To think it's pretty normal not to have a lunch break?

[IdaClair]

I work for myself at the moment, and most days the first chance I have to eat is dinner time. Sometimes I have breakfast, sometimes I don't. Friends and family have said to me that I should have a 'lunch break ' and seem appalled by the idea that I don't have one, saying I should 'make sure' I do.

I have what is essentially a shop and there is maybe 5 minutes a day where I am not serving customers directly, and there is often a queue. Breaking for lunch is not an option! To me it seems perfectly normal not to have a lunch break, I have only ever had one in an office job. Every other job I have had in customer facing stuff like event management, catering, customer service, caring roles, even waitstaff and barwork -there wasn't a lunch break. There were a few that did a strict 15 mins every 4 hours type of system, but nothing longer than that and most things were on a 'grab two minutes if you can where there is time ' basis - and there was never normally any time! I would often do a 12 hour shift doing something like a wedding and no-one would stop the proceedings so the staff could have a break, and in some remote country hotel you've never been to before with a kitchen busy with 200 guests, unless you brought a pack up there isn't exactly any food available even if you wanted it.

I am sure there are many professions which are so busy and unpredictable you don't get a 'lunch hour'.

AIBU to think that there is no such thing as a lunch break in many roles and it's not exactly a shocking thing or some kind of deprivation?

I used to have a job where we weren't allowed to go to the toilet. My bladder is fucked. I suffer from urge incontinence with no prior warning I'm about to need to go. I'm not even 40 yet.

Uselessidiot. What job was that? Sounds horrible and illegal!

It was in a shop in the late 90s.

Pocketfluff - I don't want to get into an argument about teachers' wages but as a salaried professional you also have to accept that you have a lot more benefits - ie: pension (yes, I know you have to contribute), relative job security etc etc. To compare a teacher's salary with a minimum wage job with no benefits and no security of tenure is not entirely equitable.

Employers/employees who don't see the value in a lunch break, especially one taken together, are being very short-sighted IMO - this doesn't apply if you are the only person in your place of work .

Ragwort I've had a very wide range of jobs in my life and I know that I'm lucky worked bloody hard to now have a job with security and benefits!

I'm not comparing it to a minimum wage job, I just said how much I'm paid divided by the number of hours I need to work to do the job. Having a race to the bottom helps nobody.

I can well believe that some employers treat their employees like crap, but what I find amazing is that some people seem to see it as a badge of honour to be/have been one of these employees. Does no-one believe in standing up for their rights anymore?

Too terrified of being unemployed notdavid. My mum always drummed into me that you did what your boss said or you'd be sacked.

I've worked for 4 companies and 2 of them were very good at making sure people had lunch breaks and 2 of them had a bit of a "lunch is for wimps" culture (but smoking breaks were OK ) Strangely enough the latter two carried that kind of disregard for their employees into every aspect of their HR practice. Not letting people have breaks is just one way to say "I don't value you" but I ME it comes alongside a whole load of other ways.

Pocketfluff, I don't know any salaried professionals who don't do unpaid hours to get the job done. It's in our contracts. Working unpaid hours is not solely something that applies to teachers. The rest of us just get on with things and don't bang on about it the whole time.

That's harsh, trixymalixy. Do you think you'd enjoy working a 56-hour average week for a £21k starting salary, knowing you'd probably never make it above £35k?

It is a deprivation if you expect employees to work through lunch
I've never had an hour,and generally eat at desk or on the hoof
However if I was instructed no lunch cause we too busyb I'd be put out

to my mind expecting people to do an hours unpaid work in the middle of the day is theft, they would soon be complaining if boot on the other foot,

ok some employees steal by not working when they are being paid to do so,

My mum is always tutting about me not having a lunch break. I usually eat at my desk and have maybe 15 minutes online shopping or something.moat of my peers are the same (friend and colleagues) it's quite normal in private sector. Although when I was in public sector everyone took and hour.

I have a proper lunch break maybe once every two weeks and I might take a couple of hours then. I can't think what is do for a full hour every day... What's the point?

