Does 11 hours include 30 min.
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rest?
The Ministry can't say
• The courts may have to decide whether the transport driver's 11-hour working day specified in Clause 96 of the Transport Act includes the statutory 30 min. break after 54 hours working.
The matter was raised with the Transport Ministry by Mr. Edward Taylor, MP, a Conservative spokesman on Transport, who received an inquiry from a "very major trading firm".
Mr. Taylor wrote to the Ministry to say that he had tentatively advised the firm that over a period of 114 hours in any day, the 30-min. break would not in fact detract from the 11 hours "on duty", and asked the department if this advice was accurate.
In a reply, Mr. Neil Carmichael, joint Parliamentary Secretary, told Mr. Taylor: "As you know, 'on duty' and 'off duty' are not defined in the Act; this will be a matter for the courts to decide in individual cases.
"But experience under the 1960 Act and under other legislation suggests that they will define it as a period when the driver is not under his employer's orders and is free to leave his vehicle.
"You will appreciate that it is not possible to give a precise answer. While, therefore, the answer to your question as to whether the half-hour break is to be counted within the 11-hour working day is generally `no', because the driver will usually be off duty during that half hour, much will depend on the circumstances of each individual case."
Mr. Taylor who described Mr. Carmichael's reply as "quite fantastic", said: "The Government are apparently unable to interpret their own Act and are suggesting that we should go to the courts to find out what their own legislation means".
He intends to pursue the matter in a Parliamentary question.