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?

You certainly have some chutzpah. I can't imagine telling my boss I'm in the middle of eating a sandwich so can he call back in 20. He would be astounded .

'Rights' and 'boundaries' are all very well but you are on a grad scheme and the workplace is about to get a whole lot more competitive.

In the spirit of flexibility, I would suggest taking the call next time, OP.

@StillCoughingandLaughing OP had neither left the house yet or started eating her lunch. She could have taken the call.

As her original comment was that she was in the middle of lunch, which consisted on a walk and a sandwich, I’d interpreted that as her being out of the house. If that’s not the case then it’s somewhat different. I personally would have delayed going out in those circumstances.

I don't think the break was so much about eating, but getting the physical/mental break away from the work environment. If the OP has been hovering over the PC all morning, liaising with IT, then this is still work and the break is still needed. I may however have taken the call, and delayed my break for the sake of goodwill etc.

no she wasn’t ,she was in her doorway at home.

As I’ve said, her original post stated that she was in the middle of lunch. If that wasn’t true, that’s a different scenario.

God, there are some martyrs on here.

Of course you can have a lunch break. It's good practice and part of a duty of care when WFH for management to ensure that staff take proper breaks. It's much too easy for boundaries between work and not-work to blur in this situation and it's not good for anyone's health or productivity.

And IMO it's fine to take a normal lunch break when your normal work has been disrupted by company IT issues.

All I'd say, OP, is maybe switch your phone off or don't take work calls when you're on your lunch. Have a professional-sounding voice message that says you'll call back at Xpm so people don't feel like they're phoning into a void.

If we had sustained system outages at work, I'll take the opportunity to re-schedule non-systems activities for that time, including breaks, lunches, team meetings, ad hoc training/coaching

Exactly this.
Although not your fault, you have not done much at all all morning. If I was your manager and you gave me that response I would think you were lazy, inflexible and awkward. Surely you should be trying to make a good impression on a grad scheme?

@lockdownstress

TBH I'd have taken the call and had my lunch afterwards. sounds a bit inflexible. Unless you were physically out on a walk and needed the computer to answer the call.

Me too. I am strong on work/personal boundaries but I would have taken the call and sorted lunch later.

I'm not saying you should. I'm saying I would have - and it (along with many other things) stood me in really good stead as I progressed/was promoted very quickly in the first decade or so of my career.

@StillCoughingandLaughing - it's not the case that it 'wasn't true', it's that OP clarified what she meant. A case of read the full thread!

Just out of interest, what was in the sandwich OP?

I am strong on work/personal boundaries

I would have taken the call and sorted lunch later.

The second half of this rather cancels out the first.

@StillCoughingandLaughing
It was her third post
I was literally going out the door.

Off topic, but a whole hour for lunch? Is this normal??

I have never worked anywhere (offices and retail) where we didn't get an hour for lunch. In the offices (publishing)- yes people sometimes/ often, depending on the person, worked through it. You might have to rearrange your lunch if you had to have a meeting or take a call, or if you had a deadline to meet, but in general everyone was entitled to a lunch hour, between 1 and 2, out of the office, and it was not unusual to take the full hour. I used to go to the gym.

The second half of this rather cancels out the first.

It really doesn't. My lunch break (if and when I take one) is just not one of my personal boundaires.

I really don't know what the correct answer is in the OP's workplace - perhaps her boss has been very unsupportive generally, and this is the final straw.

But as a parent I've really valued flexibility from my employers, and I have left jobs that have been too inflexible. In return I've tried to be as flexible as possible with those employers that have allowed me to leave in a rush when I have a sick child, or to work from home when I was struggling with daycamp pickups.

The second half of this rather cancels out the first.

No it doesn't. I have strong boundaries and when I need time I take time. If once in a while something happens that means I need to change when I'm taking lunch or work on later in the evening, then I jump in and do what's required. It's called flexibility working both ways. I can't insist my employer gives me flexibility to deal with my personal situation then refuse to reciprocate and help them when required. It is possible to be flexible but to maintain boundaries.

I think in your shoes I would have asked for five minutes to eat the sandwich, then gone out for a walk after the call.

OP this is tricky. Of course you are entitled to lunch! I think it is admirable that you are prioritising your own health and I bet this actually makes your working time more productive.

I wonder if next time maybe you could try explaining you are on your walk and will ring her back when you are back at your desk? It sounds like maybe you came across as slightly abrupt.

At the end of the day we all have different ideas about what is acceptable. I work in the NHS so am used to not getting breaks or breaks getting interrupted with emergencies etc and it really doesn't bother me.

However ultimately you are of course entitled to them, in your case they sound even more important. So you are of course entitled to protect that time. However I think you need to understand that showing flexibility and a willingness to work with your boss MAY help progress your career. I guess it depends on how much that matters to you.

If we had sustained system outages at work, I'll take the opportunity to re-schedule non-systems activities for that time, including breaks, lunches, team meetings, ad hoc training/coaching

Some of this might be possible sometimes, especially if you are in an office, but is much less likely to be possible when wfh because IT can’t physically get to your computer so you may well have to do a lot of the troubleshooting with them (as the OP has indicated she did).

There is also no point scheduling your lunch and break straight after each other - the point of breaks are to break up the work so you come back to it fresher and don’t burn out, not to simply shorten the number of hours you are working.

And rescheduling team meetings when you’re a junior member of the team and you are the only one on your team the IT issues are affecting would probably come across a lot worse than asking your manager to call back in 20 minutes!

I am all for boundaries and PMH but this is taking it too far. It's one day, you've hardly been hard worked! I seriously wouldn't have been impressed with this attitude.

I think you should have answered the phone.

Of course you're entitled to a lunch break but you need to be flexible. When I was employed I was entitled to lunch but not a certain time. Many times I was about to go on my lunch and had to deal with an awkward customer so I ended up waiting another hour or so. It's life.

I couldn't have just walked off the shop floor and said "sorry, you'll have to come back in an hour 'cause I'm off to eat my sandwich and go for a walk in the park".

I would definitely have taken the call. I think it reflects poorly on you that you didn't.

My lunch break (if and when I take one) is just not one of my personal boundaires.
OK well then it's not one you're 'strong on', is it, so what was the point of mentioning it

I couldn't have just walked off the shop floor and said "sorry, you'll have to come back in an hour
This isn't a retail situation though.

I definitely think there's a boundary to be had in taking a lunch break, but I would be a bit put out to call my employee and them to answer the phone and tell me they couldn't deal with me now, they were going out.

I wouldn't mind if they said "sure - I have my shoes on and am about to nip out for a walk - I can come back in if this needs to be now, otherwise could I call you back later?" And that would be what I would do with my own bosses (now that I know them well). Before I knew them well I would have stepped inside and dealt with it and taken lunch later.

I would have taken the call if at all possible (ie wasn't on the loo, etc) but to be honest my boss would be the first one to apologise and say she'd call me back if she knew i was on lunch. My employers respect for me and my right to a break from my desk to get fresh air, eat my lunch and recharge is directly related to my willingness to be flexible.

OP, I think in your example if your boss is being arsey with you I'd be even more inclined not to "just take the call" next time. Sounds like your instinct to protect your right to a break are right

My employers respect for me and my right to a break from my desk to get fresh air, eat my lunch and recharge is directly related to my willingness to be flexible.
Yes. For all those saying 'flexibility goes both ways', THIS is how it actually works (or should).