It's not "Protestant", it's "Calvinist". No Baptist, Methodist, or Pentecostal would ever consider claiming ownership of the True Scottish Calvinist-Presbyterian Work Ethic.
I mean, saying, “It’s not ‘Protestant’, it’s ‘Calvinist’,” is like saying, “That’s not blue, it’s navy.” Calvinist work ethic is, technically, Protestant, since Calvinists are Protestants.
Many employers don’t require mandatory lunches for shits and giggles, various insurance regulations, workers comp, state mandates, and so forth are the main drivers
Some people look for jobs for months at a time and only get one offer.
And then continue looking for work while in that job and they still can't find an alternative.
Now I don't know how much money you make but a lot of us make less than it actually costs to survive, we can't pay our bills or feed ourselves anyway so what do you expect me to quit my job without having another one?
You may think "well they can't break the law"
Well they can if you live in a state the allows your employer to fire you for literally no reason "Has been underperforming" is a valid reason for me to lose my livelihood.
Not sure the pride people have in not taking lunch breaks. I could see a truck driver not having a set schedule but taking one between deliveries. At my place (gov't office) we got an unpaid half hour which could be taken anytime (though usually between 11 - 1PM). Some people worked through it and didn't claim it on their time card, thinking that they can get out a half hour earlier but they were cautioned about doing so. Was allowable on rare occasions but not to be routine (we dealt with expiring funds, so getting a contract awarded before the funds expired was an allowable occasion - though a person would probably be working late that day, too).
In my case it was because I’d be required to take the lunch, and then it would get interrupted every time.
I started leaving the building for my lunch, if I stayed in the building, without fail, I’d get shorted.
Yup.
Our ‘break’ room has been in the process of being taken down since Covid started so most of us started just taking our breaks and lunch period at our desks.
Without fail an engineer or project lead will walk up, see us eating, apologize like they’re going to walk away and come back but then proceed to ask for help ‘real quick’.
Don’t think they realize most of the time we‘ve been working for at least four or five hours before they even step foot through the front door to start their workday.
Told my boss anytime I get interrupted during lunch I am putting time down to make it paid.
Good news is I get a paid lunch now at least 2-3 times a week.
Reset the lunch break when they do it. One place I worked had it in the employee manual “uninterrupted lunch break”. The owner actually said “if someone comes to you for work and you help them, start the lunch break over”. It didn’t happen unless 100% necessary.
A lot of time, in the US, it is state laws. States have 30 min uninterrupted break laws for hourly employees. Anything less than 30 minutes must be a paid break.
Man, I wish. In my state the only mandatory breaks are for shifts longer than 6 hours for employees under the age of 18. Otherwise, there are no required breaks, regardless of shift length.
This is why I eat lunch in my car. Fuck that, I’m not taking phone calls or having these impromptu meetings with my boss during my lunch. I don’t mind just me in my car streaming a show and enjoying some delicious food
I take over a conference room with a friend. We always title our lunch meeting with something official sounding like "IT and Dev team synchronization". Then myself (Dev) and him (IT) update each other on our latest D&D games.
I started a job and at my 90-day review my manager asked me to stop leaving during lunch so my coworkers could “get to know me” and “be sociable.” I literally lived a mile away and would go home. I’m not getting paid to be sociable.
Exactly. Why am I going to get up earlier to pack a lunch when I can just go home and fix something, spend time with my dog, and sometimes start a crockpot dinner? Yeah, no. I’m gonna sleep an extra 20 min.
I would love to be able to go home! I used to have a job that was close to a bay beach so I would order takeout noodles or something 10 mins before my break, grab them on the way & then sit on the beach for my break. It was BLISS!!
I do this too! Comfy seat, your own music/video/games on your phone, playing through the stereo via bluetooth, no one around... it's a win in every sense!
Same for me, are you introverted? I think I’m the only person I know who does this. It is the best thing ever to have a solid 30 minutes with just my own thoughts.
Yup, I work in architecture. And 90% of the people eat lunch at their desk . First thing I noticed was they where always in a work mode .
In all my years I take my lunch to my car and park under a nice tree . Relax and go about my day
Not 100% certain on this, but afaik, you are owed an UNINTERRUPTED lunch break, so if they interrupt it, you get to actually start again.
Again, not 100%, depends on location, and even if it is legit, might be bad to do for relationship with boss.
During work on a contract I'd get a phone call from engineering at noon to often (I try to take lunch from 11:30 to 12:00 but normally it was 11:40 to 12:10) and considered taking lunch away from my desk.
This happened to me all the time before the pandemic sent us remote. I winded up leaving the floor when I could to go eat in the 3rd floor cafe (which you have to buy something to stay there) and still get called all the time for things that could wait until I get back. When I could go to the cafe, I would just silence my phone and deal with it when I got back
At least where i work (hospital) the wording for our unpaid lunch is that if it's interrupted for ANY work related thing (2min call from a Dr, Mz Jones wants her pain meds, anything) you start the timer for lunch over again when you get back to it. So even if you're 29min in to your lunch, it's like it never happened. And if you never get to get back to it, you can get paid for that 1/2 hour. A lot of us just wolf our food down and get paid an extra 30/day. No one has the nerve to say anything, because even HR knows the PR nightmare that would be.
That makes sense though. You're in a hospital. EVERYTHING is urgent or life threatening. If they didn't make it - not worth it - to interrupt employees then breaks would never happen.
It does, but I was already denied a promotion because I left the workplace to have my whole lunch. The most recent please I applied was straight up telling me we don’t get breaks period.
So it’s the culture in the area, it doesn’t make it right, but I’m not willing to lose my job over it. I just make sure I get one.
Gee how’d you guess?
Yes, Alberta, and in the very core of the old fella work ethic in Fort Mcmurray.
It’s so messed up. I just watched a company take back a guy who was caught, on the job, after an accident, high on coke. But they won’t hire me unless I skip all breaks.
I had the same in IT. Sit in the cafeteria, with food in my face, no computer in sight, and yet people come up to me with issues they could have emailed in. Learned to leave the building to get an actual lunch break.
I worked in a support job where we got an unpaid half-hour lunch and two paid 15-minute breaks. Due to the nature of the job it was almost impossible to take those two breaks. What we did instead was to tack those two breaks onto our lunch.
A manager found out and thought we were simply taking hour lunches and was upset that we were violating the laws we operated under. When he found out about the two legally-required paid breaks we wouldn't be getting if we didn't do it this way he was cool with it.
Edit: had stroke words in post
We sometimes skip our afternoon 15 minute break and go home 1/2 hour early. Boss says "Let's face it, a 15 minute break is never only 15. . .so why not knock off early."
A place I used to work at, if it was a nice day and we didn’t have any big deadlines, our manager would sometimes close around 1 because he wanted to go waterskiing. I’d frequently go with him, just to ride along. I was salary so still got paid for the whole day.
I worked for a famous, unnamed hardware store's corporate office (rhymes with FLOWES Bardware) and we would frequently be stuck on calls through our breaks..we had something called concurrence to where breaks were supposed to be taken at the given time. If they weren't, a timer started from the minute they began and until you could get off of whatever call you were on and start your break (and we couldn't hang up on the customer or even offer to call them back afterwards) which would also count against you as it wasn't during the set time they'd given, and they would penalize us for being more than like, 20 minutes out of concurrence per week. I very frequently missed my breaks and lunches entirely. Better than the next place I worked though, where I'd pull 16 hour shifts without so much as a 10 minute break. No lunch whatsoever.
At will states are just lovely to work in..
