Whats the law on work breaks in VIC?
Its law that you have one 10-15 minute break PAID (enough time for a quick smoke or snack and a coffee), for working 5 hours, but less than 6 (then by law its half an hour unpaid). If your company has a collective Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) that says its half an hour unpaid for a 5 hour shift you could try and negotiate an extention in your rostered hours by half an hour each shift if they were paying you the full 5 hours when you weren’t taking a break. In some companies, if you don’t get released to have a break (as opposed to ‘just not taking one’) then you should be paid overtime for the period of time that you were entitled to if it were an unpaid break. Check with Job watch or Fair Work Australia.