Flexi-time is a wonderful thing. I have to do an average of 37.5 hours over a week, between 7am and 7pm. I personally work from about 8:45 to either 5 ish or earlier of I have to pick up from school, with about half an hour for my lunch. I have colleagues who start much earlier but go to the gym for 1.5-2 hours at lunch time.
When you've got 7 hours accrued you can take a day off.

A lot of people prefer to work through their 'entitlement' to a lunch break though, so that they can leave that much earlier in the evening - it's about what works for you, surely ?

I always take a break for lunch, unless a meeting has been booked in. Sometimes I exercise but if not, I make time for fresh air.

The days I don't take a lunch break I'm much less productive in the afternoon and exhausted by 4pm whereupon I resort to sugar and coffee. Not sensible in the long term.

I don't get this masochistic attitude to skipping lunch.

I don't get paid for my lunch break but rarely have chance to take it due to deadlines etc (I am an accountant). However, I can grab a coffee whenever I wish, eat lunch at my desk and have a wee whenever I need to. A few minutes away from the computer making a cuppa is fine and often I am on my own in the office so although mega busy is not chaotic. I cannot work through my lunch break and leave early, I just have to deduct the half hour off my hours for 'lunch' (I am on annualised hours). It is normal IMO.

I think it is a totally different environment to say a preschool practitioner or teacher when I think for everyone's sanity a lunch break is an absolute must. I also think it is important for some people to have proper breaks ie doctors although I know this is rarely the case, my friend is a registrar and often works 14-20 hours with no actual break if on call in A&E - crazy.

In my industry, we are compelled to take 45 minutes break after 4.5 hours driving and at least 30 minutes after 6 hours work, whichever is the sooner. As it's logged by the tacho, failure to do so is a criminal offence, for the employee and the employer for permitting it.

Some firms try and stipulate where and when it's taken, but most of us just nod, smile and ignore unless they pay for it or it's high value.

Sorry: It's a high value load.

it has been proved over and over again that there is a decline in outcomes for patients when treated by over tired doctors the working time directive which stopped whole solid weekends on call with no sleep has helped nut often shifts are still too long and mistakes get made

the idea that anyone is working productively after 8+ hours with no break for even 20 minutes is ludicrous

there is a reason long distance lorry drivers etc are not allowed to work without breaks

BackforGood - a break for lunch isn't an entitlement as such, it's compulsory by law. As others have said, at least 30 mins if you work a day of 6 hrs plus. So if your employer is allowing you to forgo a lunch break to leave early, they are breaking the law. I have experience of this from when I tried to get a lunch-free day when I was negotiating a part-time contract, and was told employment law meant this wasn't possible..

I know of the 'work more than 6 hours and you must have a break' rule, but some people work in jobs where they are pretty much their own bosses / masters of their own diary, as long as they get the work done....people working from home for example.... people on many professional contracts who are paid to 'get the job done'.
As long as you know you are supposed to have it, and then that you as an intelligent adult make the decision to choose your hours to suit the rest of your life, then it makes a lot of sense for a lot of people.

Annie is right, you're not allowed to work through your lunch break in order to go home 30 minutes earlier, because employers would be in breach of their obligations if they officially sanctioned it. I also tried to negotiate a pt contract several years ago on this basis and it was refused (public sector).

Everyone in our team does try to take a break at lunchtime, and everyone eats their lunch, but it's tricky as there's no real staff rooms, and nothing nearby to do, so you end up beibg at your desk anyway.

I ferl really sorry for the admin staff in our team because their contract says they have to work 9 - 5.30 to cover office opening hours, and have to take a one hour (unpaid) break at lunchtime, so they sit at their desks with nothing to do. Grades above admin work flexitime, but we still have to take a (unpaid) break of at least 30 minutes for lunch, so I usually work 8.30 -4.30 with a half hour break at around 12.30 / 1pm.

I think with modern office set ups it's difficult to get a break away from the office and work. I am at the workers who don't even get a loo break though.

Yes,Annie absolutely correct,one cannot opt out of lunch entitlement to nip off early