Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service Factsheet

The government introduced European regulations about working hours and breaks from work in 1998, which were followed with extra rules about young workers in 2003. Young workers are those between the end of compulsory education, (the last Friday in June of year 11) and their 18th birthday. At 18 a worker becomes adult.

These rights apply to almost all workers, including part-time workers, homeworkers and agency workers. A few workers however are not covered by them. These are doctors in training, sea fishermen and other workers at sea.  Members of the armed forces, the police and other civil protection services may also be excluded in certain circumstances. Some workers who do not have their working time measured are not covered either, for example managing executives and family members working in a family business. Domestic servants working in private houses are not covered by the rules about working hours. Please contact us for further advice if you think you may be excluded.

• Other groups of workers are exempted from particular rights, especially some "special cases" which are listed on the back of this factsheet. You should check if your job is one of them. If you think that it might be, then please contact us for more details.
• Some of these rights can be altered or ignored if your employer has come to a "collective" or "workforce" agreement with her/his workers. A collective agreement is one that has been negotiated through a trades union; a workforce agreement is one that has been agreed by the whole workforce.

Hours (adult workers)

The regulations put a limit of 48 hours on the working week, but they also allow workers to choose to opt-out of this limit if they want to. The following rules apply:

• The 48 hour limit will usually be averaged out over 17 or 26 weeks. Most jobs will be averaged out over 17 weeks, but if your job is one of the special cases listed on the back page, then your hours will be averaged out over 26 weeks. Very occasionally there might be a longer averaging period, but only if there is a collective or workforce agreement about it.
• The 17 or 26 week period will always be the previous 17 or 26 weeks, unless there is a  union or workforce agreement which states when these periods start
• If you have not worked for your employer for 17 or 26 weeks, then your weekly hours will be averaged out over the number of weeks since you started.
• If you have been on annual, sick or maternity leave, or a combination of these during the averaging period, or if an earlier agreement to work longer hours ended during that time, then the period will be extended so that your average hours can be worked out over a full 17 or 26 weeks period at work.

Opting-out

If you want to you can opt out of the 48 hour rule by coming to an agreement with your employer. There are rules about agreeing to do this:

• The agreement has to be in writing, and your employer is not allowed to put any pressure on you to agree to work longer hours
• You can opt out either for a specified period or indefinitely.
• You have the right to change your mind and work to the 48 hour limit, although you have to give your employer some notice that you want to do this.
• If the amount of notice you should give was not agreed when you made the agreement with your employer, then you only have to give 7 days.
• You should not agree to give more than 3 months` notice.
• Your employer has to follow rules about keeping records of these agreements.

Hours (young workers)

Young workers must not be expected to work more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. If a young worker works for more than one employer, the total number of hours worked in a day/week must be counted. In very limited circumstances employers can ask young workers to work more than this, but only if all the following circumstances are met:

• the work is necessary to maintain continuity of service or production, or to respond to a surge in demand for a service or product;
• there is no adult worker (18 or over) available to do the work, and
• it would not adversely affect the young worker’s education or training.

Night Work (adult workers)

Besides the general limit of 48 hours, there are special restrictions about working at night. The regulations put a limit of 8 hours, on average, on "night work" in a 24 hour period. They also give important definitions of what night work is. Night time is either 11pm to 6 am, or another 7 hour period set by a union or workforce agreement, which includes the period between midnight and 5am. A night worker is defined as someone who normally or regularly works at least 3 hours of the "night time" period. Other important points about night work are:

• The special cases jobs listed on the back page are excluded from these night time regulations, along with those jobs already mentioned at the start of this factsheet.
• The 8 hour limit is averaged out over a 17 week period, which will be the 17 weeks just passed unless there is a union or workforce agreement which sets out what this period is.
• Night workers whose work involves heavy lifting, mental strain or hazardous materials must not work more than 8 hours in any 24 hour period which involves night work. In these jobs, hours will not be averaged out at all.
• Employers can try to come to a union or workforce agreement to ignore or alter the above regulations about night work.
• However all workers must have a free health check before they start to do night work, and then at regular intervals after that. If workers develop health problems because they have been working at night, their employer has to give them day time work if possible.

Night Work (young workers)

The basic rule is that a young worker must not work any time between 10pm and 6am (the “restricted period”) unless one of three special circumstances apply.

1. A young worker’s contract may say s/he may work after 10pm; in this case the restricted period can be varied to between 11pm and 7am.

2. In certain circumstances the restricted period can be shortened to between midnight and 4am. This only applies to young workers employed in agriculture, retail trading, postal or newspaper deliveries, hotels and catering, and bakeries. The three requirements listed above under HOURS (young workers) all have to be met.

3. Young workers who work in hospitals or similar establishments, or who work in cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising employment can be asked to work any time during the night as long as the three circumstances listed above are all met.

