Working Time Regulations - Rest Breaks

In Commissionaires Management v Hughes, a case dealing with several aspects of rest breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998, the EAT has held:-

• that an employee is only entitled to one rest break once he has worked more than six hours; he is not entitled to a subsequent rest break if he works for twelve hours (paras. 15-16)
• where a rest break cannot be taken at the correct time, a proper compensatory rest break must be offered. It is not enough to say that an employee can rest between shifts (paras. 25-29)
• a claim can only be brought in respect of rest breaks for the three month period before presentation of a claim (six months if the statutory grievance applies). The concept of 'continuing breaches' to enable further backdating does not apply here (para. 42)