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EEAST Meal break arrangements

Meal Break Survey EEAST.

Dear Colleague,

The EEAST employer is currently undertaking a Quality and Cost Improvement Programme (QCIP) and have invited UNISON to engage with them over potential and proposed changes to the current Meal Break Arrangements.

Terms that the Trust would like to introduce include:-
  • Removal of the late Meal Break Payment
  • Increasing the Missed meal Break Payment from £20 to £40
  • Removal of Out of Area payment except when outside of the Trust area
  • Removal of fixed point meal breaks
  • When outside of the Trust breaks mandated to be taken at the hospital
  • Additional 15 minutes disturbed element to be added to break. This would be at the beginning to allow for the collection of food or added to the end of the undisturbed element if already at a place where break is to be taken. Total break would be half hour undisturbed and half hour disturbed (The Disturbed element of break to be used for Confirmed C1, Predicted C! Cardiac Arrests (not all predicted C1s) H1 Backups.)

Unison recognise that all staff should be able to take their break in a way that complies with the Working Time Directive. The employer allows for this with the provision of a meal break window of 1.5 hours either side of the midway point of the shift.

This Unison Branch firmly believes and supports that staff should have a break in the mid point of a shift but when staff are unable to take their break within the meal break window, that they should be adequately and fairly financially recompensed.

We will have to engage with the employer over their proposals but would need to do so with the support, consensus and views  of our members and the staff.

We are therefore asking that you take the time to complete the following survey.
 
1. Where would you prefer to take your break when working and outside of the Trust area?


 
2. Where would you prefer to take your break when working inside the Trust Area?
 
3. Do you agree with the removal of a financial payment for a late break?
4. Do you believe that late breaks would increase if the payment is withdrawn?
 
5. Do you feel that an incremental scale of late meal break payments would be an alternative option dependent on how late your break is?
6. Do you feel that for a break taken outside of meal break window a protected 1 hour undisturbed meal break would be adequate compensation for no financial compensation?
7. On average how many late breaks do you have in a month?
8. Do you support the proposal to remove the Out Of Area Payment within the Trust area?

 
9. Would you agree that a £40 payment for a missed meal break is adequate compensation for the removal of any late meal break payment?
 
10. Do you feel that increasing the missed meal break payment to £40 would incentivise staff to not take a meal break?
 
11. On Average how many missed meal breaks do you have in a month?
13. Do you feel that overall the change proposals will be supportive to staff welfare and morale?
14. Do you feel that overall the meal break proposals will be detrimental to staff welfare and morale?
15. Do you feel that the current meal break arrangements are adequate?
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