Docked for breaks i don't have.

[Swimminglikeaswan]

Hi! A quick q pleasethankyou. We are permanantly short staffed at work so stopping for a break is not an option. We all pull together, suck it up, and work shifts from start to end non- stop. What really annoys me about this, is the company i work for still deducts breaks from our pay. Is this legal?

If you work more than 6 hours in a shift then you're legally entitled to at least a 20 minute uninterrupted break. You should be getting the break regardless of being short staffed

When you say they 'deduct' them - you mean they show as a deduction on your payslip, or do you mean they are unpaid breaks and you're not getting overtime for working them?

Are you at or near min wage?

You're legally entitled to a break if you work more than 6 hours. Breaks being "not an option" is illegal.

Who says it's not an option? A team leader or boss or yourselves not wanting others to go and leave you whilst they have a break? What hours are you working?

They can't just stop you having a break if you work more than 6 hours.

I automatically get 30 minutes deducted from my time worked once it’s gone past 6 hours, whether I’ve taken the break or not. I think that’s quite standard. Refusing to let you take the break is what’s not allowed.

They legally have to give you breaks if you work over 6 hrs, if you are choosing not to take them then they cant pay you for the time otherwise they would ne breaking the law. Who says they are not an option, what would happen if you took them?

Depending on the hours that you work you are legally entitled to breaks

Can't you stagger them?

If you’re not being paid for that break period then you don’t work. It sounds like you’re choosing to work during your unpaid breaks, which is your own fault. It’s not your problem if they’re short staffed during a time when you’re not being paid to work.

Antartcticant, they are unpaid breaks we work through as it is for a well known coffee outlet, if we stopped for whichever length of time it would leave one person trying to run a restaurant or drive through single handed which is impossible. Yes it is just above minimum which means for the hours we actually work we walk away with just below minimum wage. None of us mind working through as we are team players but what sucks is being penalised for it!

It’s your choice not to take your break. Management should be arranging for cover for those breaks.
A burnt out workforce is not a productive workforce in the long run

Yes it is just above minimum which means for the hours we actually work we walk away with just below minimum wage.

There is your illegal part, then. Info here:

www.gov.uk/overtime-your-rights

You are not being penalised you are just not taking your unpaid breaks. They cant pay you for them otherwise they would be breaking the law. So you either work through them which you dont seem to mind or you take them. Either way you will be paid the same. You just won't get paid for working during an unpaid break.

You are being penalised though. You jsut aren't taking (or perhaps aren't beginning allowed to take) them. You need to raise it with your manager, all of you need to say, 'We have been working through breaks now for x time to help out but this isn't sustainable long term as it means the company isn't actually paying us for the time worked. What is being done to resolve the staffing levels?'

@Swimminglikeaswan

Antartcticant, they are unpaid breaks we work through as it is for a well known coffee outlet, if we stopped for whichever length of time it would leave one person trying to run a restaurant or drive through single handed which is impossible. Yes it is just above minimum which means for the hours we actually work we walk away with just below minimum wage. None of us mind working through as we are team players but what sucks is being penalised for it!

If this makes your pay below minimum wage you can report to HMRC as it's illegal.

@Swimminglikeaswan

Antartcticant, they are unpaid breaks we work through as it is for a well known coffee outlet, if we stopped for whichever length of time it would leave one person trying to run a restaurant or drive through single handed which is impossible. Yes it is just above minimum which means for the hours we actually work we walk away with just below minimum wage. None of us mind working through as we are team players but what sucks is being penalised for it!

What needs to happen is that they employ enough people to run a shift legally

It is reasonable to adjust your breaks and to have it at a quieter moment, but not to abandon them

It’s valid to not pay you for your breaks, but if they don’t sort the issue then your shift should be longer

If you are so busy at a drive in that there is never an opportunity to have a break then they can afford to pay another person

You're looking at it the wrong way round. It's for management to deal with the lack of staff. Legally you must have a break.

You can be a team player and take your breaks. It is not you that has decided to short staff the place. I know it’s not easy, but they will keep taking advantage of you being ‘team players’.

If you work a 7 hour shift and don't take a break, the company cannot be seen to making you work the full 7 hours so will only pay you for 6 hours 40 minutes (using 20 minutes as a legal minimum).

Pay would be undeniable proof that you're not having your legally required breaks and would place the company in serious jeopardy of being brought to account for breaking the law.

How you handle that is up to you, but legally the company are right not to pay you to break the law, however they're also breaking the law by making it impossible (or as near as) for you to actually take a break. Personally I'd raise this little catch 22 with someone senior and ask how it's going to be resolved.

As others have said legally they have to put a break of at least 20 mins into your working day after 6 hours. Legally they cannot stop you taking the break.

Due to staff shortage you are not taking the break so you and your employer need to work out a way for you to take it. They cannot do away with it though and pay you straight through with no break if your shift is over 6 hrs

It sounds like you are actively choosing to cover up for poor staffing by forfeiting your break. Stop doing that and then see what happens.

@BobbinHood

I automatically get 30 minutes deducted from my time worked once it’s gone past 6 hours, whether I’ve taken the break or not. I think that’s quite standard. Refusing to let you take the break is what’s not allowed.

This.

So basically

1. The work culture puts pressure on you to break the law by not taking the required breaks
2. Your payslips do not reflect the actual time you work. Fraud.

You sound like a committed employee and reading your first OP I thought perhaps you were a healthcare worker in A&E or some other environment where handover between shifts could be problematic. I see you work at a cofee chain. It's not beyond the powers of man for your manager to follow the law by arranging staggered breaks. Literally nobody will die.

Just take your breaks ...its fecking coffee 🙄

would leave one person trying to run a restaurant or drive through single handed which is impossible

^ take your breaks. Let service grind to a halt and encourage angry customers at the drive through to complain about how you're shift staffed.

• short staffed