Working time rules require employers to provide for breaks

In late 2016 the Employment Appeal Tribunal made an important decision on employees’ rights to rest breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR).

In Grange v Abellio London Ltd [2016] (UKEAT/0130/16/DA) the EAT held that employers have a duty to ensure that working arrangements make provision for staff to take rest breaks, as set out in the WTR.

The debate at the EAT centred on whether the right to rest breaks was triggered by an employee making a request for a break, or whether employers were legally obliged to ensure that the opportunity to take breaks was built into working patterns.

The key question in Grange was whether he could only make a claim if he tried to exercise his right to a break, and his request had been refused. Initially, Grange’s working day had lasted 8.5 hours and he was entitled to a daily 30-minute break. Subsequently Abellio changed his working day to eight hours without any provision for breaks.

At first instance the employment tribunal held there had to be an actual refusal by the employer of a request by the worker to exercise his right to a rest break. On appeal, the EAT held that although workers cannot be forced to take rest breaks, they must be positively enabled to do so by the employer. Employers have a duty to ensure employees can take rest breaks. This was a commonsense construction of reg 30 of the WTR read together with reg 12(1), and ensured that the purpose of the European Working Time Directive was met.