Rest, Time Away from Work and Employee Wellbeing: What Employers Must Respect

An office administrator usually ate her lunch at her desk while she answered emails and messages. One day, she left her phone in her drawer and took a short walk outside during her lunch break. When she returned, she felt calmer for the rest of the working day.

Time away from work during the day is good for your health, and the law gives you a right to it. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, workers are entitled to minimum periods of rest, and employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees, so far as is reasonably practicable. Below, we explain your right to rest breaks and rest between shifts, the limits on your working hours, and what you can do if your employer does not respect them.

Your right to a rest break during the working day

Under regulation 12 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, an adult worker whose working day is more than six hours is entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes. The break must be uninterrupted, and you are entitled to spend it away from your workstation if you have one. It should be taken during the working day, not at the start or the end of your shift.

The law does not require the break to be paid. Whether you are paid for it depends on your contract. Your contract or a workplace agreement may also give you longer or more frequent breaks.

A break shown on the rota is not a rest break if you spend it answering calls or attending to customers, patients or residents. What matters is whether you received uninterrupted rest.

Workers under 18 have stronger rights. A young worker who works more than four and a half hours is entitled to a break of at least 30 minutes.

Rest between working days

Under regulation 10, an adult worker is entitled to at least 11 consecutive hours of rest in each 24 hour period. A worker who finished a shift at 11pm and started again at 6am had only seven hours of rest.

Under regulation 11, an adult worker is also entitled to weekly rest of at least 24 uninterrupted hours in each seven day period, or 48 hours in each 14 day period.

When the usual rules do not apply

Some workers are covered by exceptions. These include some roles where the service must continue at all hours, such as in hospitals, care homes and security, and shift workers who move from one shift pattern to another.

Where an exception applies, your employer must usually allow you an equivalent period of compensatory rest instead. A shortage of staff alone does not remove your employer's duty to allow you rest.

Limits on your working hours

Under regulation 4, your average working time must not be more than 48 hours a week, normally averaged over 17 weeks. You can agree in writing to opt out of this limit. The opt out must be your free choice, and you can cancel it by giving notice. Your employer must not treat you unfavourably because you refuse to opt out.

Night workers have further protection. A night worker's normal hours must not be more than an average of eight hours in each 24 hour period, and the employer must offer a free health assessment before the worker starts night work and at regular intervals afterwards.

Stress and your health

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, your employer must assess the risks to the health and safety of its employees. The Health and Safety Executive expects employers to include the risk of work related stress in that assessment.

If you are exhausted or your health is suffering because of your workload or missed rest, tell your employer in writing and keep a copy. With a written record, you can show when your employer knew about the problem and what it did in response.

Stress alone is not a disability. Where stress, anxiety or depression has a substantial and long term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities, it may be a disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. Your employer must then consider reasonable adjustments, such as changes to your hours, duties or break arrangements.

Time off for medical appointments

There is no general legal right to paid time off for medical appointments. Whether you are paid depends on your contract and your employer's policies.

Some employees have specific rights. A pregnant employee has the right to reasonable paid time off for antenatal care. Where you have a disability, time off for appointments connected with it may be a reasonable adjustment.

If your employer refuses your rest

Under regulation 30, a worker can make a complaint to an employment tribunal where the employer has refused to allow a rest break, daily rest or weekly rest.

Under section 45A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, your employer must not subject you to a detriment because you refused to give up a rest entitlement or asserted your rights under the Working Time Regulations. Under section 101A, dismissal of an employee for that reason is automatically unfair, and no qualifying period of employment applies.

The Health and Safety Executive or your local authority enforces the limits on working hours and night work.

An example

A hospitality supervisor worked 10 hour shifts. Her manager regularly asked her to cover the bar during her break, and she rarely took 20 minutes away from her duties. After she raised this in writing, her manager removed her from the next month's rota. She may have a complaint about the refused breaks under regulation 30, and a claim for detriment under section 45A of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

This is an illustrative scenario. It is not a real Belonge client or a decided case.

Time limits

For most claims where the act complained about happened on or after Thursday 1 October 2026, the time limit is six months less one day. Where the act happened before Thursday 1 October 2026, the time limit is three months less one day. Check the date of the event before relying on the longer limit. ACAS early conciliation may extend the time limit.