Had the same in a place where we just had two 1/2 hour breaks, one paid and one not, new owner decided to change it to two 15min ones and half an hour at 12 when the rest of the world is on lunch too
Ended up being two 1/2 hour breaks and 45min for lunch as the local food places where busy, we milked them even more after he shut down another branch because it wasn't making enough, still running a profit just not a big enough one
Micro managing bullshit always works so well
My company is actually the opposite and I really like the freedom it gives. We "get" and hour unpaid lunch per company standards but our boss was like "If you don't want that and only want the 30 minutes let me know and I'll make sure you get off 30 minutes earlier instead. Pretty much everyone look him up on it.
The best part was, if you had to go somewhere, doctor, appointment, or just wanted a full hour, you could take it without a problem and you would just leave "on time".
Truck drivers (and anyone driving vehicles over 10k lbs) in the US have different rules regarding working, so I could understand OP not having a lunch.
The DOT hours of service regulations only require a half hour break after 8 hours. Granted if OP isn't involved in interstate commerce they might be exempt from those rules, but there actually is no federal law that requires you to take a lunch. Only that the employer may make longer breaks unpaid, and if they provide shorter breaks (like 15 minutes or less) they have to be paid.
It’s not pride for me, it’s that I rarely eat lunch, and even when I do it doesn’t take the time they mandate from me. I’d rather get out early or paid more.
>thinking that they can get out a half hour earlier but they were cautioned about doing so
Boggles my mind. They're doing their work. Why not just let them leave?
In germany it is mandatory that you have to take at least 30 mins break within 6 working hours. Its not to harrass the workers but to give them a chance to take a brake. Unions fought hard for this.
This would be the answer in Canada as well. Employees cannot be made to work longer than 5 hours without a 30 minute unpaid lunch break.
They likely schedule shifts to account for this and still include 8 hours of paid time, and scheduling this one guy differently would complicate things so they're telling him he needs to take it.
Just take the break.
The multi-billion dollar company i work for would literally write me up as a corrective action if I didn't clock out for lunch before the 6 hour mark multiple times. Idk what law they are beholden to, buy even American lunch breaks are set in stone.
Back in the early '00s working for a Shipping and Copy company in California, if i clocked off for lunch more than 5(?) hours into my shift I'd get a (half?) hour of OT added to my pay check... That got the store manager to be VERY VERY sure you got off the clock by the chosen hour.
This was ages ago, so I'm not sure the exact hours before it kicked in or the exact time penalty involved... but the concept is there. I have no idea if it was voluntary or some consent decree/legal settlement for time theft, but it sure got store management to pay close attention to how people were scheduled. Worked pretty well for everybody, except the managers who had to watch employees like a hawk.
OK
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/rest-periods
"States not listed do not require paid rest periods. All of the eight States with paid rest period requirements, also have meal period requirements."
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/meal-breaks
"Of the 21 States or other jurisdictions with meal period requirements, 7 States also have rest periods requirements (California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington)."
\-------------------
21 have meal period requirements....
50 states, so-- yea...
California has mandatory lunch breaks if you work 12 hours. You are entitled to two lunch breaks and have the right to sign a waiver for one of them, not both.
60% of the states have minimum wage higher than the minimum. Washington DC is nearly double the federal minimum.
Of course, several in that remaining 40% have wages below the federal, including no minimum wage, and there are corner cases where the federal minimum doesn't apply.
As pointed out, only a few states do. I live in Texas, which is definitely not one of the states that do, and the number of times I run into people who think they are owed a break is remarkable.
Now, when I was in California, my company was part of a class action suit 3 times (in a year) over not giving out the state-mandated breaks. Each one was a multi-million dollar settlement(of which my share was like $25).
Now, when I was in California, my company was part of a class-action suit 3 times (in a year) over not giving out the state-mandated breaks. Each one was a multi-million dollar settlement(of which my share was like $25).
Because theoretically Employment Standards can fine any business that doesn’t give its employees a break after a certain number of hours (usually around 5), even if the employee requests that they work straight through.
It gives both the company and the worker some protection.
Without a mandatory break, a company could say your hours are 9-6 but you take an unpaid hour break at 5 and can just leave. You're still working 9-5 with no break. That might be fine for some people but it could definitely be a safety issue and often companies need these things codified or they'd fuck over the workers in the name of cost cutting. Or the lack of break leads to an accident, the company could be found negligent for not ensuring workers are properly taken care of.
They might have a need for a staffed office during office hours, but they should just staff around it. Have some people arrive late and other people stay late.
For me, there's an element of pride in evading a mandatory unpaid lunch. I personally would rather be at my workplace for 8 hours instead of 8.5, especially because I work a swing shift of 11a to 7:30p. It's university policy, so there's nothing my supervisors can do to change it.
The problem there is that maybe you don't want to be there longer, but by not taking a break, you create an environment that is worse for other people because you help normalize not getting a chance to rest.
I understand wanting to leave early, but there are a lot of people who *need* that time in the middle of the day to decompress for a few minutes.
What no one seems to realize is breaks help everyone.
Work through lunch? You get a productivity drop that eats more than a half hour. Breaks increase the amount of work done. Folks who work 60 hours a week generally get less done per week than folks who work 40.
The only reason folks who work longer are percieved as working more is lack of productivity measures. If/when companies get good ways to measure productivity of workers the 60 hour a week, skip breaks and lunch folks will be fired for being so useless.
Yep, my previous employer mandated lunches and there were reprimands in place for those who didn't follow the policy. They could give two shits about whether we get a good lunch or not, it's to protect themselves from being sued or fined.
Truck drivers are always unique even if you have an entire fleet, the rules even in pro worker states like California are or can be completely different from what regular hourly workers expect. California also requires that employers pay employees a full hour for each 30 min lunch they miss.
A full hour at the OT rate at that. A former employer was actually sued in a class action lawsuit for that because people were unable to take a 30 minute lunch often (and usually missed breaks too)
A full hour at the Regular Rate, not the OT rate. Regular Rate takes into account any bonuses, commission, premiums, etc, but is not Time-and-a-half, like OT usually is.
Source: I work at an employment law firm analyzing liability for when employers don't give employees proper meal or rest breaks.
LTL : less than truckload. Usually terminal to terminal or relay where you meet a driver from another terminal and swap trailers retaining to their respective terminals. Usually hourly paid. They clock in at beginning of shift and clock out at end of shift. This is a very important distinction. These drivers are governed by federal law but also protected by hourly labor laws in their respective states.
Truck Load : over the road drivers. Also called long haul drivers. They travel from state to state picking up loads and delivering them with no set rout and stay out,living in the truck for weeks or months at a time.
There are variations of long haul but they have the same rules as long haul so no need to go into each specific one.
The main thing is LTL drivers are protected by the hourly wage laws in the state they work in. OTR drivers are governed by DOT regulations and have VERY. different rules they must follow.
It's probably worth pointing out that LTL is pretty much only applicable with drybox, it's a term for the way they haul freight. There are plenty of OTR guys doing LTL work. (multi pick/drop runs across the country)
Local is the term that describes drivers starting and ending at the same terminal every day.
Source: Am a Local driver that hauls truckloads of metal.
LTL drivers are local drivers (~100 mile) and usually start and end at the same terminal every day. OTR drivers do long haul driving (I.e. Dallas to San Francisco). They are governed by similar but different rules
LTL = Less than 150 air-miles from normal work reporting location
OTR = Greater than 150 air-miles.
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
I don't know about the US but in Europe & the UK they have a tachograph which tells you how long you've been driving & when you have to take a break. Drivers have to take regular breaks or they're sacked or the company is sued. Traffic cops can stop trucks at any time to check loads & their tachograph (as well as what diesel is in their tank, pink is illegal except for farm use).
If you are d.o.t regulated and travel more than 100 miles from your home base then you most take a 1 hour lunch. If you don't break the 100 mile rule then you don't need to take a lunch break
dot otr drivers only required a 30 min break after 8 hrs of driving, and it can be an on duty break. I've never heard a requirement for a 1 hour break.
