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?

Your employer should not be allowing you to split your lunch break like this. You need to have at least one uninterrupted 20 minute break. You can then take 10 minutes elsewhere.

An extra 12 mins on top of that does seem unreasonable. You need ot make your coffee at the start of your shift, again in your lunch break and then you could in your other 10 minute break. Visiting the loo would have been OK if there was a real need but not faffing about making hot drinks.

I remember one job where I wasn't allowed any breaks at all for ten-11 hours. If I went to the toilet I had to get someone to cover. Another one gave 20 mins in 10 hours, but you could go toilet unlimited times on top of that..

So yeah, I didn't think places like that existed anymore..they sound ridiculously tight.

You legally have to have one break of at least 20 mins.

I don’t faff about at all. It takes me the same time as getting water because we all boil the kettle whether it’s needed or not so we can get drinks quickly
I’m off today but if I go to the toilet, or on my lunch I fill the kettle and boil it so the next person can just tip the hot water in
we don’t have water in the office so I have to go to the kitchen

Fewer breaks.

It’s a forum, not a level English

I pretty much go to the toilet hourly. Luckily I've never had a job where that's been an issue!

I feel quite lucky reading these, 8 hour shift with an hour for lunch, as many brews as I like and no one monitoring toilet breaks.

This sounds bonkers!

I think everyone needs one substantial break during the day, so I wouldn’t be splitting that 30 mins in two - also sounds like you have to have one break of 20 mins +

Timing loo breaks is just mind boggling to me

It’s just a long day, if I don’t split it I’m sat down for 4hrs at a screen if I do 30 mins

That sounds utterly shit to me. I get an hour for lunch plus as many loo and tea breaks as I want/need, for a 7 hour day in an offfice.

Some people just sleepwalk into accepting appalling conditions.

You can’t really ask at interview “do I get to go to the toilet and make a drink when I want?” And it sounds a bit.. mercenary? If I ask how long a lunch break I get!

i am used to timed toilet breaks but this is the least amount of lunch/breaks I have ever had

It's awful op. In my job (not a call centre but do take client calls). We have one hour unpaid lunch and two paid for 15 minute breaks.

Denying staff access to toilets when needed is illegal due to the employer's general duty to ensure health, safety, and welfare. It could also be a breach of the Equality Act 2010 for those with a disability or medical condition requiring the need for regular toilet use. I would sternly remind the employer of this.

When I worked in a call center (long ago) we had a 15 minute break in an 4 hour shift for coffee/toilet/what have you. However I noticed that people who smoked nipped out for an extra "loo" break later so I did so as well. I had no intention of subsidising smokers by my efforts.

Why? You’re doing the job for money. It’s 100% mercenary.

(My comment wasn’t just aimed at you but all the people commenting that this is apparently fine because it’s the legal minimum.)

Just not sure it sounds great to ask in an interview when they haven’t yet offered me the job! It’s not a role you can negotiate pay or breaks in

It could also be a breach of the Equality Act 2010 for those with a disability or medical condition requiring the need for regular toilet use.

That would be addressed in reasonable adjustments/accommodations for those individual workers.

There are LOTS of jobs where you cannot just go to the toilet as and when. There are no laws regarding toilet breaks but employers need to keep health & safety in mind.

Never forget that an interview is you interviewing them as much as the other way round. But you can always address it once you’ve been offered the job but not signed the contract.

However, I’m also here to say that there are other jobs out there that wouldn’t dream of being so tightfisted around breaks so hold yourself in higher esteem and look around for an employer who treats you better than this. Jesus, even when I worked in retail I got an hour’s lunch and 2 other breaks a day! And that was 30 years ago!!

If I didn’t get up and walk about every 2 hours or so, I would be so stiff!
I thought the 5 minutes an hour off screens was legal and not part of unpaid breaks!
I look at a screen all day long.
I can also go to the toilet as many times as I need. I also drink coffee and water as I am talking on phone constantly.
I would look for another job. I am not a robot

No, no legal around it. I can look away from the screen but even so it’s a bit of a block of time sat down/screen work/talking! The coffee/tea is mostly as you obviously get really dry talking all day and I find it better than water

I couldn’t find anything else
the other place was 8-6 with 1hr lunch, no other breaks and no splitting it
everywhere seems to want 8-6 and with a disability I can’t do those hours

Is it because you take 2 x 15 mins that there isn’t enough “break time” to go to the toilet, so you end up taking extra time to go to the loo?
Whereas your colleagues who take 1 x 30 min break go to the loo I. Their break time not “work time”?

I still go to the toilet on my 15 mins if I need to go
if I took 30 mins I would need more time as I could only go once in my unpaid time

I have a routine of kettle on, toilet, eat while walking outside, vape/smoke, walk in, make brew from now boiled kettle, back to work!

Bloody hell. I've never had a job that didn't offer an hour for lunch or where you couldn't (within reason) get up and grab a coffee/water. And never, ever in my life have I known timed toilet breaks - wtf! I started work in 1974 and have worked in all sorts of places too.

I’ve never worked anywhere with an hour for lunch!