Is this common practise?
An Agency i know deducts 45 mins break per shift which is fair enough however, if a driver worked say 13 hours - with an overtime rate after 10 hours the Agency wants to deduct the 45 min break at the overtime rate rather than at the standard rate … 
Personally i think it should be deducted at the standard rate as it’s during the first 10 hours that the break was taken…
It just seems an easy way to skim that extra few quid off each shift…
Opinions?
Robbers.
Torkey:
It just seems an easy way to skim that extra few quid off each shift…Opinions?
It is. Typical agency behaviour.
If they are deducting breaks at time and a half then I’d be taking them at time and a half too. 45min plus another 22.5min.
i’d say that’s the norm
That depends on your contract, the way I work is like the below example;
Minimum 8 Hours
8 Hours Standard Rate
45 Mins Break
Overtime Rate @ 1.5x
So, yes, technically the break comes off overtime.
I am not bothered and ALWAYS take a break at a place of my choosing, ie. not in the back of the trailer while operating a pump truck or sat in an RDC watching the shopping channel in an uncomfortable chair.
Am I right in guessing you are on a minimum 10 hour contract? in which case, I would say that your hours have been worked out correctly.
trubster:
That depends on your contract, the way I work is like the below example;Minimum 8 Hours
8 Hours Standard Rate
45 Mins Break
Overtime Rate @ 1.5x
.
So your minimum 8 hour shift would actually pay 8 hours if you only ‘worked’ 8 hours? i.e rather than getting paid 7.25 hours for that shift?
trubster:
Am I right in guessing you are on a minimum 10 hour contract? in which case, I would say that your hours have been worked out correctly.
No i’m actually on a minimum 8 hours contract but some clients pay overtime after 8 hours and some after 10 hours…
Torkey:
trubster:
That depends on your contract, the way I work is like the below example;Minimum 8 Hours
8 Hours Standard Rate
45 Mins Break
Overtime Rate @ 1.5x
.So your minimum 8 hour shift would actually pay 8 hours if you only ‘worked’ 8 hours? i.e rather than getting paid 7.25 hours for that shift?
Yes, minimum 8 is just that.
Nothing worse than a 8.75 on a timesheet 
Torkey:
trubster:
Am I right in guessing you are on a minimum 10 hour contract? in which case, I would say that your hours have been worked out correctly.No i’m actually on a minimum 8 hours contract but some clients pay overtime after 8 hours and some after 10 hours…
In which case, they are having your pants down.
trubster:
In which case, they are having your pants down.
Yes - i just wish they’d start using lube ! 
It’s another way of justifying not working for them any more… i’ve been giving them a wide birth for the past 4 weeks as i intend to work directly for one of their clients in another 4 weeks when i’m out of the ‘relevant period’ which avoids introduction fees …
■■■■ 'em
trubster:
Yes, minimum 8 is just that.Nothing worse than a 8.75 on a timesheet
They only pay me 7.25 hours for an 8 hour shift !
In the “old days” breaks were always paid.
Personally I’ve never worked for anyone who deducted breaks and to be honest if they told me at an interview that they would then I would terminate the interview there and then.
If they can’t get the workers they won’t do it.
Once you book on you should be paid until you book off. You’re at work and you should be paid. That’s why even when we were weekended for one,two,three or indeed anything up to six or seven days abroad we used to get paid straight through no questions.
If you do a shift, the break is always going to come off the overtime first if you think about it, because you have to have worked 8 hours or whatever before the overtime rate kicks in…
stevieboy308:
i’d say that’s the norm
And what makes you say that??
…Because it is?
I’ve not known anything different full time or agency over the past 25 years - IF there is overtime payable after one has put in the basic say, 8 hours, THEN the breaks don’t count towards those hours unless you get paid breaks to start with. If not (which IS the norm now) then if you have been on shift 8 hours, and have already taken a 45 break, then you’ll not start to be paid again until you surpass 8:45… Thus, a 9 hour shift with a 45m break is only worth 15 minutes overtime - an amount that some employers who pay overtime might not even let you book… Working across hours 8 to 9 of a shift I have always refered to as “happy hour” (for the firm) because you are working that hour (deducted) effectively for free, not earning again until you get past 9 hours.
A shift of 12 hours then isn’t “4 hours overtime” it’s only 3:15 payable from 8:45 into the shift until 12:00 into the shift. The only way you’d ever get the full 4 hours is if you don’t get deducted for meal breaks at all. Where’s THAT at? 
selby newcomer:
stevieboy308:
i’d say that’s the normAnd what makes you say that??
for the reasons winseer states 
and too many people are always looking for the negatives and turning the positive of getting paid a minimum of 8 hours a shift into a negative.
Unpaid breaks? Really?
So I could choose not to have one then? Of course not, two laws tell me I can’t, driver’s hours and WTD.
Ergo the job the company pays me to do has a legal requirement that I take a break, I cannot choose to work without breaking the law.
So they should pay me, no ifs, no buts.
What idiot was the first one to accept having that one pushed up their Gary Glitter 
newmercman:
Unpaid breaks? Really?So I could choose not to have one then? Of course not, two laws tell me I can’t, driver’s hours and WTD.
Ergo the job the company pays me to do has a legal requirement that I take a break, I cannot choose to work without breaking the law.
So they should pay me, no ifs, no buts.
What idiot was the first one to accept having that one pushed up their Gary Glitter
By the same logic, they should also pay you for your ( legally required) Daily Rest…
Whilst learning the ropes of brick carting I was on an hourly rate before being put on a load rate. If I worked twelve hours, the company would deduct half hour for breaks and then work on eight hours normal time, next two hours NT x 1.5 and then onto double rate. In this example using eleven and a half hours of work time. I thought it was fair.
Torkey:
trubster:
Yes, minimum 8 is just that.Nothing worse than a 8.75 on a timesheet
They only pay me 7.25 hours for an 8 hour shift !
8hrs minimum should be the minimum hours paid, not the minimum working hours.
If I do 4hrs work I get 8hrs pay, if I do 8hrs work I get 8hrs pay, if I do 8hrs 45 work I get 8hrs pay, if I do 9hrs work I get 8hrs pay + 15mins at time+half.
This has been standard for me at most agencies except those that are ‘self employed’ or ‘pay a competitive hourly rate’ which will normally be a set amount straight through and will be a high hours job
I’m currently a box jockey through agency, so can legally take my breaks ‘on the doors’, if I do, then I will NOT let them deduct that break from my earnings.
If however there’s over 45 mins between jobs and I nip into a services, then they can deduct upto 45 mins per day from my earnings.
I try not to take a separate break and have the ones on the doors to clear my tacho and just keep cracking, the company understands and appreciates that and we’ve come to a compromise on the wage situation, but everyone else on the same agency on the same contract gets deducted 45mins per day everyday.
Some people won’t fight for themselves.