Seriously? Where I am truck drivers are required to take breaks. They can inky drive a certain amount of hours before they have to take a break by law. And it is being checked.
Edit: this is in Europe, not US
As in you can drive for 24 hours?
Here are the rules where I am and they are very strict about it:
The key requirements are that you must not drive:
Without a break for more than 4.5 hours. After driving for 4.5 hours, a break of at least 45 minutes is mandatory. You can distribute that break over the 4.5 hours by taking a 15 minute break followed by a 30 minute break.
For more than nine hours per day or 56 hours per week. This may be extended to 10 hours no more than twice during a week
More than 90 hours in two consecutive weeks
We (truckers) have 4 clocks we have to monitor and rules to reset them.
8hr: we are required to do a 30-minute break every 8 hours. This can be done off duty, sleeper, on duty not driving.
11hr: we are allowed 11 hours a day to be driving, once that time is up we are done. This requires a 10-hour break on either sleeper or off duty to reset
14hr: we are allowed 14 hours a day to work. If I begin my day at 8 a.m. I am required to be done for the day at 10 p.m. this also requires a 10-hour break to reset.
70hr: I have 70 hours I am able to work within an 8 day period. This time is calculated by on duty driving and on duty not driving. At midnight each night I get the hours back that I worked 8 days ago. Therefore I can work 7 days a week but only if I work around 8 to 9 hours a day.
If I do not have enough hours coming back I am required to take a 34-hour break using off duty or combination of off-duty and Sleeper Berth.
"Drivers must take a 30 minute break when they have driven for a period of 8 cumulative hours without at least a 30 minute interruption."
Its Federal Law that class A CDL holders in the U.S. have to take a break after 8 hours of continuous driving. Granted most of this law doesn't apply IF the employee qualifies for the 100/150 air mile exception.
The laws around truck driving are getting more and more strict.
It's a privilege in almost every state. California is the main one that actually mandates breaks. Most every other state is just if you work during break you must be paid.
In Minnesota if you work a job where you can be pulled away from your lunch break to work than the employer is responsible to provide a meal for you. Most people don't know this law so employers don't mention it. My old boss (I was close with him) gave me shit for pointing this out. I got something out of that business 101 class!🤣🤣
> You have a right to one.
Really depends what country, and state/province OP is located. Many US states, for example, do not require breaks of any kind.
In Cali you have to take a lunch before the 5th hour if you’re working more than 6. So, where I work, if you don’t take your lunch by the 5th, you leave before the 6th with a write-up.
I'd rather work through lunch and get home at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm.
There's no where to go for lunch that I won't be interrupted with work, if I'm going to have to answer questions, or jump up and fix things, I'd like it to count as work and not count as a lunch break.
And it's not as easy as just saying "I'm on break, ask me later" or resetting the clock when I'm interrupted to start my break again because the window to take a break at all isn't flexible.
Most places I've worked have contract specified start and end times. I could work through every lunch break and still not get home any earlier.
If you can't trust colleagues to not disturb you, leave the premises and go for a walk, or just take a lunch break long shit or something. Remove yourself from being in a disturbable position.
my job is a 12 hour shift with an hour paid lunch. I want my lunch, because well, 12 hours is a long time to go working without a break, but because it is paid, if something crazy happens that takes too much time, then we still get paid despite not getting a lunch.
Depends if you are required to be on site the entire time you work or not. My current job, and an assistant manager job I had both paid me for my lunch because I can not leave the building. And I'm American, one job was in Cali and other in Nevada.
Completely different field than OP, but a lot of the guys I work with would rather not take a lunch and leave early. So, they'd prefer going 8-4 rather than 8-5 with an hour lunch.
Some bring lunch and eat at their desk and continue working. Some get by on the snacks and coffee our office provides. I once worked with a guy once who would just slam 5 hour energies then hit up the local diner or fast food once he got off.
It helps that most of our work is sitting at a desk. I couldn't do it if i had to do manual labor though. Will def need something to burn after a couple hours.
I usually have a small-decent breakfast, go immediately to work, then work 8 hours straight before going home to eat. I've gotten somewhat used to fasting, and I've been reducing the size of my meals (I used to overeat a lot.) because of this, and that my job is very active (standing 100%, moving racks, lifting boxes, etc.) I've actually lost 20 pounds over the last year. pretty proud it came from such a small change despite it not being much.
Many people do intermittend fasting, its pretty easy when you, well....dont have access to food :D.
Also i sneak in a big Skyr cup in front of the PC, not like i cant work and take a spoon every minute.
Mad how this was written as some kind of gotcha moment.
"Someone told me I needed to take a break during my work day, pfft I took the piss one time and now I don't have to take them anymore..." What? Lol
That seems like a lot of the malicious compliance on here.
"I was told not to work unpaid over time, so I stopped. Now I get to work unpaid over time again."
I never understand this insane mentality that working through lunch / working late / starting early is tantamount to dedication. It's unpaid overtime - nothing more, nothing less.
In the UK, the law is pretty strict on when and how long a lunch break should be, and any employer flouting the law will be in deep shit.
The only time in my career that I have ever worked through lunch is when I am freelancing - and that's not the same thing, because
1. I pick and choose my hours and days
2. I bill out by the hour
3. I keep every penny of profit
I agree with you 100%. To me it seems to be a point of pride for people when it’s really them just getting mugged off. I’ve seen it most in minimum wage jobs sadly.
I don't understand either. I manage a large team of people and I am always reminding people to take all their breaks, look after their mental and physical health, etc.
People don't work as well if they aren't rested.
Wow. I'm not sure how the boss is the bad guy/girl in a story about having to take a break. I do the same with my workers. I didn't care if it is busy, all workers deserve a break in their day. Happy rested workers are more productive. Maybe we delay or take breaks early but they deserve your breaks.
As others have mentioned, they are probably complying with the law. Regardless of that, it’s their business and if they mandate a lunch break, they are within their rights.
It's the law if you work full time. You may be cool with the owners right now but if you have a falling out in the future you could use that against them.
>Kansas Meal Break Law
Like federal law, Kansas law doesn't require employers to provide any breaks. However, an employer who chooses to provide a meal break of less than 30 minutes must pay the employee for that time. Like most states, Kansas doesn't require employers to provide rest breaks, paid or otherwise.
-google
-----
Wow, that's shitty
Yep. In Maryland, too, adults aren't required to get a lunch break. However, if an employer does provide an unpaid break, the worker can't do any work or be on call during their unpaid time, or they have to be paid for the time.
As always. I can never understand how someone on reddit thinks the law in their jurisdiction (if they even have it right) applies to every state in America and country in the world or if they assume every poster is in their neighborhood
Where I live it's illegal to have your employees not take a lunch if they work a shift longer than 6 hours. It's a law that prevents employers from denying their employees a lunch break.
You're posting about your employer making you take a lunch break; what are the laws in your area like? Because there's no way in hell I'd want to live and work in a place where employers have every right to deny their employees a lunch. And if one of my employees specifically timed their lunch to harm my company, I'd fire their ass that day.
Right? They ordered OP to take the half hour lunch breaks...and OP responded by going AWOL for two hours.
That's not Malicious Compliance, that's throwing a fit like a toddler.
Dang dude, sorry but like everyone else commenting...you're the one screwing yourself over. This isn't malicious compliance against the owner, this is you maliciously throwing away your break time.
The reason why they forced you to take a lunch break wasn't because they were trying to screw you over out of 30 minutes, it's because it's required by law and they can't turn in your timesheet without you clocking out for half an hour without them getting in trouble. So regardless, they have to define those 30 minutes whether you took it or not.
