Hours & Conditions
Rest breaks, and the ones that are unpaid by default
A break you cannot leave is not really a break, and a break you never take is not really unpaid. Both situations are more common…
Hours & Conditions
Overtime, shifts, contracts and the value of time nobody prices.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Hours & Conditions
Split shifts and the twelve-hour day that pays for six
A pattern with a long unpaid gap in the middle consumes an entire day for part of a day's pay. The gap is where the value goes.
Hours & Conditions
Training, meetings and the hours that sit outside the rota
Mandatory learning done at home, handovers before the clock starts and team meetings on a day off are all work. Whether they are…
Hours & Conditions
Sent home early: who carries the cost of a quiet day
You travelled, you arrived, you were told to go. Whether that costs the employer anything is one of the sharpest dividing lines…
Hours & Conditions
Out-of-hours messages and the right to disconnect
A message read at nine in the evening costs two minutes and reshapes the whole evening. Several countries have started treating…
Hours & Conditions
Understaffing, and the work that never becomes extra pay
A vacancy left open does not reduce the work; it redistributes it. The redistribution is free to the employer and expensive to…
Hours & Conditions
Working from home, and the day that quietly gets longer
Home working removes the commute and removes the edges of the day with it. What you save in travel you can lose in hours nobody…
Hours & Conditions
Public holidays, and the pay that depends on your contract
A day everyone else has off may be a paid day, an unpaid day or an ordinary working day at an ordinary rate. The contract decides…
Hours & Conditions
The salaried job where overtime is priced at zero
A contract that says hours may vary according to the needs of the business is a contract with no ceiling. The extra time is free by…