Employees who work in full time roles are typically very aware of their breaks & what they are entitled to. A recent article indicates there is a sense of ambiguity surrounding the legislation for those working shorter shift hours such as certain McDonalds staff.
This has been showcased in the recent demands of staff rightly requesting paid 10-minute breaks for shifts between 4-5 hours. The McDonald’s employees of a select few Queensland franchises sought out to the Fast Food Workers’ Union in an effort to receive these necessary breaks.
However, it begs the question, how did the franchisee get away with this in the first place?
The flip side of the story suggests that the proposed instalment of the paid 10-minute breaks are already in place, just in intermittent breaks throughout the shift which are taken as required.
Fair Work does not explicitly state it to be an uninterrupted 10-minute rest break (Like it does for 30-minute food breaks), so technically this could be practice within the workplace legislation. This is where the ambiguity for workers exists, as this information is not readily accessible for employees browsing the Fair Work website.
But when you consider the workplace conditions and interactions (hot kitchen environment and customer service), the need for regular rest breaks to have a sip or water or go to the loo is obviously necessary as these are bodily needs that cannot necessarily be allocated to one 10-minute block over the period of 4 hours. Moreover, is it arguable that a 10-minute break on its own would do wonders for the workers physical and mental recovery, helping to sustain motivation and work ethic.
As per the Fast Food Industry Award 2010, ‘the timing of the taking of a rest break or meal break is intended to provide a meaningful break for the employee during work hours.’ This leaves room for interpretation about what is considered meaningful for employees, and whether this aligns with the Queensland (and many other) McDonald franchisees’ intermittent rest breaks for short shift workers.
A question of logistics versus ethics – what is really the best approach to this situation for both the worker and employer?
Further information:
Source: News.com.au
Title: Staff far from McHappy about breaks
Read time: 2 minutes