pavaroti:
My work says I committed a tacho offence last week because I went almost 7hrs without a half hr break even though I had a 15mins break 2hrs after my start time. What can I say to them to prove there is no offense committed?
Made sticky by dd.
For a start always take a print out at the end of your shift. I know most drivers don’t, but I take one every day and then you have evidence to show whomever is busting your balls and you don’t need to rely on their willingness to check their records properly or their skill to read and understand those records.
Secondly, you might have complied with the 15 mins in 6 hrs, but did you with the 30 mins in 9 hrs and if it was a 13-15 hour shift did you take your second 30 min break. Seen many a driver comply early in the shift, but forget there can be ‘TWO’ six hour blocks in their shift if it’s a long one!
What Rog said. The relevant legislation is couched in terms of workers being “entitled” to breaks of the stated duration and also plainly states that employers must take all reasonable steps to ensure those breaks are taken. It puts the onus very much on the employer, not the individual worker.
In a similar way there is earlier working time legislation which sets out workers’ entitlement to annual leave. No worker would ever be penalised by the authorities for voluntarily not taking all his holiday entitlement.
pavaroti:
My work says I committed a tacho offence last week because I went almost 7hrs without a half hr break even though I had a 15mins break 2hrs after my start time. What can I say to them to prove there is no offense committed?
Presumably:
At no point during the shift did you work more than 6 hours without a 15 minute break ?
You had the correct amount of break for the entire shift ?
If this is correct then to point out the folly of your employers ways direct them to this link
Point out to them that nowhere does it say that you should have a 30 minute break before exceeding 6 hours working time, all it says is that you must have a break, as the shortest break that can count for the RT(WT)R is 15 minutes it’s assumed that you must have a 15 minute break at or before 6 hours working time.
Sections 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 should be read in isolation from one-another so the only sections that affect the 6 hour rule is section 7.1 and section 7.4
Breaks
7.–
(1) No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break.
(2) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds six hours but does not exceed nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 30 minutes and interrupting that time.
(3) Where a mobile worker’s working time exceeds nine hours, the worker shall be entitled to a break lasting at least 45 minutes and interrupting that period.
(4) Each break may be made up of separate periods of not less than 15 minutes each…
(5) An employer shall take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of the mobile worker, to ensure that the limits specified above are complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him.
This is absolutely correct. To build on your answer, the way I understand it, is as follows:
If a driver signs on at 12:00, takes a 15 min break at 14:00, they can work until 20:15 before a further 15 min break is required. A 30 mins break is required for any shift exceeding 6hrs/under 9hrs total but you don’t need to take 30 mins break WITHIN those 6hrs, only 15 mins break.