Meal and coffee breaks are regulated in collective agreements. These rules cover the length of these breaks and whether they are paid for or not.
Meal breaks
The duration of a meal break varies between sectors of the labour market, ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour, taken between 11:30 and 13:30. The lunch break is not counted as working time and therefore unpaid. According to the collective agreement of trades’ men, the lunch break on weekends is however considered as worked time. Meal breaks during overtime are reckoned as working time and paid for with overtime rate. The same applies to coffee breaks during over time hours.
Coffee breaks
The coffee breaks are usually 35 minutes per day and are paid as worked time. Collective agreements allow for workplace agreements where coffee breaks are skipped or reduced. Negotiating shorter coffee breaks is thus permissible in which instance overtime begins earlier as per the said break. The same applies to shorter meal brakes.
Work during lunch and coffee breaks
Work shall only be performed during meal and coffee breaks provided that the workers agree. Work during meal or coffee breaks during the day counts as overtime and must be paid for as such.
