I thought i was clear on this but having just started my first job the transport manager has confused me.
I was under the impression that a 30 minute break was required over 6 hours and up to 9 hours of working i.e driving, other work, breaks and poa not included in this, so a 45 minute “driving time” break before the 6 hours has been reached would not be counted towards this WT break, am i correct on this?
He was saying that the 30 mins break had to be taken within the first 6 hours of work and therefore it was covered by the driving time break?
Work/drive 6 hours (as long as driving time does not exceed 4.5 hours)
break 45 mins - resets 4.5 drive time and 6 hours WTD time
No more break needed unless the driving time gets to 4.5 hours (another 45 mins needed to reset it) or the total drive/work time gets to 6 hours (15 min break needed)
It’s possibly a company thing as co-op tell their drivers they must have 30 in the first 6 and a further 30 later .
They do that as a lot of people / drivers don’t know what their doing and it keeps everyone compliant
There are 2 “breaks” rules and both MUST be complied with.
You cant work more than 6 hours w/o taking a break. That break can be 15 minutes. Such a 15 min break will “reset” the 6 Hour clock for another 6 hour maximum period. Drivers hours breaks count to this as well.
As well as that, there is the AGGREGATE rule. If your total working time is between 6 and 9 hours then you have to take 30 mins in BREAKS in total. Over 9 hours of Working time would require a Driver to show 45 mins of breaks in total.Breaks that count to rule 1 or the Drivers Hours Rules count to this as well. A break taken at the end of the day which are in effect Daily or Weekly rest does not count. So if you take a 45 min break for the 4 1/2 hour driving rule, then you have automatically complied with Rule 2 and need only worry about Rule 1!!!
Maigret:
There are 2 “breaks” rules and both MUST be complied with.
You cant work more than 6 hours w/o taking a break. That break can be 15 minutes. Such a 15 min break will “reset” the 6 Hour clock for another 6 hour maximum period. Drivers hours breaks count to this as well.
As well as that, there is the AGGREGATE rule. If your total working time is between 6 and 9 hours then you have to take 30 mins in BREAKS in total. Over 9 hours of Working time would require a Driver to show 45 mins of breaks in total.Breaks that count to rule 1 or the Drivers Hours Rules count to this as well. A break taken at the end of the day which are in effect Daily or Weekly rest does not count. So if you take a 45 min break for the 4 1/2 hour driving rule, then you have automatically complied with Rule 2 and need only worry about Rule 1!!!
I’m not sure that’s correct or I’m misunderstanding what I’m reading in the DVSA guide to driving goods vehicles.
On working time you’re not permitted to work for more than 6 consecutive hours without a break. If working hours is between 6 and 9 hours it’s a 30 minute break. Presume that can be taken at any time through the working day. If working more than 9 hours then an extra 15 minute break is required for a total of 45 minutes.
I don’t see anything about your rule one of the 15 minute break. Is that for working under and upto 6 hours? I see nothing in the book about working time breaks on under 6 hours.
Driving time breaks can be counted as working time breaks. So if I’ve driven for 4.5 hours and I’m taking my 45 minutes that’s more than covering my working time breaks to.
Or at least that’s what I’m understanding from the text in front of me.
Maigret:
There are 2 “breaks” rules and both MUST be complied with.
You cant work more than 6 hours w/o taking a break. That break can be 15 minutes. Such a 15 min break will “reset” the 6 Hour clock for another 6 hour maximum period. Drivers hours breaks count to this as well.
As well as that, there is the AGGREGATE rule. If your total working time is between 6 and 9 hours then you have to take 30 mins in BREAKS in total. Over 9 hours of Working time would require a Driver to show 45 mins of breaks in total.Breaks that count to rule 1 or the Drivers Hours Rules count to this as well. A break taken at the end of the day which are in effect Daily or Weekly rest does not count. So if you take a 45 min break for the 4 1/2 hour driving rule, then you have automatically complied with Rule 2 and need only worry about Rule 1!!!
