WFH - am I entitled to a lunch break today?

[millerjane]

I've been lucky enough to work from home during this pandemic. All morning I've been unable to sign in due to a network wide issue (according to the IT help desk). It appears I'm the only person in my team having this issue. Whilst I've been unable to work I have had to message/speak to the IT people and follow their instructions. So obviously I haven;t been working as normal.

But am I entitled to have an hour lunch despite this? Manager just rang me and seemed annoyed when I asked her to ring back in 20 minutes as I was in the middle of lunch (consists of going for a walk and eating my sarnie).

AIBU?

I was just about to reply saying of course you should have a lunch break but to actually not take a work call because you were going for a walk seems like UWBU.
Why not just take it and then go for a walk ?

I hope that after all this Work places are a lot more flexible in terms of wfh, but with your attitude we’ll be stuck in the dark ages forever

I think it's important we all offer a bit of flexibility at this time. I'm all for setting boundaries but there's a difference between delaying your lunch break by an hour so you can take a call from your boss and working until midnight every night of the week. And considering you're on a grad scheme - one of the easiest things to cut in times of difficulty - I'd definitely be showing a lot more willing if I were in your shoes.

Nope I would have done the same as you. You are entitled to a lunch break and you shouldn’t do any work in that time.
The other day my computer died I had to go and collect a new one from the office. By the time they had sorted out a replacement and I’d been to collect it and got home it was 12.30. Took half an hour to download all the different systems. At 1 I took my lunch. My manager called me, I didn’t answer. Sent a text to say I was on my lunch and would call back at 1.45.

Especially when WFH it’s so important to prioritize yourself and your own needs

I'd have not answered the phone on the way out and I'd have left my smartphone at home while I went for a walk if work was likely to call me on it.

Apologies OP, I misread your initial post. Sorry I see that you have been working from home for a while now not furloughed so most of my post won’t be relevant! 🙃

I think YABU, you could of eaten while talking to her? Your walk can wait till later.

Off topic, but a whole hour for lunch? Is this normal?? I've never worked anywhere where you get a one hour break in one go, apart from 12 hour night shifts.

Well - perhaps this helps you see things from the boss's POV. I am starting mentoring a graduate next week. I've put together a whole on-boarding program for her, let people know she's arriving, set up time for her to meet the people who will support her in her program, found training for her to do, and will be making myself available regularly for Q&A.

I've found projects for her that will be useful for both her and the company, knowing that for the first year or so she'll be learning so much that she won't be able to achieve a huge amount, but hoping that the long term investment will pay off.

If she told me she couldn't take my call because she was having lunch, when she hadn't been available all morning, I'd start wondering if she was really worth the effort.

Some weird posts here. You are absolutely entitled to a break. Whether the IT was broken or not is irrelevent. It's not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to work/be available to work, during your set hours. The hours include a break, which you have a right to take.

YANBU at all. I would have call screened and let it go to voicemail though!

Flexibility works both ways but in your position, on a grad scheme, I'd definitely have taken the call, especially if you hope to continue on in that company.

@millerjane

I'm not making excuses just contextualising my reasoning. I'm on a grad scheme so still learning. Tbh there are people in my organisation who are always available/working and I just want to maintain my boundaries. Can see it both ways for sure.

Honestly this is so so important to keep your boundaries - well done. (And I am the boss in this situation; I would love it if my team did this)

With @HoldMyLobster on this one 100%

@Eckhart

Some weird posts here. You are absolutely entitled to a break. Whether the IT was broken or not is irrelevent. It's not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to work/be available to work, during your set hours. The hours include a break, which you have a right to take.

Nobody has said the OP isn't entitled to a break. Just that to insist on taking it at exactly the moment her boss called isn't a smart move.

Never mind, lesson learned OP.
Next time you'll take your boss's call.

Gosh the number of little mistakes I made when I started my first job after uni. You're fine.. just be a bit more flexible

And I agree maintaining boundaries is important when wfh. I'm finding I actually keep to boundaries more when wfh as I'm more aware if that makes sense. For me, boundaries include being flexible. So I might check my emails if I choose to while drying off from a shower. If I've got a call at 730 in evening and choose to colour or watch tv or walk between 4 and 630 when I have my break - then the phone gets turned off or left at home. That said though, I'd have started work at 8 that morning and if I had a pre planned meeting or similar I'd work around that. If manager called my personal phone when I was out the door I'd assume it could be relatively urgent and answer. Due to the nature of my job, it could be

I think with boundaries have to come some flexibility, its give and take really. So being flexible to answer a call while eating lunch is to be expected I think, and the 'reward ' for that as such is almost managing your own diary or having more autonomy. I keep boundaries by turning off work phone when needed, as managers will call personal phone if needed. I wont answer work phone on weekends as much for my safeguarding as anything else. I do counselling SMART meetings and NA meetings and prioritise these to an extent. If managers ask availability for meetings etc I have no qualms about saying I have an appt at 2 but am free at 3, for example. I work my hours and get all I need done so i dont see the problem with that.

