Employment law help.

[T16GEM]

I wonder if anyone on the UK Dis knows what the limit of employees is in an office before a company is required to provide rest facilities - i.e a canteen or somewhere to sit away from your desk to have breaks etc.

I am asking because my HR department has told me (at 8 months pregnant) that if I need to rest that I should lie on the floor! I am sure that I am not being irrational when I think that this is completly unacceptable for a multi national company with the aim of becoming the employer of first choice as their slogan!! We have 64 permanant employees and no rest area at all.

Also incidentally I have had no risk assessment conducted for my employement conditions / workstation etc, where do i stand with this if i want to cut down my hours in my last five weeks of work?

I have looked on the DTI website but I can't find much that related specifically to my problem?

Thank you for any help / advice that you can give.

Gems

 

[jen_uk]

That is absolutely terrible! I know that if you ask for a risk assesment the company by law has to carry out one and change anything in your job which could be harmful to you. I dont know about the canteen but I would have thought they have an obligation to provide you with a rest area. Have you tried the Citizens Advice, they can prob let you know your rights.

 

[AlanUK]

If it's a Health and Safety Issue then the HSE is probably the best place to go.

I found the following on their website which outlines some basic responsibilities and has a helpline number listed at the end that you could ring for more specific information.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/law.pdf

I hope it's useful

 

[Tink78]

I don't know I'm afraid but I just wanted to say how cute your little baby looks.
My brother and his wife had one of those scans done and when their baby was born we were compairing the photos of the baby once it had been born compaired to the scan.

Our company is really hot on rules and our quality dept are always doing risk assesments and stuff, but we don't have any where for staff to lie down or anything.

 

[FloridaSam]

Hi Gems

I would recommend trying ACAS.

Sam

 

[wils]

I'm sorry Gems no advise just sympathy - that's ridiculous!

If you did lie on the floor I wonder how long it would be before you were told you were a fire hazzard or breaking health and safety or something.

I'd try Citizen Advice

Sending you and your bump a hug


Jo

 

[hazelwell 123]

Hi Gems,
Has your company got a staff/occupational health department? They should be able to advise. I would agree with seeking union advice as they are being discriminatory. When I worked shifts, there were strict guidelines about breaks, for 71/2 hrs, the entitlement was two ten minute and one 20 min break per shift, to start after 3hours. These were away from the work areas.
Not sure how to post links, but www.maternityalliance.org.uk has advice on your maternity rights and www.tuc.org.uk has info on workplac...o be able to advise you. Good luck, Jane :)

 

[T16GEM]

Hazel, thanks for that link, I will have a good read of it when I get 5 minutes.

I have had a meeting with my boss who is a lot more accommodating than the HR department! He has agreed that I can stay home either morning or afternoon in order to rest - I can connect to all of the systems via the net so I can get on with things from home too, whilst lounging on my sofa!!

Thanks for all your help.

Tink - thanks for your post, did your brother's baby look just like their scan or was there a noticable difference?