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?

This isn't a retail situation though.

No, but it's still work and you can't always just take your lunch break whenever you want.

I've never known anyone who's done a job and always takes their lunch at say, 1pm or whatever. In real life people take their lunch at whatever time is convenient. Sometimes it's midday, sometimes it might be 2pm - it just depends, surely?

I can't imagine telling my boss I was too busy to talk to them because I had to eat a sandwich and go for a walk!

I've never known anyone who's done a job and always takes their lunch at say, 1pm or whatever. I'm not sure the OP has said she DOES always take lunch at the same time, has she?

In real life people take their lunch at whatever time is convenient. When she decided to go out for lunch it was presumably convenient; the manager changed that by phoning her just as she was on her way out, with an hour's worth of work. A better boss would email or something and say 'We need a phone discussion for about an hour; let's find a good time.' Then both parties would be prepared and not distracted.

I have boundaries and can be flexible. I WFH and I would have taken the call and gone for walk later. Don’t battle over the small stuff

If I’ve got this right, the call was about doing some work that would take about an hour. The call itself was perhaps to just brief you about what your boss wanted you to do? So you might as well take the call there and then imho.

In wh

I’d have taken the brief and then said I’d do the work as soon as I was back at my desk - depending on IT working properly.

I’ve probably misunderstood the whole thing though...

@IntermittentParps

I've never known anyone who's done a job and always takes their lunch at say, 1pm or whatever. I'm not sure the OP has said she DOES always take lunch at the same time, has she?

In real life people take their lunch at whatever time is convenient. When she decided to go out for lunch it was presumably convenient; the manager changed that by phoning her just as she was on her way out, with an hour's worth of work. A better boss would email or something and say 'We need a phone discussion for about an hour; let's find a good time.' Then both parties would be prepared and not distracted.

No, she didn't - but my point is sometimes you go to take your lunch and something happens to interrupt that.

I assume the boss didn't e-mail as OP couldn't get on the works network?

Some grad trainees seem to think that they are doing their employers a favour by agreeing to work for them. They forget that large companies employ many, many grads every year and not all of those will do well at the firm.

DS is currently working with a new cohort of trainees. One of them is driving him mad because he displays an attitude like yours OP. This grad then complains that other (less highly qualified) colleagues are being given more work than him (in terms of quantity and the logged hours he will need to qualify) and also given the meatier, more interesting projects. He hasn’t yet grasped that the trainees getting the interesting and challenging projects that will enhance their experience and career progression are the ones who are prepared to go the extra mile in supporting their managers and team leaders. DS is trying to get him to understand the link between his attitude and the work he is getting, but it’s slow progress so far.

Oh and I don't think the phone conversation was going to last an hour, was it? It was to give OP some work which would have lasted an hour. So she could have answered the phone, taken down the details then had her lunch.

I assume the boss didn't e-mail as OP couldn't get on the works network? Good point! A text or WhatsApp or however else they communicate would have done it.

my point is sometimes you go to take your lunch and something happens to interrupt that.
Yes, and my point is that, unlike retail, where obviously you can't walk away from a customer, in this case the interruption could have waited. Or rather, been organised so that it WASN'T an interruption.

I don't think the phone conversation was going to last an hour, was it
We don't know for sure, but...

So she could have answered the phone, taken down the details then had her lunch.
Answered the phone, maybe taken her shoes back off, scrabbled for paper and pen, and then had to get back into 'break mode' and gone for lunch.

What's the point when it could have been organised so that everyone knew when the call would take place and no one was on the hop? It's a very inefficient and stressful way of working.

I think you need to be more flexible - in the real world the timing of lunch breaks aren't set in stone and depending on business need, may be reduced to having a sandwich at your desk while working. It would have been better to have taken the call and then have your break. I wouldn't be impressed if I was your manager.

All of my jobs have always given me an hour for lunch. It's in my contract so I'm taking it. Theres a difference between being in the middle of something and pushing your lunch back and literally being in the middle of lunch and receiving a call. The IT issues are a red herring - it has no impact on the situation, it wasn't your fault. You did the right thing establishing your boundaries and not allowing yourself to be a doormat regardless of you being on a grad scheme.

She wasn’t in the middle of lunch, she was literally walking out the door.

Boundaries are important but so is flexibility.

