hours a day

[stephen2504]

my girlfriend is a care assistant and they made her do a 16 hour shift is this against the law

[horsestache1]

Yes, if she did it without a break

[Buenchico]

There is no law on the length of an individual shift.

MOST workers are entitled to a minimum interval of at least 11 hours between the end of one shift and the start of the next one BUT there is an exemption where a job requires 'round the clock' staffing. If your girlfriend works in a residential care home (rather than helping people in their homes), it's likely that this exemption will apply. However, where staff don't receive a break of 11 hours between shifts, they're normally entitled to 'compensatory rest'.

See here:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/Employment/Employees/ WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/WorkingHoursAndTimeOffA rticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10029451&chk=pR1H4%2B

Chris

PS: Many years ago, I worked '36 hours on, 12 hours off' continuously for several monthsat a time. I loved it and it certainly helped my bank balance ;-)

[Buenchico]

I was typing while Horsetache1 was posting:

The only entitlement to a break during a 16 hour shift is a single 20 minute (unpaid) break. That entitlement applies to all shifts over 6 hours but doesn't work 'pro rata'. (i.e. if someone works a 24 hour shift, they're still only entitled to one 20-minute break).

Chris

[steve208]

I would presume that you get 20 min break for every 6 hours worked, not just work over 6 hours and get only 6 hours. If i do a 14 hour day then i get an hour and quarter break over the course of the day.

[BuckyKat]

the regulations don't stipulate anything about breaks other than after the first 6 hours....Buenchico is right!