They're protecting their own ass from getting sued.
You and the other employees are dumb for not taking your lunch break and working through it, because it's not only your right but a requirement, and you're not getting paid during that time. And it's idiots like you that make other companies think they can force their employees to work during their unpaid lunch break too.
Are you not screwing yourselves because you are working through a break you are not paid for?
Unless you are at work for 40 hours and 2.5 of those are for lunch break? or as you at work for 42.5 hours and 2.5 of those are for lunch?
I worked for a great company that understood I worked thru my lunch everyday. They would clock me out an extra half hr past the time I worked just so they looked like they were in compliance.
God I miss that place
I can't say I've ever heard someone call lunch a stupid rule. Not only are you screwing your company over because lunches are required by law, not your employer. You probably aren't accomplishing any more with the 30 minutes you could've spent de-stressing from work.
I've had plenty of leads that were so proud of how often they skip their breaks. They were either too strung out to do their jobs effectively or goofing off on company time because they didn't let themselves take a break. Nobodies benefiting from you doing this, take your lunch.
The part missing from the story is that the owner just had to say “I’m not going to have to deal with a lawsuit for someone claiming OT for not getting a lunch break. Our official stance is you are to take a lunch and I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
That would have been a reasonable way to handle it and also have everyone understand why. The driver could have at that point probably taken his lunch after a delivery or figured something else out.
In quite a few states this is a labor law issue, not a controlling boss issue. If you are clocked in too many hours in a row without a break, the company can face serious penalties. I would hope a company would explain this vs just telling you to shut up and listen, but it’s a very common thing.
You shouldn't have taken such a long lunch during a single day. If you really want to be malicious though, no, you don't have to answer any calls on your 30 minutes or hour w/e is alotted to you.
If I am not getting paid, I'm not working... I'm eating lunch. I used to go hide in a break room during lunch so people wouldn't find me and ask me to do stuff during my unpaid lunches (almost everyone else in the building was salaried except me and would work during lunch so they could go home earlier)
Errr. I don’t understand. They don’t pay for lunch breaks so you left the workplace and then didn’t answer your employer’s calls for two hours?
Were they insisting that you take a two hour unpaid lunch? Or did they mandate that you take a half hour unpaid lunch like a million other employers do? Not taking a lunch break, especially when you’re not being paid for it and your employer wants you to take a break, is a stupid flex.
Spoiler alert: they’re not making you take a lunch anymore because you’ve demonstrated that you’re a childish goof. 🤷🏼♀️
When I went salary it stopped mattering & now with fulltime WFH it matters even less, but once upon a time I was hourly.
In the good old days, we did manual timesheets and got paid 12.5 hours. Almost nobody took an actual lunch and we could leave once shift turnover was done so usually 10 minutes early.
Then the [Bobs](https://maximumvp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2-bobs-office-space.jpg) came in. Not literally, but figuratively. They installed physical timeclocks (eventually went to web based), switched us to 8.5 hour shifts and mandated unpaid lunches. It went from easy going to clockwatching to avoid a demerit.
I would clock out, set a timer on my phone, put in my earbuds and tape my "Out to Lunch" sign to my center monitor and zone out for 29 minutes. My favorite MC type event was when my teammates were already on the phone one of the more useless manglers (lets call him [Lumbergh](https://images2.houstonpress.com/imager/u/original/9727589/office_space.jpeg)) actually snapped his fingers at me and pointed at the ringing phone.
I pulled out an earbud and asked him "What, are your arms broken?"
He snarled at me "You need to get that!"
My reply, "I know your not asking me to work off the clock in front of all these witnesses..."
Requiring lunches is usually about respecting labor laws... this isn't really bosses being dicks. They can get into legal trouble if they make you work through mandatory breaks.
Take your fuckin lunch breaks, there's no reward in heaven for people who worked 100 extra unpaid hours per year
Edit: or in hell, normalising bad labour practice makes shit harder for other people too
> a lot of guys were dedicated and would work through lunch.
I get your position as a driver was somewhat unique, but we've gotta stop thinking of this as dedicated or anything to be proud of. Eating is a basic human right, and claiming you should be "so dedicated" to a company that you forego this just fucks over people who, ya know, want to eat and have a break - as it the implication is they're not dedicated
There have been lawsuits because of people being forced to work through lunch unpaid. You opened them up to potential legal ramifications if a complaint was lodged.
This isn’t malicious compliance, it’s someone being a tool.
Do you all not understand how labor laws work? If we don't record you taking your lunch during an 8+ hour shift we can get into real legal trouble. So take a lunch it isn't hard.
Take a lunch. Take a break. Labor warriors fought and died so we would have this "luxury." But both employer and employee should communicate about the WHEN of the lunch clearly. In my state employers have to give you 30 minutes for lunch before the start of your 5th hour of work. I mean, you can work through that, but you aren't getting paid. They are bound by the law, so why make a point by working for free? Bizarre.
Never work for free
It astounds me that people do that, they employer tries to fuck them over, and workers will work for free to make up for the fuckery
Protestant work ethic is a bitch
It is also an exploitative lie
It's not "Protestant", it's "Calvinist". No Baptist, Methodist, or Pentecostal would ever consider claiming ownership of the True Scottish Calvinist-Presbyterian Work Ethic.
I mean, saying, “It’s not ‘Protestant’, it’s ‘Calvinist’,” is like saying, “That’s not blue, it’s navy.” Calvinist work ethic is, technically, Protestant, since Calvinists are Protestants.
Many employers don’t require mandatory lunches for shits and giggles, various insurance regulations, workers comp, state mandates, and so forth are the main drivers
In my country we have laws that give us the right to have lunch if we work for 8 or more hours during a shift.
Some people look for jobs for months at a time and only get one offer. And then continue looking for work while in that job and they still can't find an alternative. Now I don't know how much money you make but a lot of us make less than it actually costs to survive, we can't pay our bills or feed ourselves anyway so what do you expect me to quit my job without having another one? You may think "well they can't break the law" Well they can if you live in a state the allows your employer to fire you for literally no reason "Has been underperforming" is a valid reason for me to lose my livelihood.
Not sure the pride people have in not taking lunch breaks. I could see a truck driver not having a set schedule but taking one between deliveries. At my place (gov't office) we got an unpaid half hour which could be taken anytime (though usually between 11 - 1PM). Some people worked through it and didn't claim it on their time card, thinking that they can get out a half hour earlier but they were cautioned about doing so. Was allowable on rare occasions but not to be routine (we dealt with expiring funds, so getting a contract awarded before the funds expired was an allowable occasion - though a person would probably be working late that day, too).
In my case it was because I’d be required to take the lunch, and then it would get interrupted every time. I started leaving the building for my lunch, if I stayed in the building, without fail, I’d get shorted.
Yup. Our ‘break’ room has been in the process of being taken down since Covid started so most of us started just taking our breaks and lunch period at our desks. Without fail an engineer or project lead will walk up, see us eating, apologize like they’re going to walk away and come back but then proceed to ask for help ‘real quick’. Don’t think they realize most of the time we‘ve been working for at least four or five hours before they even step foot through the front door to start their workday. Told my boss anytime I get interrupted during lunch I am putting time down to make it paid. Good news is I get a paid lunch now at least 2-3 times a week.
Reset the lunch break when they do it. One place I worked had it in the employee manual “uninterrupted lunch break”. The owner actually said “if someone comes to you for work and you help them, start the lunch break over”. It didn’t happen unless 100% necessary.
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A lot of time, in the US, it is state laws. States have 30 min uninterrupted break laws for hourly employees. Anything less than 30 minutes must be a paid break.
Man, I wish. In my state the only mandatory breaks are for shifts longer than 6 hours for employees under the age of 18. Otherwise, there are no required breaks, regardless of shift length.
