The obligations of an employer are regulated by various legal instruments, notably the Labor Code, Collective Labor Agreements, and, pertinent to the subject matter discussed, Law No. 102/2009 of September 10, which pertains to the legal regime for promoting workplace safety and health.
However, concerning short rest breaks, despite their commonality, they are not legally established, thus it is not correct to assert that these breaks constitute a genuine obligation for the employer.
Short breaks for activities such as having a coffee, eating a small meal, or simply taking a breather are generally accepted across most companies. These pauses can be considered under Article 15, No. 2, paragraphs d) and e) of the aforementioned Law No. 102/2009, which stipulates that it is the employer’s duty to ensure that workers are not exposed to parassocietal risk factors that could compromise their health at work, and to adapt work to human needs to alleviate monotonous and repetitive tasks while reducing psychosocial risks.
Therefore, if an employee considers these short breaks essential to their work relationship, it is advisable for them to be established in the employment contract between the worker and the employer.”
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Dantas Rodrigues has been a lawyer since 1993 and is a partner at Dantas Rodrigues & Associates. He has also been a professor of Law at the Polytechnic Higher Education since 1995.