If all the requirements are met and a young worker is asked to work during the restricted period that applies to them, their employer must have a “health and capabilities” check carried out on them before the work starts.

Breaks

The regulations cover three types of breaks: breaks at work, and daily and weekly breaks from work. Different rules apply for adults and for young workers. Also:

• If you are one of the "special cases" listed on the back page, or if there is a collective or workforce agreement in force where you work, then you may be expected to work through a break that you were entitled to. If your employer asks you to do this, then s/he has to give you the break that you should have had at another time if possible.
• If you are a shift worker, then the daily and weekly breaks may not apply when you change shift, or if your work is split up over the day. If you do not get a break that you were entitled to in these circumstances, then your employer has to give you that break at another time if possible.
  • If a young worker does permitted work in what otherwise would be the restricted period and, in doing so, s/he does not get the break s/he would otherwise be entitled to, then the following extra rules apply;
  • s/he must be supervised by an adult worker where necessary;
  • s/he must be given an equivalent period of rest in compensation.

Breaks At Work

Adult workers: if your working day is 6 hours or longer then you are entitled to a break of at least 20 uninterrupted minutes, which you may take away from your workstation if you have one. This right can be altered or ignored if there is a union or workforce agreement.

Young workers: if your working day is at least 4.5 hours long you are entitled to an uninterrupted break of at least 30 minutes. You may take it away from your workstation.

Both: if your work is monotonous, or if you can’t control the speed you work at, then you may be entitled to more breaks.

Daily Breaks From Work

Adult workers are entitled to a daily break from work of at least 11 uninterrupted hours out of every 24. Shift workers are not covered by this regulation when they change shifts; instead, they should be given the break that they were entitled to at another time, if this is possible.

Young workers are entitled to at least 12 hours break between working days. If they work for short periods, or if their work is split up over a day, then the break can also be split up.

Weekly Breaks From Work

Adult workers are entitled to an uninterrupted 24 hour break in every week, although an employer can choose to give the 24 hour weekly break as one 48 hour period in every fortnight.

Young workers are entitled to 48 hours off per week, although this can be reduced to 36 hours if your employer has good reasons for needing to do that.

Both: shift workers are not covered when one shift ends and another begins, although they should be given the rest break that they were entitled to at another time if this is possible. In addition, this weekly or fortnightly break should not include the daily break entitlement explained above.

Enforcing Your Rights

Hours: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are responsible for making sure that employers are working within the regulations about the length of the working week and night work, and the other rules about night work. The HSE can be contacted on 08453 45 0055. Contact us for more information about enforcing your rights if necessary.

Breaks: Rights to breaks are statutory rights. If your employer refuses to give them to you, you should first of all send your employer a grievance letter; see our factsheet Grievances for guidance on doing this.

Your employer must not victimise you in any way because of these regulations. If your employer does victimise you, you should make a grievance about that too.

"Special Cases" Jobs

• Where a permanent presence is needed to protect people or property; for example security guards, caretakers.
• Where there is a need for continuity of production or service, for example
  • in hospitals, residential institutions and prisons
  • at docks or airports
  • in the media; press, radio, TV, film production
  • post and telecommunications
  • in the civil protection services, eg the police force, the fire brigade, the prison service, the ambulance service; customs, immigration, intelligence and national security, coastguards, lifeboat crews and other voluntary rescue services.
  • gas, electricity and water production, transmission and distribution
  • household refuse collection and incineration
  • industries where work cannot be interrupted on technical grounds
  • research and development activities
  • agriculture.
• Where there are foreseeable surges in activity, eg agriculture, tourism and postal services
• If your home and place of work are distant from each other, or if you have more than one job and they are some distance apart, then you might also be affected by special case rules.

If your work should be affected by an accident or the imminent risk of one, or an exceptional event or occurrence due to circumstances beyond your employer’s control and which could not have been avoided, then the special cases rules will also apply in these circumstances.

This factsheet explains only your basic rights. If you have a contract of employment, you may already have more rights than these. Please contact us for more detailed information and advice if necessary.

Aug 2010

If you need more information about pay and employment rights, contact

Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service

( 0161 839 3888 phone and answer phone)

4^th Floor, Swan Buildings, Manchester M4 5JW

We provide telephone advice only and cannot see people face to face

or visit our website: www.gmemploymentrights.org.uk

Trade Unions

Trade unions help workers to get better pay and work conditions.

For further information contact us or:

North West TUC, Suite 506-510, The Cotton Exchange, Old Hall Street,

Liverpool L3 9UD              Tel: 0151 236 5432

Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service is an independent information body funded by all local authorities in Greater Manchester under the AGMA grants scheme.

This factsheet explains only your basic rights. If you have a contract of employment, you may already have more rights than these. Please contact us for more detailed information and advice if necessary.