work problem

auditek923

my wife is almost 8 months pregnant. she is due to go on maternity in 3 weeks time. she is having trouble at work with the manager. she works in a petrol station shop serving at the tills. today for example she was working from 8 am and only got a 5 minute break at 1230. this was her only break today despite working untill 4 30pm. also when she needed to go to the toilet at one stage today the manager told her to wait for another while. i am furious over this but she insists i do nothing about it . what do people think??

Grawns

He is probably breaking the law but do what your wife says and leave it alone. She either doesn't want the hassle or isn't that bothered. Put her wishes first.:)

wmpdd3

Get your wife to keep a record of hours worked and breaks taken, this is illegal, but to be honest it depends on the business. Larger stores seem to get audited more often.

Where this could really get serious is if your wife has an accident due to these working conditions. The employer will be negligent as they didn't even provide the basic breaks provided by the law let alone take into account your wife's advanced stage of pregnancy.


You could complain to NERA or the HSA but with so little time left, I'm sure your wife just wants to get out of the place as soon as possible.

At the end of the day safety has to be her 1st priority and if it is impossible for her to work there then maybe she should look at leaving work early on health and safety grounds.

http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/media/Workingtimeact.pdf

"Health and safety leave

An employer should carry out separate risk assessments in relation to pregnant employees and those who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding. If there are particular risks, these should be either removed or the employee moved away from them. If neither of these options is possible, the employee should be given health and safety leave from work which may continue up to the beginning of maternity leave. During health and safety leave, employers must pay employees their normal wages for the first 3 weeks, after which Health and Safety Benefit may be paid. The Health and Safety Authority website has a list of Pregnant at Work FAQs."

borderlinemeath

He is breaking the law, employment law states that employees are entitled to a rest break of 15mins if working 4.5hrs and a half hour break if working over 6hrs.

Below is entitlements from the NERA website.
Im not certain about pregnant employees but if you have a look at the website you might find something.
While she may fear that complaining may have an effect on her employment she realy needs to be looking out for her health and that of your child.
Working Hours

The maximum an employee should work in an average working week is 48 hours. This working week average should be calculated over a four-month period. There are however some exceptions to this average period.
Breaks

Employees are entitled to;

• A daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per 24 hours
• A weekly rest period of 24 consecutive hours per seven days, following a daily rest period
• A 15-minute break if working 4.5 hours.
• A 30-minute break if working six hours.

Payment for breaks is not a statutory entitlement. Some industries are covered by Registered Employment Agreements (REA's) and Employment Regulation Orders (ERO's), which may contain regulations regarding breaks.
Sundays

If not already included in the rate of pay, employees are generally entitled to a premium payment for Sunday working or paid time off in lieu. Some industries have REA’s containing regulations on Sunday working. Where there is no collective agreement in place, the employer should look at the closest applicable collective agreement, which applies to same or similar work under similar circumstances, which provides for a Sunday premium.
For further information download our guide to The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.
Follow the link to the relevant legislation; Organisation of Working Time Act.
Complaints in relation to rest periods or Sunday premiums can be made to the Rights Commissioner Service.