Rest breaks and rest periods

New and updated

• Type:

  Employment law manual

  Rest breaks and rest periods

  The law on rest breaks and rest periods, including the implications of the Working Time Regulations 1998, the temporary changes in place during the relaxation of the enforcement on EU drivers' hours and domestic drivers' hours rules due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), exclusions, and complaints to employment tribunals.

• Type:

  Legal timetable

  Temporary relaxation of EU rules on drivers' hours introduced

  Updated to reflect that the temporary relaxation of EU rules on drivers' hours in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been extended until 31 May 2020 and includes all sectors.

• Date:

  3 October 2019

  Type:

  Law reports

  Working time: Threat to dismiss was unlawful detriment

  In Pazur v Lexington Catering Services Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that a kitchen porter had been subjected to a detriment when he was threatened with dismissal after he refused to return to work following a breach of his right to a rest break.

• Date:

  7 August 2019

  Type:

  Law reports

  NHS trust's monitoring of junior doctors' rest breaks is "flawed"

  In Hallett v Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Court of Appeal held that an NHS trust's use of commercial software to monitor rest breaks results in a breach of junior doctors' terms and conditions of service.

• Type:

  Policies and documents

  Working hours policy

  Updated to include information on Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche Bank SAE, in which the ECJ held that EU law means that Spanish legislation should require employers to set up a system to record workers' actual daily working time.

• Date:

  13 March 2019

  Type:

  Law reports

  Working time: Compensatory rest period need not be one continuous break of 20 minutes

  In Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Crawford, the Court of Appeal held that, under reg.24 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833), a compensatory rest period need not consist of an uninterrupted 20 minutes provided that it has the same value in terms of contributing to the worker's wellbeing.

• Date:

  21 March 2018

  Type:

  Law reports

  Working time: No compensation for injury to feelings for rest break failures

  In Santos Gomes v Higher Level Care Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that compensation for injury to feelings is not available in a claim under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) for a failure to provide 20-minute rest breaks..

• Type:

  FAQs

  Where a worker is entitled to a 20-minute rest break under the Working Time Regulations 1998 can this be taken as two 10-minute breaks?

• Date:

  16 January 2018

  Type:

  Law reports

  Working time: Compensatory rest period must be one continuous break of 20 minutes

  In Crawford v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that, as far as possible, compensatory rest must comprise a continuous 20-minute rest break, not an aggregate 20 minutes of shorter breaks.

• Date:

  24 November 2017

  Type:

  Law reports

  Working time: ECJ rules on timing of weekly rest periods

  In this Portuguese case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that the weekly rest period of 24 hours may be granted on any day during each seven-day period, and not necessarily the day following six consecutive working days.