be unpaid.

When I worked in a call centre the comfort break time was set as 10 mins per shift, so you're exceeding that. Get an office job instead!

Legally you’re only entitled to 20minutes uninterrupted (unpaid) break after 6 hours of work during which I suppose you’d be expected to make coffee etc. Although you can’t help needing the toilet outside of your allocated break and 12 minutes in a whole day to do this doesn’t sound unreasonable .

Yeah it counts everything like filling up my water etc
i try and do as much as i can in my lunch but sometimes I need the toilet or to get some water

Is it the smoking that’s the issue do you think? I’m guessing this is the reason that you split your breaks, and I wonder if someone has decided you are sneaking extra ciggie breaks & reported you.

If you’ve done nothing wrong, don’t worry, but maybe keep a note of your breaks.

I don’t think so as others smoke/vape, and our breaks are timed so I click lunch for my 2 x 15 and then anything else is “break/toilet”
I don’t smoke outside my lunch time

Wow, in Australia you’d be entitled to a half hour unpaid break and 2 x 15 minute paid breaks in a shift that long, under most awards.

Sounds brutal, look for another job.
It's unreasonable to limit loo breaks to one 10 minute break over an 8.5 hour day (plus 30mins for lunch)
Next they will fitting staff with catheters!
Lunch split into 2 x 15 min sections then and another 13 mins per 8.5 hours as loo breaks isn't excessive or unreasonable.
It's only the 13 mins per day to go to the loo that's in paid work time.
No wonder so few call centres I get through to are in Britian manned by British staff instead of India.

It’s a fairly new job been here about 9 months

That’s what I’ve had previously in 8.5-10hr shifts
I try and keep it to a minimum but on a Saturday where I do 5.5hrs and don’t get a break, I do need the toilet!

Do you work for 111 ? Because they are very strict about breaks

Nope! Although I have prev worked for the NHS but that was 12hrs shifts and we got 30 mins and 3 x 15 mins