Can employer dictate what you can/can’t do during unpaid lunch hour?

[BaffledMum22]

I’ll try and get all the basics in. I work in as an assistant manager in a small retail environment. I’m hourly paid at a decent rate which suits me fine. Since returning back to proper hours etc after all the lockdowns we have been running with reduced staff. Pre-covid we’d have had 3/4 staff on depending on the day. Since returning we’re now running with 2 - so just myself and 1 other staff member all day.

Other staff member gets a 1 hour lunch and allowed to take it as they please - in the staff room or leave the shop etc. I’m left alone to deal with customers etc which is fine.

As management I’ve been told that I’m no longer allowed to leave the shop on my lunch hour as I have to be available at all times to help with any customer complaints/returns and to jump back in and help if it gets busy. There are days where I’ve been called away from my lunch 5 or 6 times to deal with issues. I can no longer make appointments or run errands during my lunch break as I have to be available.

Am I wrong in thinking that if I’m expected to be available to work during my lunch hour and can’t use it as I please then I should be paid for it?

I would agree that it should be paid or you should be allowed to leave the premises. Maybe theres a compromise to take a half hour lunch?

In effect they are saying you get no lunch hour. Your right if you are working then you should be getting paid for it. It's a really cheeky way of them getting you to work for free. If I were you then I wouldn't work unpaid and go out during my lunch hour. They sound horrible to work for.

You're entitled to an uninterrupted break of 20 minutes if you work over 6 hours and no they cannot dictate what you do on it. This 20 minutes can be unpaid.

As PP said they are breaking employment law if you don't get at least 20 minutes. If they can't operate without you at lunchtime then they need to close for lunch.

Thats how it always used to work when i was manager, always had to be a manager in store, however, if my lunch was interupted i would then add that time onto the end.

Also, we were never allowed to only have 1 member of staff in store, so if there was only 2 of us neither would be able to leave

My employer tried this. The next day I told them that I was going out on my break today. They said I had to stay. I said they'd have to pay me if they wanted to dictate how I used my non-work time. They looked irritated (that they hadn't managed to use me as a slave) and said I could go if I wanted to, but it was very inconvenient!! I didn't stay there long.

It can be helpful to have a good legal source to quote before you take them on - I recommend ACAS - their website is good, or you can phone them

@juneybean

You're entitled to an uninterrupted break of 20 minutes if you work over 6 hours and no they cannot dictate what you do on it. This 20 minutes can be unpaid.

This.

And if it’s an hour unpaid, again it’s non working time and they can’t dictate what you do for that time.

I had an employer who tried this once, I pointed out their legal obligations and they didn’t get very far with it.

In addition to the legal requirement for a lunch break, I trust you've had sight of a lone working risk assessment and given appropriate training........

They're breaking the law on a number of counts here.

Hmm. This is fairly standard. I am also an AM and if there is no other keyholder then I don't leave the store as it cannot be open without a keyholder inside, so not even a ciggy break. Open to close. Usually the staff have a crossover in the main service windows (so three staff, they basically cover each other then one leaves, so just the two of us morning, crossover for breaks then two of us in the afternoon) so I can send them on breaks, but the other day there was just two of us so we closed for 15 mins so my employee could have their lunch. I still couldn't leave. And yes, they were meant to have half an hour. As the store had to stop trade, we had to get senior senior management approval as well. I generally do not get a break as there is no other keyholder and the employees cannot be left alone on the shop floor. I even did two 12 hour shifts recently without a break. As an AM we regularly work 45 hrs a week plus, but are salaried, so no overtime.
That's retail for you!
That all said, I absolutely love my job! The perks outweigh the bad stuff!

Thanks all. I’ve worked in retail for the last 16 years and have worked for my fair share of bad employers. Honestly, I’ve been with this company for 3 years and they have been like a breath of fresh air in the retail world. I was very much working the same as @TwoDaysOff describes until joining this company. Suddenly there was proper H&S training in place, proper risk assessments, breaks, holidays, bonuses, paid overtime so the fact they’ve suddenly thrown this “no leaving the shop” issue at me has baffled me a bit. They are an excellent employer - I had an excellent maternity leave, flexible return to work to work around childcare, I have been given various training opportunities which have been great. So usually I wouldn’t bother much over having to stay in the shop for an hour but we have quite a busy lifestyle, live quite rurally and I work in our nearest town, my DH works away from home for weeks at a time and aside from when I’m at work we have no other childcare so my lunch hour is when I run errands in town and attend appointments etc. It’s my only “child free” time in the week to get things done. So it feels like a horrendous waste of my time sitting in a staff room for an hour then having to trail my toddler back into town on one of my days off to do whatever errands need done 🙄

It sounds like you work for my previous company.

I was often the only manager on duty and the rule was you couldn't leave the premises at lunch if you were the only person with keys (something to do with insurance).

I would ask if the keys are the issues and if so, ask if another member of staff can be a designated key holder and either have a spare set of keys on them or take your keys while you go out for lunch.

If you're not being paid for your lunch break, which I doubt you are, I'd push back and say no. When I worked for the emergency services we had to stay on site for our breaks as we had a buzzer and if shit hit the fan we had to run back in, but we were paid for breaks ie paid for the entirety of the shift but had breaks.