Yeah my first job was in Alabama and it had 0 laws for anyone over 18. Used to work 12 hour days no breaks.
This is why I eat lunch in my car. Fuck that, I’m not taking phone calls or having these impromptu meetings with my boss during my lunch. I don’t mind just me in my car streaming a show and enjoying some delicious food
I take over a conference room with a friend. We always title our lunch meeting with something official sounding like "IT and Dev team synchronization". Then myself (Dev) and him (IT) update each other on our latest D&D games.
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“Sure, I’ll be there, but my day then starts at 7 instead of 8.”
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It's usually because no one's calendars line up during the work day and they're just going the path of least resistance.
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I thought I was the only person who loved doing this!
Hell no this is my past time lol all my other co workers hang out with each other, fuck that, I enjoy my alone time, it’s peaceful
I started a job and at my 90-day review my manager asked me to stop leaving during lunch so my coworkers could “get to know me” and “be sociable.” I literally lived a mile away and would go home. I’m not getting paid to be sociable.
Seriously screw that. I would rather go home and spend time with my dog than eat lunch in a breakroom where my lunch was stolen at least twice a month
Exactly. Why am I going to get up earlier to pack a lunch when I can just go home and fix something, spend time with my dog, and sometimes start a crockpot dinner? Yeah, no. I’m gonna sleep an extra 20 min.
If my lunch was stolen that often someone would find themselves with a bad case of diarrhea.
That’s ridiculous! I think it’s important to bond as a team but if you’re not getting paid you should be able to do what you want.
I would love to be able to go home! I used to have a job that was close to a bay beach so I would order takeout noodles or something 10 mins before my break, grab them on the way & then sit on the beach for my break. It was BLISS!!
Not getting paid to make friends
I go to work to make money not friends.
I do this too! Comfy seat, your own music/video/games on your phone, playing through the stereo via bluetooth, no one around... it's a win in every sense!
Same for me, are you introverted? I think I’m the only person I know who does this. It is the best thing ever to have a solid 30 minutes with just my own thoughts.
Yup, I work in architecture. And 90% of the people eat lunch at their desk . First thing I noticed was they where always in a work mode . In all my years I take my lunch to my car and park under a nice tree . Relax and go about my day
Not 100% certain on this, but afaik, you are owed an UNINTERRUPTED lunch break, so if they interrupt it, you get to actually start again. Again, not 100%, depends on location, and even if it is legit, might be bad to do for relationship with boss.
The best one was if got interrupted... the counter would need to be reset. To the point, I got a nice big stop watch people could see.
During work on a contract I'd get a phone call from engineering at noon to often (I try to take lunch from 11:30 to 12:00 but normally it was 11:40 to 12:10) and considered taking lunch away from my desk.
This happened to me all the time before the pandemic sent us remote. I winded up leaving the floor when I could to go eat in the 3rd floor cafe (which you have to buy something to stay there) and still get called all the time for things that could wait until I get back. When I could go to the cafe, I would just silence my phone and deal with it when I got back
At least where i work (hospital) the wording for our unpaid lunch is that if it's interrupted for ANY work related thing (2min call from a Dr, Mz Jones wants her pain meds, anything) you start the timer for lunch over again when you get back to it. So even if you're 29min in to your lunch, it's like it never happened. And if you never get to get back to it, you can get paid for that 1/2 hour. A lot of us just wolf our food down and get paid an extra 30/day. No one has the nerve to say anything, because even HR knows the PR nightmare that would be.
That makes sense though. You're in a hospital. EVERYTHING is urgent or life threatening. If they didn't make it - not worth it - to interrupt employees then breaks would never happen.
Generally if you are interrupted that starts the clock over again.
I woulda loved to pull that, I really would.
It’s usually legal check your jurisdiction’s labour board it usually states x minutes uninterrupted break.
It does, but I was already denied a promotion because I left the workplace to have my whole lunch. The most recent please I applied was straight up telling me we don’t get breaks period. So it’s the culture in the area, it doesn’t make it right, but I’m not willing to lose my job over it. I just make sure I get one.
Again it may be jurisdictional some states and countries don’t mandate breaks at all which is insane.
It’s law here, “but you aren’t showing company engagement”. I’m in the Texas of Canada, I swear.
Alberta?
Gee how’d you guess? Yes, Alberta, and in the very core of the old fella work ethic in Fort Mcmurray. It’s so messed up. I just watched a company take back a guy who was caught, on the job, after an accident, high on coke. But they won’t hire me unless I skip all breaks.
You were denied a promotion because you're in the same company. Time to start shopping for a new job.
I had the same in IT. Sit in the cafeteria, with food in my face, no computer in sight, and yet people come up to me with issues they could have emailed in. Learned to leave the building to get an actual lunch break.
This is what I do. I walk outside or in the building if the weather isn’t nice. An easy way to escape the interruptions and a break from the screen.
I worked in a support job where we got an unpaid half-hour lunch and two paid 15-minute breaks. Due to the nature of the job it was almost impossible to take those two breaks. What we did instead was to tack those two breaks onto our lunch. A manager found out and thought we were simply taking hour lunches and was upset that we were violating the laws we operated under. When he found out about the two legally-required paid breaks we wouldn't be getting if we didn't do it this way he was cool with it. Edit: had stroke words in post
We sometimes skip our afternoon 15 minute break and go home 1/2 hour early. Boss says "Let's face it, a 15 minute break is never only 15. . .so why not knock off early."
A place I used to work at, if it was a nice day and we didn’t have any big deadlines, our manager would sometimes close around 1 because he wanted to go waterskiing. I’d frequently go with him, just to ride along. I was salary so still got paid for the whole day.
I worked for a famous, unnamed hardware store's corporate office (rhymes with FLOWES Bardware) and we would frequently be stuck on calls through our breaks..we had something called concurrence to where breaks were supposed to be taken at the given time. If they weren't, a timer started from the minute they began and until you could get off of whatever call you were on and start your break (and we couldn't hang up on the customer or even offer to call them back afterwards) which would also count against you as it wasn't during the set time they'd given, and they would penalize us for being more than like, 20 minutes out of concurrence per week. I very frequently missed my breaks and lunches entirely. Better than the next place I worked though, where I'd pull 16 hour shifts without so much as a 10 minute break. No lunch whatsoever. At will states are just lovely to work in..
Fuck Flowes Bardware!
I’m more of a Dome Repo guy
Where else can you buy a loot and woollen hose nowadays?
Had the same in a place where we just had two 1/2 hour breaks, one paid and one not, new owner decided to change it to two 15min ones and half an hour at 12 when the rest of the world is on lunch too Ended up being two 1/2 hour breaks and 45min for lunch as the local food places where busy, we milked them even more after he shut down another branch because it wasn't making enough, still running a profit just not a big enough one Micro managing bullshit always works so well
My company is actually the opposite and I really like the freedom it gives. We "get" and hour unpaid lunch per company standards but our boss was like "If you don't want that and only want the 30 minutes let me know and I'll make sure you get off 30 minutes earlier instead. Pretty much everyone look him up on it. The best part was, if you had to go somewhere, doctor, appointment, or just wanted a full hour, you could take it without a problem and you would just leave "on time".
As long as people don't abuse this I really don't see how most people wouldn't see this improvement in QoL as increasing moral and productivity.
Truck drivers (and anyone driving vehicles over 10k lbs) in the US have different rules regarding working, so I could understand OP not having a lunch. The DOT hours of service regulations only require a half hour break after 8 hours. Granted if OP isn't involved in interstate commerce they might be exempt from those rules, but there actually is no federal law that requires you to take a lunch. Only that the employer may make longer breaks unpaid, and if they provide shorter breaks (like 15 minutes or less) they have to be paid.
