Ensuring your care home staff receive adequate rest isn’t just a matter of compliance. It’s essential for maintaining high-quality care and staff wellbeing. Here’s a straightforward guide to help you navigate the regulations and best practices around staff breaks.
Understanding Legal Break Requirements
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, care workers aged 18 and over are entitled to:
- A 20-minute uninterrupted break when working shifts longer than six hours
- 11 consecutive hours of rest between working days
- 24 hours of rest in every seven-day period or 48 hours in every 14-day period
These are minimum legal standards. Employers must meet them, regardless of how busy the rota is. Offering more generous breaks where possible is also a strong way to support wellbeing and retention.
Can Staff Opt Out of the 11-Hour Rest Period?
No. The 11-hour rest period between shifts is not optional, even if a staff member is happy to work with less rest. It is a legal requirement in place to reduce the risks associated with fatigue and burnout.
What Happens If You Don’t Comply?
If these rules are breached without a valid legal reason, your organisation could face serious consequences. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or local authority can take enforcement action. In some cases, staff may also bring a claim to an employment tribunal. Outcomes could include financial penalties, enforcement notices, or orders to provide compensation.
On top of this, repeated or serious breaches could impact your inspection ratings. In England, this falls under the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In Scotland, it is the Care Inspectorate. In Wales, the regulator is Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), and in Northern Ireland it is RQIA (Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority). Each of these regulators has a duty to ensure providers meet staffing, safety, and wellbeing standards, including adequate staff rest.
Exceptions in Exceptional Circumstances
There may be rare situations, such as a last-minute emergency or an unexpected staffing crisis, where someone works with less than 11 hours of rest between shifts. In these cases, care providers must:
- Document the reason the rest period was missed
- Provide compensatory rest as soon as possible
- Ensure this is not a regular occurrence
You must still consider the impact on staff wellbeing and safety, and use this flexibility only when absolutely necessary.
What Are Lawful Exceptions?
The Working Time Regulations allow for exceptions in settings where continuity of care must be maintained. These may include:
- Emergency situations involving resident care
- Short-notice cover due to sickness or absence
- Shift handovers where care would be disrupted
- On-call duties or split shifts, if managed with proper rest time later
Even in these cases, the missed rest must be made up with compensatory time off as soon as reasonably practical.
Using Agency Staff? The Rules Still Apply
If you use agency workers, they are legally entitled to the same rest breaks as permanent staff. Your responsibilities as a provider do not change based on who employs the individual. Whether someone is permanent, bank, or agency:
- They must receive the correct breaks during shifts
- You must avoid scheduling them with fewer than 11 hours’ rest between shifts, unless it falls under a valid exception
- If rest is missed, you are responsible for ensuring compensatory rest is provided
Work closely with agencies to coordinate schedules and prevent accidental breaches. Poor communication can lead to workers being rostered in breach of legal rest rules between different providers.
Best Practices for Managing Breaks
- Build legal rest periods into rota planning
- Train staff who create rotas so they understand working time rules
- Monitor and document any exceptions and the compensatory rest that follows
- Create a culture where staff feel comfortable raising concerns about rest or fatigue
Support Staff, Improve Care
Well-rested staff are safer, more focused, and better equipped to deliver high-quality care. By following the rules around breaks and rest periods, whether with permanent or agency workers, you help protect your team, your residents, and your service.
If you want to know more or how Florence can help go to https://www.florence.co.uk/