I’m not sure that’s correct or I’m misunderstanding what I’m reading in the DVSA guide to driving goods vehicles.
On working time you’re not permitted to work for more than 6 consecutive hours without a break. If working hours is between 6 and 9 hours it’s a 30 minute break. Presume that can be taken at any time through the working day. If working more than 9 hours then an extra 15 minute break is required for a total of 45 minutes.
I don’t see anything about your rule one of the 15 minute break. Is that for working under and upto 6 hours? I see nothing in the book about working time breaks on under 6 hours.
Driving time breaks can be counted as working time breaks. So if I’ve driven for 4.5 hours and I’m taking my 45 minutes that’s more than covering my working time breaks to.
Or at least that’s what I’m understanding from the text in front of me.
The RT(WT)R 2005 states that “No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break”, although the length of the break is not stated it’s generally assumed to be 15 minutes because that’s the shortest break that counts for the RT(WT)R 2005
Hence the 6 hour rule is that you must have a break of at-least 15 minutes before exceeding 6 hours working time.
Maigret:
There are 2 “breaks” rules and both MUST be complied with.
You cant work more than 6 hours w/o taking a break. That break can be 15 minutes. Such a 15 min break will “reset” the 6 Hour clock for another 6 hour maximum period. Drivers hours breaks count to this as well.
As well as that, there is the AGGREGATE rule. If your total working time is between 6 and 9 hours then you have to take 30 mins in BREAKS in total. Over 9 hours of Working time would require a Driver to show 45 mins of breaks in total.Breaks that count to rule 1 or the Drivers Hours Rules count to this as well. A break taken at the end of the day which are in effect Daily or Weekly rest does not count. So if you take a 45 min break for the 4 1/2 hour driving rule, then you have automatically complied with Rule 2 and need only worry about Rule 1!!!
I’m not sure that’s correct or I’m misunderstanding what I’m reading in the DVSA guide to driving goods vehicles.
On working time you’re not permitted to work for more than 6 consecutive hours without a break. If working hours is between 6 and 9 hours it’s a 30 minute break. Presume that can be taken at any time through the working day. If working more than 9 hours then an extra 15 minute break is required for a total of 45 minutes.
I don’t see anything about your rule one of the 15 minute break. Is that for working under and upto 6 hours? I see nothing in the book about working time breaks on under 6 hours.
Driving time breaks can be counted as working time breaks. So if I’ve driven for 4.5 hours and I’m taking my 45 minutes that’s more than covering my working time breaks to.
Or at least that’s what I’m understanding from the text in front of me.
The RT(WT)R 2005 states that “No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break”, although the length of the break is not stated it’s generally assumed to be 15 minutes because that’s the shortest break that counts for the RT(WT)R 2005
Hence the 6 hour rule is that you must have a break of at-least 15 minutes before exceeding 6 hours working time.
Maigret:
There are 2 “breaks” rules and both MUST be complied with.
You cant work more than 6 hours w/o taking a break. That break can be 15 minutes. Such a 15 min break will “reset” the 6 Hour clock for another 6 hour maximum period. Drivers hours breaks count to this as well.
As well as that, there is the AGGREGATE rule. If your total working time is between 6 and 9 hours then you have to take 30 mins in BREAKS in total. Over 9 hours of Working time would require a Driver to show 45 mins of breaks in total.Breaks that count to rule 1 or the Drivers Hours Rules count to this as well. A break taken at the end of the day which are in effect Daily or Weekly rest does not count. So if you take a 45 min break for the 4 1/2 hour driving rule, then you have automatically complied with Rule 2 and need only worry about Rule 1!!!
Spot on and well explained.
A lot of people think you have to take a 30 min break after 6 hours WTD, it is 15, but the confusion is that once you have done 6 hours you need to have taken a 30 min break if your shift ends before 9 hours have elapsed. This assumes one is not affected by the 4.5 hour driving rule in the shift in question.
