Labour Standards
You are entitled to an unbroken, unpaid break of 30 minutes for every 5 hours worked.
That means that if you work a 12 hour shift, you have to take one 30 minute period as a break, plus another 30 minutes of breaks you can take consecutively or not. You may also entitled to a break if you need one for medical reasons.
Your employer may choose to not allow you to take your break in the event of an emergency or where it would be unreasonable to take a break, such as if there is an accident, there is urgent work that must be done, there are unforeseen circumstances which make it impractical to take a break, or it is unsafe or unreasonable to take a meal break.
If you can’t take a break because of these circumstances, but it’s still safe to eat while doing your job, you have to be allowed to eat at work.
You are also required to be given one 24 hour period break away from work every seven days.