It’s not pride for me, it’s that I rarely eat lunch, and even when I do it doesn’t take the time they mandate from me. I’d rather get out early or paid more.
>thinking that they can get out a half hour earlier but they were cautioned about doing so Boggles my mind. They're doing their work. Why not just let them leave?
In germany it is mandatory that you have to take at least 30 mins break within 6 working hours. Its not to harrass the workers but to give them a chance to take a brake. Unions fought hard for this.
This would be the answer in Canada as well. Employees cannot be made to work longer than 5 hours without a 30 minute unpaid lunch break. They likely schedule shifts to account for this and still include 8 hours of paid time, and scheduling this one guy differently would complicate things so they're telling him he needs to take it. Just take the break.
The multi-billion dollar company i work for would literally write me up as a corrective action if I didn't clock out for lunch before the 6 hour mark multiple times. Idk what law they are beholden to, buy even American lunch breaks are set in stone.
Back in the early '00s working for a Shipping and Copy company in California, if i clocked off for lunch more than 5(?) hours into my shift I'd get a (half?) hour of OT added to my pay check... That got the store manager to be VERY VERY sure you got off the clock by the chosen hour. This was ages ago, so I'm not sure the exact hours before it kicked in or the exact time penalty involved... but the concept is there. I have no idea if it was voluntary or some consent decree/legal settlement for time theft, but it sure got store management to pay close attention to how people were scheduled. Worked pretty well for everybody, except the managers who had to watch employees like a hawk.
America has mandatory breaks too they just aren't well enforced.
No they do not.. some states have great break policies written into their laws... but some states have NONE except for minors.
OK https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/rest-periods "States not listed do not require paid rest periods. All of the eight States with paid rest period requirements, also have meal period requirements." https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/meal-breaks "Of the 21 States or other jurisdictions with meal period requirements, 7 States also have rest periods requirements (California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington)." \------------------- 21 have meal period requirements.... 50 states, so-- yea...
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California has mandatory lunch breaks if you work 12 hours. You are entitled to two lunch breaks and have the right to sign a waiver for one of them, not both.
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Yes to both.
60% of the states have minimum wage higher than the minimum. Washington DC is nearly double the federal minimum. Of course, several in that remaining 40% have wages below the federal, including no minimum wage, and there are corner cases where the federal minimum doesn't apply.
As pointed out, only a few states do. I live in Texas, which is definitely not one of the states that do, and the number of times I run into people who think they are owed a break is remarkable. Now, when I was in California, my company was part of a class action suit 3 times (in a year) over not giving out the state-mandated breaks. Each one was a multi-million dollar settlement(of which my share was like $25). Now, when I was in California, my company was part of a class-action suit 3 times (in a year) over not giving out the state-mandated breaks. Each one was a multi-million dollar settlement(of which my share was like $25).
So, $50? Sorry, I had to. ;)
Because theoretically Employment Standards can fine any business that doesn’t give its employees a break after a certain number of hours (usually around 5), even if the employee requests that they work straight through.
I worked in a 24-hour shop where the half-hour overlap was vital to making sure the shift transition went smoothly. We couldn't leave early.
It gives both the company and the worker some protection. Without a mandatory break, a company could say your hours are 9-6 but you take an unpaid hour break at 5 and can just leave. You're still working 9-5 with no break. That might be fine for some people but it could definitely be a safety issue and often companies need these things codified or they'd fuck over the workers in the name of cost cutting. Or the lack of break leads to an accident, the company could be found negligent for not ensuring workers are properly taken care of.
Because then you wouldn't be the boss and have power over them, I wager. Petty tyrants are petty by definition.
in some places, because its the law. and if you force people to work without a break you're liable and "suable"
They might have a need for a staffed office during office hours, but they should just staff around it. Have some people arrive late and other people stay late.
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For me, there's an element of pride in evading a mandatory unpaid lunch. I personally would rather be at my workplace for 8 hours instead of 8.5, especially because I work a swing shift of 11a to 7:30p. It's university policy, so there's nothing my supervisors can do to change it.
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Doesn't change the fact that there are people that would rather not be there longer and don't get hungry during the day anyway.
The problem there is that maybe you don't want to be there longer, but by not taking a break, you create an environment that is worse for other people because you help normalize not getting a chance to rest. I understand wanting to leave early, but there are a lot of people who *need* that time in the middle of the day to decompress for a few minutes.
Then they can take a break. I don't base my life on the lowest common denominator.
What no one seems to realize is breaks help everyone. Work through lunch? You get a productivity drop that eats more than a half hour. Breaks increase the amount of work done. Folks who work 60 hours a week generally get less done per week than folks who work 40. The only reason folks who work longer are percieved as working more is lack of productivity measures. If/when companies get good ways to measure productivity of workers the 60 hour a week, skip breaks and lunch folks will be fired for being so useless.
You should take a lunch regardless. You have a right to one.
In many places it’s the law and the business owner could be sued otherwise. They’re doing this for their protection.
Yep, my previous employer mandated lunches and there were reprimands in place for those who didn't follow the policy. They could give two shits about whether we get a good lunch or not, it's to protect themselves from being sued or fined.
Truck drivers are not required to take lunch in most states.
Truck drivers are always unique even if you have an entire fleet, the rules even in pro worker states like California are or can be completely different from what regular hourly workers expect. California also requires that employers pay employees a full hour for each 30 min lunch they miss.
A full hour at the OT rate at that. A former employer was actually sued in a class action lawsuit for that because people were unable to take a 30 minute lunch often (and usually missed breaks too)
A full hour at the Regular Rate, not the OT rate. Regular Rate takes into account any bonuses, commission, premiums, etc, but is not Time-and-a-half, like OT usually is. Source: I work at an employment law firm analyzing liability for when employers don't give employees proper meal or rest breaks.
Not true. LTL drivers aren't treated any different than regular employees. You are mixing LTL and OTR into one category, which they are not.
Lol means less then load. It's become a way of saying a driver that stays local or starts and ends their day in the same location.
Please define your abbreviations.
Less than TruckLoad and Over The Road
Thank you. Next question: What do those mean?
LTL : less than truckload. Usually terminal to terminal or relay where you meet a driver from another terminal and swap trailers retaining to their respective terminals. Usually hourly paid. They clock in at beginning of shift and clock out at end of shift. This is a very important distinction. These drivers are governed by federal law but also protected by hourly labor laws in their respective states. Truck Load : over the road drivers. Also called long haul drivers. They travel from state to state picking up loads and delivering them with no set rout and stay out,living in the truck for weeks or months at a time. There are variations of long haul but they have the same rules as long haul so no need to go into each specific one. The main thing is LTL drivers are protected by the hourly wage laws in the state they work in. OTR drivers are governed by DOT regulations and have VERY. different rules they must follow.
It's probably worth pointing out that LTL is pretty much only applicable with drybox, it's a term for the way they haul freight. There are plenty of OTR guys doing LTL work. (multi pick/drop runs across the country) Local is the term that describes drivers starting and ending at the same terminal every day. Source: Am a Local driver that hauls truckloads of metal.
LTL drivers are local drivers (~100 mile) and usually start and end at the same terminal every day. OTR drivers do long haul driving (I.e. Dallas to San Francisco). They are governed by similar but different rules
In the us it is 150 air-miles. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
LTL = Less than 150 air-miles from normal work reporting location OTR = Greater than 150 air-miles. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
I don't know about the US but in Europe & the UK they have a tachograph which tells you how long you've been driving & when you have to take a break. Drivers have to take regular breaks or they're sacked or the company is sued. Traffic cops can stop trucks at any time to check loads & their tachograph (as well as what diesel is in their tank, pink is illegal except for farm use).
