Employers in certain sectors can rely on the exemption from the ordinary rest break requirements in the Working Time Regulations (or 20 minutes for every 6 hours worked) as long as they provide equivalent compensatory rest. The EAT has confirmed that, in the same way as for ordinary rest breaks, compensatory rest breaks must be a continuous uninterrupted period of at least 20 minutes and cannot be satisfied by a number of shorter breaks totalling more than 20 minutes. Organisations that rely on the compensatory rest provisions should review their policies to ensure compliance. (Crawford v Network Rail Infrastructure)

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Samantha Brown

Managing Partner, Employment, Pensions and Incentives, UK and EMEA, London

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Steve Bell

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Emma Rohsler

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Fatim Jumabhoy

Partner, Head of Employment & Workplace Investigations, Asia, Singapore