Is forced early lunch break legal?

angello90

My boss is forcing me to take a lunch break after 3hrs of working. I start work at 6am, and he says I have to take lunch break at 9/930am. Is this legal?

The problem is that from then on, I have to work from say 930/10am until 3pm without any break. I only get 1 break during the day, the 30 minutes for lunch, I take at 1030, which splits the day nicely. This kind of throws the day balance for me.

seamus

Short answer is yes, basically.

9am to 3pm is 6 hours of working. You are entitled to a 30 minute break in any six hours of working. The only rule is that this 30 minutes cannot come at the end.

So if you are taking a break from 9 to 9:30 (or 9:30 to 10), that counts as your 30 minute break in this six-hour period.

The timing of when breaks are taken is entirely up to your employer.

angello90

Ok, thanks Seamus, understood

nitros7

OP said hey begin work at 6am not 9.


In general, you are entitled to a 15 minute break when you have worked for 4 ½ hours. If you work more than 6 hours you are entitled to 30 minute break, which can include the first 15-minute break. There is no entitlement to be paid for these breaks and they are not considered working time.


Special rules apply to shop employees who work more than 6 hours and whose hours of work include the period 11.30am–2.30pm. These employees are entitled to a one-hour consecutive break which must occur between 11.30am–2.30pm.


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/hours_of_work/rest_periods_and_breaks.html

seamus

nitros7 wrote: »

OP said hey begin work at 6am not 9.

Sure, but either way the rules are the same. You can't work more than 6 hours without a 30 minute break.

6am to 3pm is a nine-hour day, which entitles the OP to a 30 minute unpaid break. This break is being provided for at 9am.

It would be different if they were being forced to take it at (say) 8am, because then they'd be working 6.5 hours without a break, which is not permitted.

angello90

I see where the boundary lies now. I wasn't sure about when the 15/30 minute break must be taken.

Now in my case, I do qualify for the special case, as I work in a shop, deli section. So I should be allowed for an hr long break between 11:30 and 2:30. In which case my boss cannot force me to take lunch at 9am right? He never allowed us to have 1hr long break, and I used to take 30 minute break at 11am, wasn't allowed for a break later than that.

seamus

If you work in a deli section, you are unfortunately excluded from the definition of a "shop employee". Any part of a premises involved in "the preparation of food or the catering for any persons" is not a "shop", and the people who work there are not "shop employees".

angello90

Thanks Seamus, but that doesn't make sense... anyways looks like all is in order with the break time. Thanks again.

OMM 0000

Let's try and look at this from the manager's perspective.

I'm guessing 9 - 9:30 is the quietist period in the day? So she's trying to maximise the shops efficiency.

Or perhaps she has someone to cover you at this early period, but no one to cover you at the later period?

I think if I were in your shoes, I would try to develop a relationship with the manager so she sees me as a friend and is more likely to be kind to me.