Manager insisting I take lunch

Would you go and eat your lunch away from your desk if there was a quiet area?

Sit at your desk and eat lunch but don’t work. Easy.

I love to work at my desk some days. however, officially you have to take a break.

How about picking another solo worker and arranging lunch together for one day a week?

Back in the 90s when workplaces were sane and it was the norm to take an hour for lunch, I would go home - I was a ten minute drive away - and eat my lunch there. Or drive to a nearby park and sit in my car or on a bench there, reading a book or magazine. . The last place I worked it was frowned upon if you took more than half an hour and my boss always worked through at her desk who,e eating a hot meal she’d brought up from the canteen. It was so oppressive. So glad I got out.

Out of interest, where does your CEO take her break?

At my work nobody insists I leave the desk to eat, but I do have to record a 30 min lunch break on my timesheet.

Knowing that 30 mins isn't counting towards my working time makes me more likely to spend the time doing the online grocery shop/reading a book/watching a TV show. I do also work through lunch sometimes, but I am conscious it is "extra" working time!

Are you on minimum wage ? Working through lunch breaks could end up take you under the limit if so.

Nobody is doing that. They are trying not to break the law.
Frankly if I were OP's boss (CEO no less) I would take a very dim view of her ignoring me on this and would insist - to the point I may lock her out of the office while I was having lunch.

I think it’s a combination of a) busybodies thinking you should be doing something active just because they like to go for a walk, b) they don’t want anyone thinking they’re pressuring you not to take a break or overloading you with so much work that you don’t feel like you can, and c) not wanting people to see you munching on a bag of Frazzles when they come in to see your boss.

Talk to your boss. Ask her if it’s the eating at your desk that’s the problem, or the fact that you’re not leaving it. If it’s the eating at your desk, then you’re just going to have to suck it up and eat elsewhere. If it’s that she doesn’t want anyone thinking that she’s not complying with the law, ask her if there is a business need for you to work later and, if not, tell her that you’re taking advantage of flexible working arrangements to achieve a better work life balance.

Eat when/where you want. But take a break and go outside for a walk. Just show you're having time away.

Because she doesn't want to be forced to socialise and I don't bloody well blame her

Of course there's a solution.

Sit in the office and read a book/scroll through social media/whatever

Go for a walk.

Take a drive to somewhere nice - the amount of people here who drive to the seafront and eat their lunch in the car always amazes me.

A colleague of mine goes to the gym for an hour in her lunch break.

There's any number of things you could do other than sit at your desk and carry on working.

Don't be daft. People fought long and hard for workers' rights, don't shit on them.

If you have too much work get help.

I was told that there's a legal requirement to have a break away from the desk if you work more than 6 hours. Two days a week I work 5 hours and have lunch at my desk. One day a week I work 8 hours and I have to go for a lunch break, otherwise I'm breaking the law!
If you hate the canteen, can't you go for a stroll outside? You'd feel better for moving your body and having a break from the screen.

Is your managers issue really that you are eating at your desk? Or is it that you are finishing early and saying you haven't taken a lunch break so have worked your hours? As the latter would be the issue for me if I wanted you to stay to your contractual finish time.

I often take my lunch break sat at my desk, but I'll eat my food while reading news or catching up on messages/scrolling Instagram.

You do have to take a lunchbreak when you work more than 6 hours, so your manager is right to point this out.

I don't think it's the lunch in the office that's the problem, more that you're not taking an actual break and working through.

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist
it’s a minimum of 20 minutes but the principle is the same of course.
In many roles staff may be allocated a set amount of time usually 30 minutes, often unpaid and their contract says they can’t take it at the end of the day.

OP as well as your welfare, the manager may not want to risk other people trying to take their break at the end of the day. Plus legally they have to make sure you have 20 minutes after 6 hours work, so if your break allocation is 30 minutes she could only allow you to carry 10 minutes of that to the end of the day.

Have you explained to her why you don’t want to go to the canteen? I’d be honest with her. Perhaps if she knew that 1. You were too busy to stop working and 2. You had no one to sit with, she might either understand more or suggest some alternatives.

If she’s the CEO she could suggest that the table cliques are broken up at lunch, or that it’s more staggered so less busy, and hopefully she might find a way to lessen your workload so you get a proper break, even if it’s a walk around the block.

Just take your lunch down to the canteen and sit by yourself for half an hour with headphones and a book?

You do need a break from your screen if not from your desk.

I would suggest that you tell your manager that you’ll eat lunch outside and then go for a walk. Go outside and walk around the corner and sit on a bench, in a cafe or just walk up around the block.

Bring a book and whip it out when ceo is around? I'm sure it's fine to eat at your desk it's the working while eating that's the problem