Changing during work hours: Your rights and obligations

Questioner

My job requires me to change clothes. Now I work in a large institution and there are 4 clothing vending machines where we can get uniforms. The company I work for is an external company and therefore does not belong to the institution. The company I work for wants us to change clothes in our own time, but only uses 1 clothing vending machine. This is a 10-minute walk there and 10 minutes back from my department. I have indicated that I will not do this in my own time because I will have to be at work half an hour earlier. Now they think I should just go during my coffee break. This is on the boss's time. Can they force me to get a uniform every day during my coffee break?

Lawyer

Changing into work clothes falls within working hours and must therefore take place during working hours.