In short
Adults who work more than six hours a day are entitled to one uninterrupted 20-minute break. They also get 11 hours’ rest between working days and either 24 hours off each week or 48 hours each fortnight. Shift changeovers and round-the-clock services can be exceptions – but then compensatory rest is owed.
Three different kinds of rest
The Working Time Regulations 1998 separate three entitlements that are easy to blur on a busy rota. A rest break happens during the shift. Daily rest is the gap between finishing one working day and starting the next. Weekly rest is the longer stretch off each week or fortnight. Each has its own minimum, and each has to fit into the rota.
A contract can give more. Changing the statutory rest rules for a group of workers needs a collective or workforce agreement – or one of the special cases below.
The 20-minute break
- It applies when the working day is more than six hours.
- It lasts at least 20 minutes, uninterrupted, taken in one go.
- It sits somewhere in the middle of the day – not tacked on to the start or end of the shift.
- The worker is entitled to spend it away from their workstation.
You may decide when the break is taken, as long as those conditions are met. But if the worker has to return before it ends, gov.uk is clear that it does not count. Breaks are unpaid unless the contract says otherwise – the law guarantees the time, not the pay.
Worked example: the break that slides to the end
Example: a kitchen porter works 10:00 to 17:30 on a Saturday, so a 20-minute break is due – around the middle of the shift, say after the lunch rush at 14:00. Rostering it at 17:10 so he can “leave early” does not meet the rule, because the break must not come at the end of the working day.
Eleven hours between working days
Adult workers are entitled to 11 hours’ rest between working days (regulation 10), counted from the actual finish to the next start. A late shift finishing at 23:00 followed by an early shift at 07:00 leaves eight hours – three short.
Workers under 18, common in weekend hospitality and retail jobs, need 12 hours’ daily rest, 48 hours’ weekly rest and a 30-minute break once they work more than four and a half hours.
Weekly rest and the fortnight option
On top of daily rest, adults get either an uninterrupted 24 hours without work each week, or 48 hours each fortnight (regulation 11). The fortnightly option suits rotas with clustered days off, such as a care worker doing a run of long days.
When the rules can bend – and what you owe instead
Some work cannot simply stop. In these situations workers may lose the right to specific rest breaks, but they are owed compensatory rest of the same length as the rest they missed:
- Shift changeovers, where a worker cannot take daily or weekly rest between one shift and the next.
- Split shifts, such as a cleaner working mornings and evenings.
- Round-the-clock services such as hospital work, and busy seasonal industries including retail and tourism.
- Emergencies, and cases where a collective or workforce agreement has changed the rest rules.
The law at a glance
- Regulation 10: 11 hours’ consecutive rest in each 24-hour period; 12 hours for young workers.
- Regulation 11: 24 hours’ rest each week or 48 hours each fortnight; 48 hours each week for young workers.
- Regulation 12: an uninterrupted 20-minute break when the day exceeds six hours; 30 minutes after four and a half hours for young workers.
- Compensatory rest: owed where an exception applies.
Worked example: a care home changeover
Example: a care assistant’s team moves from a week of late shifts to a week of early shifts. She finishes Sunday’s late shift at 22:00 and starts the new pattern at 07:00 on Monday – nine hours, two short of 11. Because this is a genuine change of shift pattern, the shift-worker exception in regulation 22 can apply, and the two hours are owed back as compensatory rest, for example by starting her next shift later. Moving her only because a colleague is off sick is not a changeover: then you need another exception, such as the continuity-of-care rule in regulation 21, still with compensatory rest – or someone else covers the shift. Write it down when it happens.
Building breaks and rest into the rota
- 1Mark the break in every shift over six hours.
- 2Check every pair of shifts: actual finish to next start must be at least 11 hours, or 12 for under-18s.
- 3Rotate forwards – early, late, night – rather than backwards.
- 4Log every exception and its compensatory rest.
- 5Compare the rota with the hours actually worked: a late finish eats into the next morning’s rest.
For 20 or 30 people this is slow by hand; scheduling software can at least check the rest period between shifts automatically as you plan. The break itself you still set as a fixed block in every long shift.
Common mistakes
- “They’ll take their break when it’s quiet.” On a busy day it never is – schedule it.
- “A break at the till still counts.” Not if the worker can be called back before it ends.
- “The opt-out covers rest too.” It only applies to the 48-hour week.
- “Under-18s follow the adult rules.” Their break, daily rest and weekly rest are all longer.
Checklist before you publish the rota
- Every shift over six hours has a planned break in the middle.
- At least 11 hours between shifts, 12 for under-18s.
- Everyone has 24 hours off this week, or 48 over the fortnight.
- Exceptions are logged with their compensatory rest.
Frequently asked questions
Can a worker skip their break to leave early?
Not by moving it to the end of the shift – gov.uk is clear that the break is not taken at the start or end of the day. If someone wants a shorter day, plan a shift of six hours or less.
Does a handover count as rest?
No. Handover, cashing up and closing tasks are work. If the late shift ends at 21:30 on paper but handover runs to 21:50, daily rest starts at 21:50.
Note
This article is a general overview and not legal advice. For your specific situation, check the current gov.uk and Acas guidance, your contracts and any collective agreement, or take professional advice.