AP781451CRV - Federal Meat Industry (Processing) Award 2000
23.1 Meal Breaks
23.1.1 Subject to 25.6, no employee will work for longer than five hours without a 30 minute unpaid meal break, unless otherwise agreed by the employee.
23.1.2 Subject to 25.6, any employee called upon to work during a meal interval will be paid at overtime rates for that period and overtime rates will continue until a meal break is allowed.
23.2 Rest Breaks
[23.2 inserted by PR940412 from 01Jun04]
23.2.1 Subject to the other parts of this clause, employees whose duties are integral to the operation of a mechanised chain, conveyor, or other similar constantly moving system of production, or a non-mechanised rail system of conveyance, shall be entitled to a rest break of 10 minutes during his or her ordinary hours of work, to be taken in the first half of the day or shift, at a time to be decided by the employer.
For the purposes of this clause, ‘employees whose duties are integral to the operation of’ shall mean employees of the following classifications who are engaged to work on or in close connection with the relevant system of production or conveyance, namely –
23.2.1(a) Slaughtering operations – slaughterers, knife-hands, gut-room labourers, tripe-room labourers;
23.2.1(b) Boning operations – boners, slicers, packers (including cryovac operators and scalers, where employed as part of a packing team), pre-trimmers, and employees engaged to push carcases or sides to or from slaughterers or boners on rail systems.
23.2.2 A rest break taken in accordance with clause 23.2.1 will count as ordinary time worked.
23.2.3 This clause shall not apply to a meat processing establishment unless it employs a total of more than 15 employees referred to in clause 23.2.1.
23.2.4 The employer and the majority of employees in any establishment or section of an establishment may, in relation to the rest break provided in clause 23.2.1, agree to:
23.2.4(a) extend or reduce the length of the rest break; or
23.2.4(b) split the break into different periods, or add further rest breaks; or
23.2.4(c) forego the taking of a rest break or forego payment for all or part of any rest break provided in this clause, or otherwise agreed.
23.2.5 An employee shall not be entitled to a rest break under this clause unless the employee is rostered to work at least a total of four hours on that day or shift.
23.2.6 The Commission may (upon application by an employer) exempt any employer from the operation of this clause in respect of employees whose duties are integral to the operation of a non-mechanised rail system of conveyance, if the Commission is satisfied that the work of those employees is self-paced and that employees are able to take breaks from work without stopping or interrupting the production system in which the employees are engaged.
23.3 Interruption of work
[23.2 renumbered as 23.3 PR940412 from 01Jun04]
[23.2.1 renumbered as 23.3.1 PR940412 from 01Jun04]
23.3.1 If an interruption of work for any cause occurs within twenty minutes of the commencement of a paid break or within twenty minutes of a normal meal break, the employer may direct that the paid break or meal break be taken forthwith. Provided that where there is a breakdown of machinery within one hour of the time of the normal meal, the employer may require employees to have their meal break at an earlier time.
