Archive Website of the UK government

Please note that this website has a UK government accesskeys system.

Archive brought to you by Cross Stitch UK

Main menu

Wednesday, 3 October 2023

Page menu

Browse by subject

Browse by people

Employment

Rest breaks

Most workers have the right to take breaks, but whether or not you are paid for them depends on the terms of your employment contract. There are special rules about rest breaks for some types of worker - especially those working in the transport industry.

Types of breaks

You will normally have a variety of different breaks from work. These can be broken down into three types:

'rest breaks' - lunch breaks, tea breaks and other short breaks during the day
'daily rest' - the break between finishing one day's work and starting the next (for most people this is overnight between week days)
'weekly rest' - whole days when you don't come into work (for many people this will be the weekend)

The second and third types of break are almost never paid unless you have to remain 'on call', meaning you are available to work. The first type is often paid, but doesn't have to be unless your contract says so.

Contracts of employment

How much break time do you get?

The amount of break time you get is usually agreed with your employer. It may be written down somewhere (eg in your contract of employment) or might just be part of your employer's standard practice.

Your employer must give you at least the rest breaks required by the Working Time Regulations. They must also ensure that your health and safety is not put at risk. This means that your employer might have to give you more than the amount set out in the regulations, if this reduces a health and safety risk.

Employers' health and safety responsibilities

Young workers

If you are under 18 but over 'school leaving age', you are classed as a young worker and have different break allowances to adult workers. You are under school leaving age until the end of summer term of the school year in which you turn 16.

Young workers and working hours (young people section)

Rest breaks - a break during your working day

As an adult worker (over 18), you will normally have the right to a 20 minute rest break if you are expected to work more than six hours at a stretch.

A lunch or coffee break can count as your rest break. Additional breaks might be given by your contract of employment. There is no statutory right to 'smoking breaks'.

The requirements are:

the break must be in one block
it cannot be taken off one end of the working day - it must be somewhere in the middle
you are allowed to spend it away from the place on your employer's premises where you work
your employer can say when the break must be taken, as long as it meets these conditions

Daily rest - a break between working days

If you are an adult worker you have the right to a break of at least 11 hours between working days. This means as an adult worker, if you finish work at 8.00 pm on Monday you should not start work until 7.00 am on Tuesday.

Weekly rest - the 'weekend'

If you are an adult worker you have the right to either:

an uninterrupted 24 hours clear of work each week
an uninterrupted 48 hours clear each fortnight

Exceptions to the regulations

Your working week is not covered by the Working Time Regulations if you work in the following areas:

jobs where you can choose freely how long you will work (such as a managing executive)
the armed forces, emergency services and police are excluded in some circumstances
domestic servants in private houses

The rights to breaks apply differently to you if:

you have to travel a long distance from your home to get to work
you constantly work in different places making it difficult to work to a set pattern
you are doing security or surveillance-based work
you are working in an industry with busy peak periods, like agriculture, retail or tourism
there is an emergency or risk of an accident
the job needs round-the-clock staffing (such as hospital work)
you are employed in the rail industry and you work on board trains or your activities are irregular or linked to seeing that trains run on time

In these cases, instead of getting normal breaks, you are entitled to 'compensatory rest'. This is rest taken later, ideally during the same or following working day. The principle is that everyone gets a minimum 90 hours rest a week on average. This is the total of your entitlement to daily and weekly rest periods, although some rest may come slightly later than normal.

Mobile workers

If you work in air, road or sea transport you are what is known as a 'mobile worker' for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations. This means that you are excluded from the usual rest break entitlements. Instead, you are entitled to ‘adequate rest’. This is a regular rest period long enough to make sure tiredness, or other safety issues, do not cause you to injure yourself or anyone around you.