Legal Q&A: Rest periods and breaks

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Following the Court of Appeal's recent decision in Hughes v Corps of Commissionaires Management Ltd regarding compensatory rest, Emilie Bennetts of Charles Russell LLP explains the obligations on an employer to provide daily and weekly rest periods and breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998.

What are the standard requirements under the Working Time Regulations?

Under the Regulations, workers are entitled to:

• a daily rest period of 11 hours' uninterrupted rest per day;
• a weekly rest period of 24 hours' uninterrupted rest per week (or at the employer's choice, 48 hours per fortnight); and
• a rest break of 20 minutes when they have worked for more than six hours

Are there any exceptions?

There are a number of categories of workers who are excluded from the above entitlements. These include some rail, sea, air and road transport workers, offshore workers, police and emergency services and workers with unmeasured time (for example, autonomous decision makers). There are also a number of "special case" workers who may not be entitled to rest breaks and daily and weekly rest periods. These workers include, among others, those engaged in "security and surveillance activities" requiring a permanent presence (which could include security guards) and workers whose activities involve the need for continui