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SMEs 'should know rules on breaks'

Mar 04 2008

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Small businesses need to be aware of the guidelines governing their employees' break entitlement, says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

A spokesperson for the government body advises that if they don't, they risk contravening the working time directive .

The HSE says that there are a number of differences governing breaks for workers in different industries. For example, workers using display screen equipment or doing strenuous or repetitive work are entitled to longer and more frequent breaks.

'The rules on the provision of breaks under the working time directive…differ depending on the age of the worker,' she adds.

According to HSE figures, 2.2 million Britons suffer from an illness or a condition they believe to have been caused or aggravated by their job. And 36 million work days were lost to work-related illness in 2006/07.

The Labour Force Survey says that over the same period, 274,000 reportable injuries occurred.

For further advice on breaks for staff from the HSE, click here.

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