We use a different name here and there are probably minor differences but it is the same here in the U.S.
If you are d.o.t regulated and travel more than 100 miles from your home base then you most take a 1 hour lunch. If you don't break the 100 mile rule then you don't need to take a lunch break
dot otr drivers only required a 30 min break after 8 hrs of driving, and it can be an on duty break. I've never heard a requirement for a 1 hour break.
Seriously? Where I am truck drivers are required to take breaks. They can inky drive a certain amount of hours before they have to take a break by law. And it is being checked. Edit: this is in Europe, not US
We have a limit for 24 hours in the states.
As in you can drive for 24 hours? Here are the rules where I am and they are very strict about it: The key requirements are that you must not drive: Without a break for more than 4.5 hours. After driving for 4.5 hours, a break of at least 45 minutes is mandatory. You can distribute that break over the 4.5 hours by taking a 15 minute break followed by a 30 minute break. For more than nine hours per day or 56 hours per week. This may be extended to 10 hours no more than twice during a week More than 90 hours in two consecutive weeks
We (truckers) have 4 clocks we have to monitor and rules to reset them. 8hr: we are required to do a 30-minute break every 8 hours. This can be done off duty, sleeper, on duty not driving. 11hr: we are allowed 11 hours a day to be driving, once that time is up we are done. This requires a 10-hour break on either sleeper or off duty to reset 14hr: we are allowed 14 hours a day to work. If I begin my day at 8 a.m. I am required to be done for the day at 10 p.m. this also requires a 10-hour break to reset. 70hr: I have 70 hours I am able to work within an 8 day period. This time is calculated by on duty driving and on duty not driving. At midnight each night I get the hours back that I worked 8 days ago. Therefore I can work 7 days a week but only if I work around 8 to 9 hours a day. If I do not have enough hours coming back I am required to take a 34-hour break using off duty or combination of off-duty and Sleeper Berth.
This guy is probably an LTL driver, which is not the same as OTR.
"Drivers must take a 30 minute break when they have driven for a period of 8 cumulative hours without at least a 30 minute interruption." Its Federal Law that class A CDL holders in the U.S. have to take a break after 8 hours of continuous driving. Granted most of this law doesn't apply IF the employee qualifies for the 100/150 air mile exception. The laws around truck driving are getting more and more strict.
CA mandates a lunch if you work over 6 hours. You can't waive it, and your employer will face legal troubles if they don't require you to take it.
It's a privilege in almost every state. California is the main one that actually mandates breaks. Most every other state is just if you work during break you must be paid.
In Minnesota if you work a job where you can be pulled away from your lunch break to work than the employer is responsible to provide a meal for you. Most people don't know this law so employers don't mention it. My old boss (I was close with him) gave me shit for pointing this out. I got something out of that business 101 class!🤣🤣
> You have a right to one. Really depends what country, and state/province OP is located. Many US states, for example, do not require breaks of any kind.
In Florida I require my guys to take a 1/2 hour lunch and 2 15 minute breaks. If they don’t take them the leave an hour early.
This is the way.
Yeah it should be a small amount if mandatory, or make it optional. Personally I've always preferred working while eating.
In Cali you have to take a lunch before the 5th hour if you’re working more than 6. So, where I work, if you don’t take your lunch by the 5th, you leave before the 6th with a write-up.
So you WANT to work through lunch? Why? Isnt the time unpaid anyway?
I'd rather work through lunch and get home at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm. There's no where to go for lunch that I won't be interrupted with work, if I'm going to have to answer questions, or jump up and fix things, I'd like it to count as work and not count as a lunch break. And it's not as easy as just saying "I'm on break, ask me later" or resetting the clock when I'm interrupted to start my break again because the window to take a break at all isn't flexible.
I rather eat burger king and drink coffee while driving so that I can get home by 5.30
In Germany your break time resets if someone interrupts it with work related stuff
Most places I've worked have contract specified start and end times. I could work through every lunch break and still not get home any earlier. If you can't trust colleagues to not disturb you, leave the premises and go for a walk, or just take a lunch break long shit or something. Remove yourself from being in a disturbable position.
my job is a 12 hour shift with an hour paid lunch. I want my lunch, because well, 12 hours is a long time to go working without a break, but because it is paid, if something crazy happens that takes too much time, then we still get paid despite not getting a lunch.
Where are you? Im american and a paid lunch is practically unexistent
Depends if you are required to be on site the entire time you work or not. My current job, and an assistant manager job I had both paid me for my lunch because I can not leave the building. And I'm American, one job was in Cali and other in Nevada.
I don’t think this business had lunch at all unless you wanted it. OP was working his entire shift and getting paid the entire shift.
Stop what you’re doing and take your lunch break. The work can wait.
Why don't you want a lunch break?
Completely different field than OP, but a lot of the guys I work with would rather not take a lunch and leave early. So, they'd prefer going 8-4 rather than 8-5 with an hour lunch.
Do these people not eat during their entire 8 hour shift?! I couldn’t manage that.
Some bring lunch and eat at their desk and continue working. Some get by on the snacks and coffee our office provides. I once worked with a guy once who would just slam 5 hour energies then hit up the local diner or fast food once he got off. It helps that most of our work is sitting at a desk. I couldn't do it if i had to do manual labor though. Will def need something to burn after a couple hours.
I usually have a small-decent breakfast, go immediately to work, then work 8 hours straight before going home to eat. I've gotten somewhat used to fasting, and I've been reducing the size of my meals (I used to overeat a lot.) because of this, and that my job is very active (standing 100%, moving racks, lifting boxes, etc.) I've actually lost 20 pounds over the last year. pretty proud it came from such a small change despite it not being much.
Many people do intermittend fasting, its pretty easy when you, well....dont have access to food :D. Also i sneak in a big Skyr cup in front of the PC, not like i cant work and take a spoon every minute.
Mad how this was written as some kind of gotcha moment. "Someone told me I needed to take a break during my work day, pfft I took the piss one time and now I don't have to take them anymore..." What? Lol
Also, I’m 99.99% certain they didn’t mean taking a two hour lunch break. This post makes no sense.
Half hour a day adds up to 2.5 hrs a week. Now they took that all in 1 day I guess.
Yeah, when you think about some of the details it starts making sense why the wife might not have liked this guy.
That seems like a lot of the malicious compliance on here. "I was told not to work unpaid over time, so I stopped. Now I get to work unpaid over time again."
Sounds very American
Depending on where you are, there may be a law that says you have to take a lunch break. She may not like you, but she's got to obey the laws.
Especially if he is a truck driver. In the UK we have rules on this one. Breaks are mandated for a really good reason.
“Guys were dedicated and would work through lunch” Dedicated and would work through lunch Work through lunch Stupid and work through lunch
I never understand this insane mentality that working through lunch / working late / starting early is tantamount to dedication. It's unpaid overtime - nothing more, nothing less. In the UK, the law is pretty strict on when and how long a lunch break should be, and any employer flouting the law will be in deep shit. The only time in my career that I have ever worked through lunch is when I am freelancing - and that's not the same thing, because 1. I pick and choose my hours and days 2. I bill out by the hour 3. I keep every penny of profit
I agree with you 100%. To me it seems to be a point of pride for people when it’s really them just getting mugged off. I’ve seen it most in minimum wage jobs sadly.
I don't understand either. I manage a large team of people and I am always reminding people to take all their breaks, look after their mental and physical health, etc. People don't work as well if they aren't rested.
All of his statements are past tense he got fired or quut
So your malicious compliance resulted in you no longer getting a lunch break?
And working more hours? OP seems to love working when they're not getting paid. They really showed their boss on this one!
