Morning all, just after some clarification on the following scenario:-
Assume working wk is Monday to Friday.
Can you in theory have a 15hr shift each day due to being sat on continuous rest for 3+ hrs during each shift??
Cheers
Simple answer - No. You can split daily rest but under the rules it would then be a 12 hour break so you cannot fit 15 hours work in as well. My initial answer was about the daily 15 hour idea, it’s the part about not reducing to 9 hours more than 3 times in a week that would prevent the scenario you want.
What the rules actually say (sorry if it hasn’t formatted properly but it gives the basic idea):
Daily rest periods
A driver must take a daily rest period within each period of 24 hours after the end of the previous daily
or weekly rest period. An 11-hour (or more) daily rest is called a regular daily rest period.
A rest is an uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time. Time spent working
in other employment or under obligation or instruction, regardless of the occupation type, cannot be
counted as rest, including work where you are self-employed.
24-hour period
Driving + other work + breaks = 13 hours Regular daily rest 11 hours
Alternatively, a driver can split a regular daily rest period into two periods. The first period must be at least 3 hours of uninterrupted rest and can be taken at any time during the day. The second must be at least 9 hours of uninterrupted rest, giving a total minimum rest of 12 hours. For example:
24-hour period
Driving + other work + breaks = 8 hours Rest 3 hours Driving + other work
- breaks = 4 hours Rest 9 hours
A driver may reduce his daily rest period to no less than 9 continuous hours, but this can be done no
more than three times between any two weekly rest periods; no compensation for the reduction is
required. A daily rest that is less than 11 hours but at least 9 hours long is called a reduced daily
rest period.
24-hour period
Driving + other work + breaks = 15 hours Reduced daily rest 9 hours
When a daily rest is taken, this may be taken in a vehicle, as long as it has suitable sleeping facilities
and is stationary.
To summarise, a driver who begins work at 06.00 on day 1 must, by 06.00 on day 2 at the latest,
have completed either:
a regular daily rest period of at least 11 hours; or
a split regular daily rest period of at least 12 hours; or
if entitled, a reduced daily rest period of at least 9 hours.
Taken from document available here: Sign in to GOV.UK - GOV.UK Signon
tallyman:
Simple answer - No. Daily rest has to be taken in one block and can only be reduced 3 times in a week.
It’s not a reduced daily rest though with a 3+hr rest during the shift and then a 9 hr rest between shifts, unless I’m misunderstanding something about split daily rests and how many you can do in a working wk !!
Yes you can do what you’re asking as many times in a week as you want.
The confusion arises when referring to a 15 hour shift.
A split daily rest actually only allows for 12 hours of on duty time within a 24 hour period as the daily rest adds up to 12 hours, 9+3.
Your start and finish times may be 15 hours apart but as you’ve had a 3 hour rest block in the day sometime, and that is technically part of your daily rest period and not a break, then you’ve only done 12 hours of work, driving and breaks within the 15 hour period.
Yes perfectly legal. Container work eh?
To simplify what I’m meaning:-
Card in at 8am & card out at 23.00.
Shift time is 15hr, but will be sat on break for a continues 5 hrs in the middle of it !!
Hence I was under the impression that this was legal for a 5 day stint due to the days all being split daily rests 
Night-and-day:
Yes perfectly legal. Container work eh?
Shop refits for coop so am sitting on break for anything from 3 hrs to 6 hrs each day !!
Yes you can.
You can do a split daily rest (9+3) every day of your working week if you so desire.
Boo9729:
To simplify what I’m meaning:-Card in at 8am & card out at 23.00.
Shift time is 15hr, but will be sat on break for a continues 5 hrs in the middle of it !!
Hence I was under the impression that this was legal for a 5 day stint due to the days all being split daily rests
Legal
Boo9729:
Morning all, just after some clarification on the following scenario:-Assume working wk is Monday to Friday.
Can you in theory have a 15hr shift each day due to being sat on continuous rest for 3+ hrs during each shift??
Cheers
That’s perfectly legal, in fact not only can you do it in theory you can also do it in reality
Legal, as long as you get at least a 3hr+ continuous block of rest during the shift then the 3+9 (inside a 24h from the start of shift) is considered on a par with a straight 11.
Boo9729:
Morning all, just after some clarification on the following scenario:-Assume working wk is Monday to Friday.
Can you in theory have a 15hr shift each day due to being sat on continuous rest for 3+ hrs during each shift??
Cheers
Yep thats fine the key word is ‘shift’.
Depending on the type of work its not uncommon to have 2 or 3 long tips (i.e. 3 hours + on rest), great if you have them everyday as you can also have 3 reduced rests of 9 hours anyway.
Not everyone wants to be at work 15 hours every day, but I love it… 
Thanks all.
Just needed some back up for an impending argument as my TM is convinced it’s illegal and also believes that time on break goes towards working time and that I should be using POA !!
Will just continue doing my own thing and the tachograph download will prove who’s right
Boo9729:
my TM is convinced it’s illegal and also believes that time on break goes towards working time and that I should be using POA !!
Neither break nor POA count towards working time, but using POA for all the time you’re waiting would mean you couldn’t do 15 hour shifts every day.
tachograph:
Boo9729:
my TM is convinced it’s illegal and also believes that time on break goes towards working time and that I should be using POA !!Neither break nor POA count towards working time, but using POA for all the time you’re waiting would mean you couldn’t do 15 hour shifts every day.
Exactly what I told him on Friday…I shall pass on the Xmas present with great delight and maybe suggest he gets his own P45 to go with it
Can you pass on the message from me to your TM that he is a clueless ■■■■? 
macplaxton:
Can you pass on the message from me to your TM that he is a clueless ■■■■?
It would be my pleasure kind sir
I worked 13.5 hours every night, Monday to Friday with a minimum of 3hrs break, totally legal did the same job for almost 10 years.
tallyman:
Simple answer - No. You can split daily… Snip…
If feel your pain brother. You obviously put a lot of time and effort into that post, only to find out it was as wrong as a tongue kiss from your Auntie!
Sometimes life’s not fair.
ne1lr:
I worked 13.5 hours every night, Monday to Friday with a minimum of 3hrs break, totally legal did the same job for almost 10 years.
U were illegal if for 10 years
Upto april 2007 it was 4 hrs not 3 but could be in 1 hr blocks
But wAs then 16 hrs and 8 off at night for split daily rest
After april 07 you would of been legal