UNION action is expected at York Hospital trust over plans to remove staff breaks.
Some staff currently take short breaks in the morning and afternoon but York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said staff are not contracted to have a paid break and everyone should be treated equally.
However, Unite has said cutting breaks currently taken by staff amounts to an "unnecessary and dangerous change" which will impact on staff whose work is physically or mentally intensive.
Terry Cunliffe of Unite, said it would particularly affect its members, including estate workers, domestics, and pathology and pharmacy staff, who require breaks to work safely and effectively.
Mr Cunliffe said: "A number of members work in physically challenging jobs, for example estate staff may be working outside in difficult conditions. The idea they can't take a break in order to get washed or get a warm drink is unacceptable to us."
He said it would create an inequality in that some office staff would be able to take unofficial breaks from their desks to get a warm drink because of where they work but others would not.
Unite had raised its concerns with the HR department and union members will be balloted to determine what action to take over plans to to cut existing breaks, he said.
York Hospital trust said it would not save any money from the changes.
Staff do have unpaid lunch breaks factored in to their working day.
The hospital said the integration of services at York and Scarborough Hospitals showed some staff were taking breaks they were not contracted to and in effect means that some staff have been overpaid compared with the majority.
The trust could not say how many people are affected.
Brian Golding, director of estates and facilities said: “This has come about as a result of looking at working practices across all of our sites. It is not about saving money, it is about ensuring we’re treating everybody the same.
“We’ve been working with our staff side to explore how we can make this fair for everybody and we’ve agreed a set of principles. We’re now starting to implement the agreed principles which for some staff will mean a change to their current traditional arrangements.
“We have ensured that all working patterns are safe and comply with health and safety working regulations, staff will continue to have access to refreshments throughout the working day and be paid for the hours they are contracted to work.”
