Breakfast Club- Working Hours

Working Time Regulations

Sylvia Kenna of HR Dept was guest speaker at the GFSB’s Breakfast Club Seminar
of 20 th September. GFSB members were able to gain an overview of the
requirements of Gibraltar’s Working Time Act and to discuss some of the details
involved in applying this on a day-to-day basis. An HR consultancy, coaching and
mentoring service, the HR Dept provide a range of services to businesses which
do not have the resources to employ their own HR officer.
Members present at the Breakfast Club came from a broad range of businesses
sectors, from civil aviation – which has its own specialist set of rules within the
legislation – to shipping, retail and maintenance among a variety of others. Sylvia
Kenna has a great deal of experience in a broad range of sectors and gave a
comprehensive review of the main requirements of the regulations, pointing
employers to where they have a responsibility to ensure that their employees
can fully exercise their rights.
There were a number of areas that were of particular interest to members at the
seminar, including how the working time regulations apply to shift workers
changing shifts where continuity of service is essential, how they might apply to
emergency services workers, the way these apply to young workers, and how
“on call” workers can be secured sufficient breaks. The issue of annual leave and
the fact that employers cannot “buy back” annual leave not taken, unless this is
for leave in excess of the statutory minimum, was another point of interest to
members.
More Breakfast Club Seminars are scheduled throughout October and continue
to provide GFSB members with an excellent source of information and
opportunity for discussion and networking.