Breaks

[admin]

Worked at a place on Monday (large chain) that opens 8.30am to 6.30pm. There was a notice displayed in the managers office that basically said that you are not allowed to leave the premises (even if unpaid time), and you were entitled to a 20 minute break during the working day. Is it me, or is a mere 20 minutes during a 10 hour day (a hard day) reasonable?

[johnep]

If you are not being paid then I believe no court would say you had to do what your employer insists. Unpaid time is yours to do with what you will.

johnep.

[admin]

If you are not being paid then I believe no court would say you had to do what your employer insists. Unpaid time is yours to do with what you will.

johnep.

That's what I thought, but they made it clear that if you were off the premises for over half an hour (I think - will check tomorrow) they had to let the PCT know. If away for an hour they said they had to shut the shop, unless the shop normally closes for lunch. I don't get it, it seems unfair, and at worst illegal.

Ok I have a personal interest in this, because I am disabled (artificial hip joint) and to be honest, just having 20 mins sit down during the day is killing me. I'm having to take more pain killers then I usually do (paracetamol/codeine), and every time I try to get a sit down, it lasts about 30 seconds!

I know I could not go to the store, which I may soon have to, but I do like the staff there and generally have a good day. On Monday though, I got a script pushed under my nose after every bite of my sarnies, so didn't really have a proper break all day.

I also believe that just letting them do this, and simply moving on, is not a proper way to go about things. I can imagine some poor kid from Poland being told this is how we work over here, and it doesn't seem fair to me.

I can't see that if you take an hour (unpaid) as a lunch, that they can stop you (except by not employing you) as all the other staff are entiltled to a proper break at lunchtime.

I also thought that the law means that during any six hour period you are entitled to 20 mins of break time. They are basically saying "ok, work for six hours, have 20 mins break. Sorry, only four hours left - no more break".

Is it just me, or are working conditions just getting worse every year!

[johnep]

Try to make a habit of sitting on stool at cptr. You will be surprised how thsi makes a difference, even if just a minute or so.
johnep

[admin]

Try to make a habit of sitting on stool at cptr. You will be surprised how thsi makes a difference, even if just a minute or so.
johnep

The place I work at doesn't have a stool. I once asked an area manager why there wasn't a stool in the whole place, and people were taking it in turns to sit on a step up, to eat their sarnies. His reply was "we don't pay people to sit down".

[johnep]

The old shops act used to stipulate that a chair should be provided for every three female employees so they may sit down. (Men have to stand, dogs on three legs) The old joke from Half a sixpence!

I am sure Health and Safety at Work regs will have similar clause. Check with PDA.

My comment re stockroom was because that was where the stool had been shifted to by the manager. I was going to buy my own but an assistant told me where it was.

In my experience virtually every dispensary has a stool. When I asked for one at BTC in Milton Keynes, the girls promptly labelled it 'the old fart's stool'.

Stools can be picked up cheaply. The most uncomfortable ones are the design used by SD.
johnep

[admin]

The old shops act used to stipulate that a chair should be provided for every three female employees so they may sit down. (Men have to stand, dogs on three legs) The old joke from Half a sixpence!

I am sure Health and Safety at Work regs will have similar clause. Check with PDA.

My comment re stockroom was because that was where the stool had been shifted to by the manager. I was going to buy my own but an assistant told me where it was.

In my experience virtually every dispensary has a stool. When I asked for one at BTC in Milton Keynes, the girls promptly labelled it 'the old fart's stool'.

Stools can be picked up cheaply. The most uncomfortable ones are the design used by SD.
johnep

I appreciate your comments John, but some places have no stool - honest! I can't really carry my own around with me can I.

[Jeff]

I appreciate your commenys John, but some places have no stool - honest! I can't really carry my own around with me can I.

Brillaint idea - one of those walking sticks that opens up to become a one legged stool. If you get one with a nice steel point it should leave some lovely holes in the floor.

http://tinyurl.com/yt2rlw

Any objections from the owner and mention the disablilty discrimination act and how bad the publicity would look if it made the local papers.

Jeff

[johnep]

I bought a light weight one from Argos which I kept in the car boot.

I am sure someone somewhere makes a folding one. The ones I have seen in camping stores are a bit low though.
johnep

[admin]

Any objections from the owner and mention the disablilty discrimination act and how bad the publicity would look if it made the local papers.

Jeff

It doesn't work like that I'm afraid, not in real life. Here's a lovely time I once had in Scarborough: -

I parked my car for the day behind this very large store, that was in a row of shops. It was on a very steep hill (Scarborough is very hilly). I rang the bell, was let in, and worked for the morning. During the morning, I went to the loo, but as this was up five flights of stairs, I decided I would eat my lunch in my car. The manager was also a pharmacist, so she told me to go for lunch from 12pm to 1pm, and she would have her lunch at 1pm.

I went back throught the door I had come in, and started reading the paper and eating my lunch, sat in my car. All of a sudden the back door flew open, and this very angry manager started banging on my car window. I rolled the window down and asked "what's up?". She shouted at me that they don't use the back door. I told her I had been told to park there (by her) in the morning, and what was I supposed to do? She replied "you can walk round to get back in".

I told her I couldn't walk down a steep hill, around a block of shops and back again just because she wanted me to. I then added I am a registered disabled person, to which she replied "tough!" If there wasn't a camera there I would have smacked the little t**t, so I went home instead. I did get paid for the full day after my agency complained about this, but the company insisted I wrote a letter saying I would never take it any further. I never wrote the letter, but asked a solicitor I know if there was anything I could do about this, and the reply was a firm no.

It isn't nice to be treated like this, wether it's because you are disabled, black, Asian or whatever, but in practice there isn't a lot you can do about it, especially when you have to work to pay your mortgage.