Break policy changed without any notice.

[what2do]

The company I work at have, since at least 2012, had a written break policy in place that states if you work 8 hours or more in one shift you are entitled to an Hour break and a 30 min break during your shift. We have just been informed by our manager, via whatsapp, that this has now changed with immediate effect. We will now only get an hour break; the extra 30 min break will only apply if you work 11 hours or more. There was no notice of this change, no consultation, and the previous written policy is still pinned to the staff notice board. Can they legally change break policy without any notice?

[Law Student 6]

ULA

Good afternoon.

Was the policy written anywhere in your contract? Legally you should get 20 minutes if you work up up to 10 hours and 30 minutes up to 14 hours. Therefore the company can change your breaks without notice.

Hope this helps.

[Law Student 6]

Celestine

[ULA]

The legal requirement is to an uninterrupted break of at least 20 minutes if you work more than 6 hours in a day.

Employers can provide longer break periods if they want and these are normally set out in the employment contract.

Law Student 6 is correct to find out whether your current break arrangement is written into your contract. It will depend on your response to this question as to what we can then advise you can do.

[what2do]

Only the legal 20 minute break is written into my contract. The hour break and 30 min break is just a company policy which has been in force since 2012, would that not count as custom and practice? My contract does state that I must follow company policy. There is now a conflict between what our manager is telling us and what the written company policy states which is still pinned to the staff notice board.

[Law Student 6]

Good morning.

Unfortunately what is wrote on the contract will stand over a policy hung up on the notice board. I understand this is a pain but please follow what your manager says regarding breaks.

Hope this helps.

[what2do]

Good morning.

Unfortunately what is wrote on the contract will stand over a policy hung up on the notice board. I understand this is a pain but please follow what your manager says regarding breaks.

Hope this helps.

If i follow what the manager says that breaks my contract twice, one in that it goes against the break policy in my contract, and second that my contract states i have to follow company policy which is the policy on the notice board. Weve only had a message from the manager saying breaks have changed yet nothing from the company, which makes me suspect its just our manager doing this and its not company wid because they always inform us of the smallest of changes.

[ULA]

I would suggest that you email/phone the HR department let them know that you have received this WhatsApp message from your manager and ask for confirmation as to whether there has been a change in company policy in regard to the non-contractual additional work breaks.

[what2do]

HR got back to me yesterday. The change was made 3 months ago. They notified every store manager before the change was made to give staff time to adjust. Our store manager didnt bother to tell anyone. Instead of being prepared for it, it was just dropped on us, one day we had those breaks and the next we didnt. As far as HR are concerned, its done now so never mind.

[ULA]

In effect the company, by the giving of 3 months notice, has been reasonable in notifying a change to a non-contractual policy.

The only option I can offer is that a grievance is raised by you or even a collective of staff from the store on the basis that you were not given the 3 months notice due to the "inaction" of the store manager and request that the 3 months notice for your store commences from the date of the WhatsApp message. It will not change the policy but gives you the same time to adjust as staff in the other branches.

[what2do]

The change has happened now so no point fighting it. It has backfired on them a bit because staff are fully complying with the new policy which also states breaks must be uninterrupted. Whereas before the change staff used to deal with issues that turned up during their breaks, now they wont and the manager doesnt like it and is threatening disciplinaries if staff continue refusing to deal with things during their breaks. This is the same manager who expects staff to answer the phone to him on their days off or on holiday despite the company having a 'switch off' policy stating that unless its an emergency the company should not be contacting you on your days off/holidays.