Today’s question is a question is a general industrial law issue and would be better directed to an industrial organisation but I’ll have a go. The question is:

Traditionally, private paramedics working at events or in sectors such as mining (particularly where they are the solo clinician) don’t get allocated meal break time. The principle has always been that, because we have down time where we don’t have patients, we can take our breaks whenever that occurs. However, we are always available for response and to treat the next case. It’s not like we close the clinic between 1230 – 1300hrs. How does the law reflect this? I think overall we are on a good deal whereby we get more freedom to, perhaps, do things like play on our phones and eat and drink for longer than the 30 minutes per shift. If we had set meal times I can imagine the expectation would be that we must work nonstop for the remainder of our shift. The issue comes on the days where you don’t have time for a break or don’t get a consistent 30 minutes at a reasonable time (not within the first or last hour of the day). Some people find it difficult to switch off. The fact that we can’t sit down knowing we will be undisturbed for 30 continuous minutes can feel like we are still working. There has been research about how the anxiety of not knowing when your next case will come can cause burnout and not having a defined period where we know that we won’t be interrupted can exacerbate that. I’m sure some would argue that unless we are guaranteed not to be given a case or patient to manage for a set time period within the shift then we are actually working without a break.

What does the law say about breaks and does it give any definition or guidance as to what is a break? Is it any period of time that you (for this example) are not treating a patient or doing related tasks, or does it have to be a period where you are guaranteed not to be interrupted?

This is of course not just an issue for private paramedics – see:

As my correspondent says they cannot close the clinic as they don’t know when their services will be required. If you cannot guarantee that you won’t be needed, the employer cannot guarantee a meal break.

The Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award 2020 says:

15.1               Unpaid meal breaks

An employee is entitled to an unpaid meal break of not less than 30 minutes during each shift. The meal break will not count as time worked.

15.2               Paid crib time

(a)          By mutual agreement between the employer and the employee, an employee will be allowed a period of 20 minutes crib time during each shift for the purpose of taking a meal, instead of a meal break under clause 15.1.

(b)          Operational employees will be allowed a period of 20 minutes crib time during each shift for the purpose of taking a meal, instead of a meal break under clause 15.1.

(c)           The crib period will be counted as time worked and taken at a time and place directed by the employer.

15.3               Paid rest breaks

Where practical, employees are entitled to two 10 minute rest breaks each day, counted as time worked, as follows:

(a)          the first, between starting work and the usual meal break; and

(b)          the second between the usual meal break and finishing work.

Meal allowances are to be paid as follows:

18.3       Expense-related allowances

(a)          Meal allowances

(i)            A meal allowance of $19.57 per shift is payable to an employee to compensate for the cost of purchasing a meal away from the employee’s branch or usual place of work except where a meal has been arranged by the employer.

(ii)           A meal allowance of $5.17 is payable to an employee who is required to work for more than 5 consecutive hours without receiving a meal break.

(iii)          A spoilt meal allowance of $19.57 is payable to an employee called back to duty before having consumed a meal during a meal break. The employee may be required to present satisfactory evidence of spoilage to the employer.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says (at https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/hours-of-work-breaks-and-rosters/breaks#meal-breaks):

Meal breaks

A meal break is a longer period of uninterrupted rest that allows the employee to eat a meal.

Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements set the rules for paid and unpaid meal breaks, including:

  • the length of the breaks
  • when they need to be taken
  • the rules about payment.

Crib breaks

A crib break is a paid meal break. Some awards and agreements include crib breaks for times when an employee:

  • might need to resume work during their meal break
  • needs to stay at work – that is, they can’t leave their work area or the workplace.

The award may be varied by an enterprise agreement governing a particular workplace so the first place my correspondent or any employee has to look is the terms of their employment as set out in their contractual documents and any relevant enterprise agreement or award. 

Assuming the award does cover one’s employment then we can see that the Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award 2020 provides for both meal and crib breaks.  Operational staff get a crib break rather than a meal break (cl 15.2(b)).  That crib break is paid, rather than an unpaid meal break but anticipates that the paramedic may be called back to duty and may be entitled to an allowance (cl 18.3(iii)) if that happens.

Conclusion

Based on that award we can give a brief answer to the questions asked;

What does the law say about breaks and does it give any definition or guidance as to what is a break?

Yes, the Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award 2020 refers to both meal and crib breaks and these are defined by the Fair Work Ombudsman.  A crib break is paid downtime but with the realisation that the employee may be called back to duty. It is not a guarantee that the worker will not be interrupted.

Is it any period of time that you (for this example) are not treating a patient or doing related tasks, or does it have to be a period where you are guaranteed not to be interrupted?

A crib break is a paid meal break.  I would expect in the best of all possible worlds there would be a system where the employer or the employee would say ‘you are/I am now on your/my crib break’. At that point there should be an arrangement to allow the staff member to have their 20 minutes uninterrupted to enjoy their meal subject to recall for urgent duty.  It would be important for employers to have some system to designate that an employee is now on their break to avoid an obligation to pay a late meal allowance.  Fundamentally, however, how crib or meal breaks are managed is a matter for negotiation between the employer and its employees and is subject to the terms of any relevant award and/or enterprise agreement.

This blog is made possible with generous financial support from (in alphabetical order) the Australasian College of Paramedicine, the Australian Paramedics Association (NSW), the Australian Paramedics Association (Qld), Natural Hazards Research Australia, NSW Rural Fire Service Association and the NSW SES Volunteers Association. I am responsible for the content in this post including any errors or omissions. Any opinions expressed are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or understanding of the donors.