Q. I am a college student and have been doing a bit of work over the summer. The work frequently entails late nights and early mornings, six or seven days a week. Usually a six-hour shift, but on busy evenings I am rostered to do a full 12 hours. But it is often longer by the time the premises are cleared and cleaned. We get on fine, and all my co-workers are on similar types of hours. However, on looking at my pay slip, the times do not match up. I am not getting any overtime, and the total hours worked per week are off. My manager has said that this is due to breaks and dinner, etc. Most days I would be delighted to be able to grab five minutes for a sandwich or similar. What is the law’s position on this?
Dear Reader,
The law in relation to work breaks and rest periods are well set out. If you work more than four and a half hours, you are entitled to a 15-minute break. If you work more than six hours, you are entitled to a 30-minute break (which may include the first 15-minute break). There is no requirement that you be paid for these break periods, and it is your employer’s duty to ensure that you take these breaks.
Your employer should not deduct time for, as you suggest, an hour lunch break that you did not or could not take. Instead, their responsibility is to ensure that you take the break that you are legally entitled to.
You are entitled to a period of 11 hours off between the end of one shift and the start of the other, and you are entitled to a full 24 hours off once per week. Depending on your roster, these rules may or may not be kept to.
Your working week should be capped at 48 hours per week, on average. This does not mean that in exceptionally busy weeks you cannot work more than 48 hours, but that over a period of six months you do not exceed this average.
You do not mention your line of work, but it seems to be in the hospitality sector. There are certain employment agreements that specifically affect certain workers in the sector (hotel workers, etc.) that may change the break, wages, overtime, and finishing times for you.
When you commenced your employment, you should have been given a document which outlines the terms and conditions of your employment, including breaking down your rate of pay, and what your employer expects your working week to be. It will generally also include any contractual entitlement to overtime that you may have. There is no statutory entitlement to overtime for most workers.
You are entitled to make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, but perhaps this is an issue which can be resolved between you and your employer directly.
If you are in any doubt, please do refer the matter to your solicitor.
