work meetings in your lunch break?

[tobypercy]

I work in an office (all professional consulting staff) and there are various meetings and briefings which we are all meant to attend. They tend to be policy updates, or regular health & safety briefings. More and more they are being held at lunchtime, and recently we were told that we must not book timesheet hours to these briefings, that's why they are being held at lunchtimes - in other words we should be attending in our own time.

I usually try to take a break from work and leave the office at lunchtime although I don't always manage it when it's busy. I don't mind giving up my break occasionally but I am starting to feel a bit grumpy about this and feel that if the company wants us to attend then the company should allow us to use work time for them.

Is this common practice with all employers?

They are being CFs. Your unpaid lunch break is yours to do want you want with. Sounds like they are just trying to save money.

Thanks @cushioncovers that's what I thought. But is it really just us? Don't all companies want to save money?

I’ve just been asked to attend a meeting after work, I’ve asked to meet in work time but feeling weirdly anxious about being brave enough to say this. In my profession (medical? It’s totally expected that anything non patient facing happens in your own time, there’s simply no give in the job for admin, training or meetings.

Can only speak for my company, but if anything is ever scheduled over my usual lunch hour, I take an earlier or later lunch. That's normal and expected for us

In my role (customer account management) lunchtimes are prohibited from having meetings held. I've been here 12 months and never has a compulsory meeting happened during the lunch break. I would most likely tell my boss I wasnt able to attend if one was scheduled during that time, but if it was vital, I'd be given the option to take my lunch earlier or later.

Interesting. So other than overstretched medical areas, it's just us (from the enormous sample size )

The company is currently penny pinching because profits aren't as good as they should be.

My feeling is they are being stingy for things like this which are easier to set by dictat, but throwing money away in other areas where they would actually have to make an effort to change the culture. But I'm a bit disillusioned with the company just now and I thought may be that was colouring my view.

Do they at least provide the lunch?

No lunch, no. Sometimes snacks if we're lucky.

This will continue to happen and eventually become the norm unless you make a stand and nip it in the bud now. It's never nice to have to be the one to do it, but if you are all waiting for someone else to bite the bullet, you'll likely all be waiting a long time!

I think you're perfectly reasonable to reply to the next meeting invite/email and say "Apologies but I have noticed more & more that these meetings are being scheduled for over lunch breaks. I'm afraid that I often book personal appointments/tasks for over my unpaid break and would like to respectfully request that in future, where possible, these meetings are scheduled for during working hours. In the event that meetings cannot be rescheduled, I would hope you will be permitting staff to take earlier/later lunch breaks to allow us to make use of our unpaid breaks"

I think the above is an unaggressive, yet succinct way of making your point. If they are difficult then you would be well within your rights to contact HR and state that you either be allowed to take your breaks, or be paid for them, but that the current status quo is untenable.

It possibly does only affect a minority - most people probably don't have to book timesheet hours. If there was a meeting in the middle of the day, I'd just take my lunch earlier or later so it wouldn't be a big inconvenience.

My workplace has these meetings constantly. They are technically voluntary, and hence not billable. They aren’t really voluntary though. The one saving grace is that they don’t pull this sort of thing with support staff. Since they have set hours, their breaks are protected.

Can only speak for my company, but if anything is ever scheduled over my usual lunch hour, I take an earlier or later lunch. That's normal and expected for us
This exactly. I can't remember any company I've worked in where I couldn't just take my lunch hour at a different time or put the meeting in my timesheet. I was even provided a specific time code if appropriate.

Also: good note suggestion from bringthethunder

Good luck OP.

Can I ask what kind of business you're in, @Purpleartichoke ? Sounds very similar to my situation! Voluntary but not voluntary is just it!

I can take my lunch break any time... but I have to book my contracted hours each day onto my timesheet, so my time can be charged to clients as far as possible.

I am getting ready to stir the pot by saying I won't be attending meetings in my own time. Question is whether to do it locally, or go straight to the top (this seems to be a national trend, applying in all our 10 or so offices).

There is an added complication that on the day many of the meetings are held I only work 3.5 hours and don't take a lunch break at all. But that doesn't change the principle.

Yes, I think similar field. Professionals working for assorted clients, sometimes solo, sometimes as a team, each providing a specific skill-set or area of expertise.

For most people to understand, I explain that it’s similar to working at a law firm. All your time must be accounted for, but not all your time is billable to the client. Some companies are better than others about providing overhead billing codes. Some are more understanding than others about you actually using those overhead codes if they are provided.

@Purpleartichoke
"Some are more understanding than others about you actually using those overhead codes if they are provided."

Yes that is very very familiar!! My employer is definitely towards the "less understanding" end when we book to overhead codes.

They are cheeky and trying it on. Surely policy updates and the like can be sent out as an email if they are trying to save money and don't want to pay for you to have meetings.

We have a team meeting every other Thursday ( compulsory) and a team breiefing every other Thursday ( not composory but recommended) our hours are inclusive so we don't have lunch times knocked off i.e. If you are rotored on an 8/4 you are paid 8 hours and you just take lunch when you want. However if we have to do any briefings as an extra we would be paid.
Our meetings are from 12.00- 15.00hrs but the first half hour is food and gossip time !!

They are being CFs. If they want to use your lunch break for a meeting then you take your break later or finish earlier to compensate. Or they pay you for the time spent in the meeting. Either way that meeting needs to take place in paid work hours. Otherwise isn’t it a violation of min wage laws if you’re getting paid £0 while in that meeting?

Take a messy/smelly lunch in with you and eat it with gusto

Health and safety briefings seem an obligation to me and so should be in work time. Policy briefings to me could be considered optional.

The smelly food option sounds a passive aggressive way of protesting. I think that objecting in a reasoned way is better, though to have a lunch break at a slightly different time is not too unreasonable.

I work at a professional services firm. We have lots of training over standard lunch hour time and I am sure we're expected to eat our lunch during it, but I always have lunch before/after and whack an hour down to prof development onto my timesheet! It will impact my utilisation but as long as I'm otherwise efficient and work well I don't expect I'll be pulled up on it, although there may be a few raised eyebrows if it was noticed. It's totally unacceptable for your work to dictate that these meetings use up non working time so as others have said, you should be brave and nip it in the bud.