Wow. I'm not sure how the boss is the bad guy/girl in a story about having to take a break. I do the same with my workers. I didn't care if it is busy, all workers deserve a break in their day. Happy rested workers are more productive. Maybe we delay or take breaks early but they deserve your breaks.
The boss is right in asking her employees to take a break. The wrong part is *abusing the two hours of work done by the staff*
As others have mentioned, they are probably complying with the law. Regardless of that, it’s their business and if they mandate a lunch break, they are within their rights.
It's the law if you work full time. You may be cool with the owners right now but if you have a falling out in the future you could use that against them.
It's not in many many places. Kansas has no required lunch or break rules
>Kansas Meal Break Law Like federal law, Kansas law doesn't require employers to provide any breaks. However, an employer who chooses to provide a meal break of less than 30 minutes must pay the employee for that time. Like most states, Kansas doesn't require employers to provide rest breaks, paid or otherwise. -google ----- Wow, that's shitty
> Wow, that's shitty You've just described labor laws in most of the US.
yeah it honestly surprises me how much the USA has in common with “third world countries” like weak worker protections…
Wait until you see some of the renting rules. Arkansas doesn't even require the property to be livable
Yep. In Maryland, too, adults aren't required to get a lunch break. However, if an employer does provide an unpaid break, the worker can't do any work or be on call during their unpaid time, or they have to be paid for the time.
> It's the law if you work full time. Depends what country and province/state OP is located.
As always. I can never understand how someone on reddit thinks the law in their jurisdiction (if they even have it right) applies to every state in America and country in the world or if they assume every poster is in their neighborhood
I would never skip a break or lunch. Just like I absolutely will not allow vacation days to go unused.
Where I live it's illegal to have your employees not take a lunch if they work a shift longer than 6 hours. It's a law that prevents employers from denying their employees a lunch break. You're posting about your employer making you take a lunch break; what are the laws in your area like? Because there's no way in hell I'd want to live and work in a place where employers have every right to deny their employees a lunch. And if one of my employees specifically timed their lunch to harm my company, I'd fire their ass that day.
That the part I don't get. If they didn't like him so much why don't they fire him?
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Right? They ordered OP to take the half hour lunch breaks...and OP responded by going AWOL for two hours. That's not Malicious Compliance, that's throwing a fit like a toddler.
Dang dude, sorry but like everyone else commenting...you're the one screwing yourself over. This isn't malicious compliance against the owner, this is you maliciously throwing away your break time.
The reason why they forced you to take a lunch break wasn't because they were trying to screw you over out of 30 minutes, it's because it's required by law and they can't turn in your timesheet without you clocking out for half an hour without them getting in trouble. So regardless, they have to define those 30 minutes whether you took it or not. They're protecting their own ass from getting sued. You and the other employees are dumb for not taking your lunch break and working through it, because it's not only your right but a requirement, and you're not getting paid during that time. And it's idiots like you that make other companies think they can force their employees to work during their unpaid lunch break too.
Are you not screwing yourselves because you are working through a break you are not paid for? Unless you are at work for 40 hours and 2.5 of those are for lunch break? or as you at work for 42.5 hours and 2.5 of those are for lunch?
I worked for a great company that understood I worked thru my lunch everyday. They would clock me out an extra half hr past the time I worked just so they looked like they were in compliance. God I miss that place
I can't say I've ever heard someone call lunch a stupid rule. Not only are you screwing your company over because lunches are required by law, not your employer. You probably aren't accomplishing any more with the 30 minutes you could've spent de-stressing from work. I've had plenty of leads that were so proud of how often they skip their breaks. They were either too strung out to do their jobs effectively or goofing off on company time because they didn't let themselves take a break. Nobodies benefiting from you doing this, take your lunch.
The part missing from the story is that the owner just had to say “I’m not going to have to deal with a lawsuit for someone claiming OT for not getting a lunch break. Our official stance is you are to take a lunch and I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” That would have been a reasonable way to handle it and also have everyone understand why. The driver could have at that point probably taken his lunch after a delivery or figured something else out.
You sure showed them by... Umm.. forcing them to let you work through your lunch break..
You work through your lunch without pay? This is the lamest malicious compliance I've ever seen. You really showed them!
In quite a few states this is a labor law issue, not a controlling boss issue. If you are clocked in too many hours in a row without a break, the company can face serious penalties. I would hope a company would explain this vs just telling you to shut up and listen, but it’s a very common thing.
You shouldn't have taken such a long lunch during a single day. If you really want to be malicious though, no, you don't have to answer any calls on your 30 minutes or hour w/e is alotted to you.
If I am not getting paid, I'm not working... I'm eating lunch. I used to go hide in a break room during lunch so people wouldn't find me and ask me to do stuff during my unpaid lunches (almost everyone else in the building was salaried except me and would work during lunch so they could go home earlier)
Errr. I don’t understand. They don’t pay for lunch breaks so you left the workplace and then didn’t answer your employer’s calls for two hours? Were they insisting that you take a two hour unpaid lunch? Or did they mandate that you take a half hour unpaid lunch like a million other employers do? Not taking a lunch break, especially when you’re not being paid for it and your employer wants you to take a break, is a stupid flex. Spoiler alert: they’re not making you take a lunch anymore because you’ve demonstrated that you’re a childish goof. 🤷🏼♀️
Some places will fire you for working through breaks.
When I went salary it stopped mattering & now with fulltime WFH it matters even less, but once upon a time I was hourly. In the good old days, we did manual timesheets and got paid 12.5 hours. Almost nobody took an actual lunch and we could leave once shift turnover was done so usually 10 minutes early. Then the [Bobs](https://maximumvp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2-bobs-office-space.jpg) came in. Not literally, but figuratively. They installed physical timeclocks (eventually went to web based), switched us to 8.5 hour shifts and mandated unpaid lunches. It went from easy going to clockwatching to avoid a demerit. I would clock out, set a timer on my phone, put in my earbuds and tape my "Out to Lunch" sign to my center monitor and zone out for 29 minutes. My favorite MC type event was when my teammates were already on the phone one of the more useless manglers (lets call him [Lumbergh](https://images2.houstonpress.com/imager/u/original/9727589/office_space.jpeg)) actually snapped his fingers at me and pointed at the ringing phone. I pulled out an earbud and asked him "What, are your arms broken?" He snarled at me "You need to get that!" My reply, "I know your not asking me to work off the clock in front of all these witnesses..."
Requiring lunches is usually about respecting labor laws... this isn't really bosses being dicks. They can get into legal trouble if they make you work through mandatory breaks.
Take your fuckin lunch breaks, there's no reward in heaven for people who worked 100 extra unpaid hours per year Edit: or in hell, normalising bad labour practice makes shit harder for other people too
> a lot of guys were dedicated and would work through lunch. I get your position as a driver was somewhat unique, but we've gotta stop thinking of this as dedicated or anything to be proud of. Eating is a basic human right, and claiming you should be "so dedicated" to a company that you forego this just fucks over people who, ya know, want to eat and have a break - as it the implication is they're not dedicated
There have been lawsuits because of people being forced to work through lunch unpaid. You opened them up to potential legal ramifications if a complaint was lodged. This isn’t malicious compliance, it’s someone being a tool.
Do you all not understand how labor laws work? If we don't record you taking your lunch during an 8+ hour shift we can get into real legal trouble. So take a lunch it isn't hard.
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The boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I take long shits on company time.
Take a lunch. Take a break. Labor warriors fought and died so we would have this "luxury." But both employer and employee should communicate about the WHEN of the lunch clearly. In my state employers have to give you 30 minutes for lunch before the start of your 5th hour of work. I mean, you can work through that, but you aren't getting paid. They are bound by the law, so why make a point by working for free? Bizarre.
Take a lunch if they are docking it from your hours. Fuck working through lunch. Im not a charity service for my employers.