Do you need to pay staff for their lunch break?
Employment legislation in the UK gives workers a legal entitlement to a lunch break every day. If someone is working a shift that lasts for longer than six hours, they have the right to a minimum break period of 20 minutes in the middle of the day.
This break cannot be interrupted for work-related reasons, and it is supposed to be taken away from their place of work. This is all fine, but is this something that you are obligated to pay them for?
Key details on break time pay
The terms of the employment contract
There is no legal requirement that says all employers have to pay their staff for lunch break periods. That does not necessarily mean that you will not have to pay your employees for their breaks though. It just means that whether or not employees receive paid breaks is determined by their individual employment contracts, rather than by government legislation.
If you are unsure about your organisation’s contracts, get HR to investigate.
Active duty
The situation is different if an employee has to remain available on-site or perform duties such as answering telephones during the break. That is legally regarded as active working time and they have to be paid for it.
Minimum wage check
The UK has a National Minimum Wage that varies depending on the age of the employee. This is something you must factor in when thinking about lunch break pay. Break periods that are unpaid are not classified as working time and that has the potential to bring the overall pay of an employee below the National Minimum Wage.
This is against the law, so you must be careful. It is something that the finance and HR departments should collaborate on, as they will have access to the payroll data.
To sum up, an employee who is 18 or over is legally entitled to a 20-minute break if their working day is longer than six hours, but it does not have to be a paid break.
At FiveRivers Consulting, payroll management is among the HR services in Northampton that we offer. Call now to learn more.