How many breaks are you legally allowed to take at work? Everything you need to know

If you've been sitting at your desk since 9am and are desperate for a break, what does the law say you can actually do about it?

Are you allowed to lift yourself up from your desk and get outside for some fresh air? Or are you limited by the number of breaks you can have?

You might be surprised to know that employees over 18 in the UK who work for more than six hours are only legally allowed one uninterrupted 20-minute rest break.

And the rest break doesn’t have to be paid, either.

That's regardless of whether you are a smoker or non-smoker. There's no legal allowance for a smoking break.

Employers can decide when their staff take their rest break, as long as it is taken in one go, reports the Birmingham Mail.

Office workers taking a break (PA / Phil Noble)

The Government advice states: "Workers over 18 are usually entitled to three types of break - rest breaks at work, daily rest and weekly rest.

"Workers have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during their working day, if they work more than six hours a day. This could be a tea or lunch break.

"The break doesn’t have to be paid - it depends on their employment contract."

"Workers also have the right to 11 hours rest between working days, e.g. if they finish work at 8pm, they shouldn’t start work again until 7am the next day.

"Workers also have the right to either an uninterrupted 24 hours without any work each week or an uninterrupted 48 hours without any work each fortnight."

There are some workers who aren’t even entitled to these three types of breaks, however.

These are:

• the armed forces, emergency services or police and they’re dealing with an exceptional catastrophe or disaster
• people in a job where they freely choose what hours they work (like a managing director) or where the work is not measured (ie no set hours)
• sea transport workers
• air or road transport workers (known as ‘mobile’ workers)

And young workers get extra break time. Those above school leaving age and under 18 are usually entitled to:

• a 30-minute rest break if they work more than 4.5 hours (if possible this should be one continuous break)
• daily rest of 12 hours
• weekly rest of 48 hours