Find out what we mean by 'minimum enforced breaks' and how these can be used by your organisation
The law (Working Time Regulations 1998) states that when the working day is longer than 6 hours, all staff are entitled to a break of at least 20 minutes to be taken during their shift.
To help ensure this happens in busy and high-pressured healthcare environments, Patchwork Bank has in-built system functionality that allows organisations to enforce these breaks for appropriate workers. Organisations can set the length of the break to be automatically applied to each shift, which serves the dual purpose of making clinicians aware of their break entitlements, and encourages them to take that break.
It is essential to note that minimum enforced breaks are distinct from our standard break functionality. These breaks cannot be reduced by the worker below the minimum time required by the trust. Workers can still add additional time onto their breaks should their break go over the specified time
That means you can be sure your staffing practices uphold contractual requirements, keeping your staff safe and your organisation fully compliant.
This feature is optional, but strongly recommended to support best practices in workforce management.
If you are interested in switching this feature on for your organisation, please contact help@patchwork.health