I’d be pretty irritated if one of my direct reports asked to call me back because they were having lunch. Because despite a pp’s sneeriness, my time is more important, in a work context, than that of my direct reports.

I wouldn’t make a fuss but if it became a regular occurrence or part of a pattern of behaviour then that would affect decisions about career progression.

I've just completed my grad scheme and WFH has been company culture for a while. It's not new. Here's two things. If you want your lunchtime at a certain time and don't want to be disturbed, then block it in your calendar and discuss this with your manager if you'll be unavailable. This is a work/life balance conversation you need to have.

Secondly, you should have taken the call. You may have been stepping outside but you were still at your house. You are the grad, you are less busy than your manager. You put the effort in to be flexible to their time during the working day. Especially if you want to set boundaries that are respected like set lunch times/start times/finish times. If they knew you have your lunch time and go for a walk then they wouldn't have disturbed you.

Ultimately you can sack that all off, have a bad relationship with your manager. Up to you.

I am a manger and I would have been very annoyed at this. Luckily my staff have never done this and also I couldn’t imagine any of them doing it either.

Sorry but you could have eaten while sorting out the I T problem you had, hard to believe you were on the phone 3/4 hours solid sorting it without a break.

Yeah, I think you need to be more flexible, especially when you are on a grad scheme. You should have a lunch break every day, but you need to be flexible about when it happens as sometimes (like today) things work out that means it is not practical right at the time when you have it scehduled. Sometimes you may not even be able to have the full hour at once, but rather two shorter breaks during the day. I don't know what field you are working in, but being so rigid about when your lunch time is and how long it is isn't going to do you favours in many fields. I would rethink your attitude to this one, if I were you.

OP, don't listen to anyone who tells you 'it states I get an hour in my contract, so I'm taking that hour, it's my right, blah blah blah'.

These people do not do well in the workplace

Also think the managers on thread saying theyd be very annoyed and itd be a big thing - op is new to the workplace and still learning. Tsking offence to this just makes those with MH and confidence issues feel even more shit and anxious. Explain if needed but saying youd be very annoyed or offended isnt helpful

Agree with the others. You need to show flexibility. Doing nothing all morning and then insisting on a lunch break at a specific time shows a really poor attitude. You are on a grad scheme and need to show a good attitude to be kept on.

If it was a hot lunch I might have asked could they call back in 5 mins then wolfed it down

I wouldn’t be so brazen as to tell a boss to ring back in 20 mins for a sandwich

despite a pp’s sneeriness, my time is more important, in a work context, than that of my direct reports. Then in this scenario you'd have wasted more of your time phoning the OP fruitlessly than if you'd dropped the OP a quick message saying 'When shall we talk about x?' and then got on with other stuff until the agreed time.

If you want your lunchtime at a certain time and don't want to be disturbed, then block it in your calendar and discuss this with your manager if you'll be unavailable. This is a work/life balance conversation you need to have Indeed. However, it's managers who need to initiate it, not employees. It's kind of their job. And, again, I don't think the OP has said she wanted lunchtime at a certain time; just that on this occasion she was about to go out for her break.

Doing nothing all morning you mean talking to IT to help sort out their issues.

These people do not do well in the workplace Is that right? I missed that memo. I did rather well.

Sorry but you could have eaten while sorting out the I T problem you had, hard to believe you were on the phone 3/4 hours solid sorting it without a break.

What if she'd had the opportunity for lunch at 10.30, should she have had lunch that early? I'll go to half 11 at the earliest to fit around work requirements but no earlier. My manager has never had a problem with this, despite the fact she often skips lunch altogether or has it at 4.30.

Were you entitled to a lunch break? Sure.

Will you go further in the company if you show a little flexibility? Yup.

Does that mean you’re never allowed lunch or to set any boundaries? Of course not.

Just bend a bit.

It so depends on your employment as well, I have worked in the civil service were it was possible to set boundaries and quote employment law but I have also worked for companies were my cards would have been marked and arse would have been out of the door as soon as possible if I had done that to the boss.

I might have asked could they call back in 5 mins then wolfed it down

Seriously, unless you're a brain surgeon on call, or your boss is a literal tinpot dictator (not the office-based kind some of whom seem to be on here), why wolf down lunch just to be 15 minutes earlier to speak to them?

Martyrs.