I also think wfh allows more flexibility naturally,and is a more relaxed pace provided you arent trying to wrangle kids too. You can work while sunbathing in the garden, can go for walks or watch TV whole on lunch, can do research while drinking tea and half watching netflix of am evening (not work that needs to be accurate, more research on clients or professional development). I do think being so attached to boundaries while on a grad scheme in a new.job isnt good. Yiu can look after your MH in other ways

If you have time to create this post asking, you clearly had the time to answer the phone ?

@user1635482648

If you were in the office all morning unable to do anything due to an IT failure you wouldn't have to work through lunch to make it up - that's how being an employee works. The IT screw up is your boss's problem not yours.

If you were a contractor on the other hand, then yes you would have had to compensate because you'd only get paid for hours worked.

Just because some posters have unhealthy boundaries doesn't make it normal.

This.

Obviously if there is an emergency, or your boss needs help with something urgently then I would try to be flexible. Ultimately though healthy boundaries are very important! I would always be polite and courteous about enforcing them.

I'd have done the same as you Op. Sorry boss, just finished with the help desk and now I'm out for a walk eating my lunch. I'll ring you back as soon as I get back at the desk. WFH doesn't change employee rights.

You admit you're on a grad scheme and still learning but you've learnt enough to decide to tell your boss to ring back later? Ouch! You hadn't even left the house. I totally agree that MH is very important (have issues myself and to be fair, don't most people at the moment?) but delaying lunch comes with a grown up job. If an hour's delay is going to affect your mental health then you are in for a shock. Most jobs require flexibility to a degree. It's not as if your boss is asking you to not have a break at all. Although lots of jobs regularly don't have time for a break on occasion. In fact, I've never had one where I haven't missed lunches...

And in the current climate, I'd be bending over backwards to prove I'm up to the job, flexible and a team player.

Perhaps it was the way you said it? 'So sorry, just having my lunch, I'll call you back in about 20 minutes' fine.

If said with a tone that made the boss feel that you were annoyed to have been interrupted - not fine.

Especially when WFH it’s so important to prioritize yourself and your own needs

as long as you appreciate why you are not allowed any flexibility in return, whilst another colleague will have some. It goes both ways.

It's so much nicer not to be treated like a child and be able to go to school events or take private appointments during working hours because you have an adult relationship with your work

If this happened in our office we would be asked to go on lunch early so 11:30 onwards in order to be available when the IT issues had stopped. You have had a very easy morning work wise, so I wouldn't have been taking an hour lunch break at all. You probably need to earn some goodwill back from your manager now.

Of course you're entitled to a lunch break (and I went back to work after a period off sick with an eating disorder so I know how important it is - part of my return to work was that I was required to take a lunch break) but I am also in the 'flexibility goes both ways' camp. I would generally prioritise speaking to my boss in case they didn't have any other time to speak and there was stuff that they needed me to do. I'd have that conversation and then go for a walk/have a late lunch. I've been on a grad scheme and also managed plenty of people on a grad scheme and I would probably raise my eyebrows although it wouldn't be a massive black mark against you. I know for other people though, it would be the kind of behaviour that - rightly or wrongly - would get remembered.

I'm just on my lunch now due to calls.

When you WFH you need to be flexible. Actually when you are in office you need to be flexible too. That flexibility works both ways, but it is usually the employee that needs to 'prove' their flexibility first!

The only time I wouldn't be flexible is if I had back to back calls all day and would struggle to get away for a pee nevermind eat, then I'll try to schedule 15-30 mins in my calendar and stick to it (or ask dh/ds to give me something I can eat in a call that I'm not talking much in)

I think this is a classic 'What I am entitled to' v 'What might be helpful for other people in my team', and everyone will have a different ratio that they find acceptable. In this case, I would have taken the call because it wouldn't have been a big deal to delay my break for a while and I'd rather not cause more work for my boss/anyone else if it wasn't really going to inconvenience me in any way. I generally find places where people give and take are more pleasant to work in that the 'I am entitled to this' kind of atmosphere. There's a balance where you keep what you're entitled to but are flexible to help meet the needs of the team, and that's where the best employees fall IME.