Rest and meal breaks for Support Staff
Clause 2.9 of the Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement open_in_new(SSSCA) has unique rest and meal break provisions.
It is important that schools understand these provisions to ensure that employees under the SSSCA receive their correct rest and meal breaks during each work period.
What is a work period?
A work period is defined by the Employment Relations Act 2000open_in_new (the Act).
A work period is the period beginning with the time at which an employee starts work for the day and ending with the time at which an employee finishes work, and includes all authorised breaks (whether paid or not) provided to an employee or to which an employee is entitled during the period.
It is not tied to when the school is open for instruction.
Does clause 2.9.1 of the SSSCA mean that support staff must have a work period of more than five hours to get a meal break?
No. Clause 2.9.1 gives schools an hour’s flexibility in scheduling the employee's meal break during the work period. It does not require the employee to work five hours to get that break.
This is because clause 2.9.1 must be read in the context of the Act.
Section 69ZD of the Act sets the legal entitlement for meal breaks. A meal break entitlement is generated when an employee works for more than four hours in a work period. An employment agreement cannot require an employee to work longer to get a meal break than they would have to under the Act.
At the same time, section 69ZE(1)open_in_new of the Act allows the employer and the employee (or the union on behalf of its members) to agree on when the 30-minute lunch break is taken, so the default in section 69ZE(2) open_in_newof the Act does not apply. That is what is being done in clause 2.9.1.
The default in section 69ZE(2) of the Act would require the meal break to be taken either in the middle or two-thirds of the way through the work period. This approach could be impractical for, say, a librarian, who may not be able to break for half an hour at the four-hour mark because this may be during the lunch break when they need to perform their duties in the library.
Schools, therefore, must ensure that employees who work more than four hours in one work period get their (at least) 30-minute meal break. This break can be taken up to five hours after they start work to allow flexibility with school operations.
Does clause 2.9.2 of the SSSCA provide for a paid break entitlement above what is provided for in legislation?
Clause 2.9.2 provides that any employee whose work period is more than five hours is entitled to 20 minutes’ worth of paid rest breaks each work period.
This is above the entitlement provided for in the Act, which entitles an employee to two 10-minute rest breaks if they work more than six hours in a work period. An employment agreement can provide for rest break entitlements greater than those provided in the Act.
In addition to setting the improved entitlement, subject to clause 2.9.2(c), this clause allows an employee to take their rest break in one go in the morning of their work period.
The employee can take their rest break entitlement in one 20-minute block in the morning, if:
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the employee works more than five hours in the work period, and
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the employee agrees to, or requests, it, and
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it will not compromise the operational needs of the school, and
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the employee can properly take the break.
Otherwise, they will take their rest break entitlement in two 10-minute breaks across the work period – one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Templates, resources, and reference
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Collective Agreements
Employment Relations Act 2000