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?

When you are in the workplace you probably have an assigned break and lunch time when you leave your work station

Most people really don't. Especially not in grad schemes like the OPs.

An hour? I don't think I've ever worked anywhere that gives you an hour for lunch.

And I’ve only ever worked for one company that didn’t.

You could have eaten at your desk.
Yeah, not great for boundaries and a healthy work environment.

biglouis has it spot on. My lodger is WFH due to Covid and I've seen all this stuff happening to her. Things like looking away from your work to interact with colleagues/leaving your desk to go to the stationery cupboard or make tea etc, which we tend to take for granted in a workplace but are absent when WFH, are crucial parts of a working day. They break up concentration and keep you mentally fresher, as well as (when you're getting up and walking around places) physically less fatigued.

Not to mention the endless Zoom calls. It's so intense being 'on' all the time on a call when someone can see you; you have to have your professional mug firmly on the whole time, in a group call you need to be alert to everyone who's speaking, and there's research suggesting that the focus and communication skills needed to communicate via a screen in this way are particularly tiring and taxing.

Employers, not employees, need to step up and initiate steps to mitigate all these new kinds of pressures that people WFH are coming up against.

Honestly this just depends on the culture where you work. Some workplaces still see it as normal to block a whole hour off for lunch every day even if you’re working from home, even if you’re not busy. Most professional/corporate environments I’d say are of the view that you take 30-60 minutes for lunch but should be flexible around meetings so that time could be any time between 12-3pm. Then you get the higher pressure environments like banking and law where you might run out for 5 minutes to get a sandwich then gobble it down at your desk while still on a call and have no proper break in a 10-12 hour day.

I’d say to refuse to take a short call then go on your walk/break half an hour later would come across as very inflexible, but if you work somewhere where most people have a long and protected dedicated lunch break maybe it doesn’t.

I personally try and have minimum 30 minutes properly away from my desk even though I work in one of the higher pressure jobs listed above and I’d say 80% of my colleagues don’t take any lunch breaks at all. But I’m completely flexible about the time I take it at.

Basically in most workplaces, you earn flexibility from your boss. A grad hasn't yet shown that they're prepared to put in the extra when the company needs it, that earns them their boss's tolerance on another occasion . Those people that you see working 'all the time' probably have boundaries of their own. Or they're putting in the extra mile because they know that one day they're going to need some flexibility or time to deal with something family related. And yep, they'll know (and their boss will know) when "I'm really sorry - would it be convenient to call you back in 20?" is appropriate or fair.

And they'd also know that saying they need that 20 to have their lunch, is probably inadvisable.

To be honest , I have a really flexible boss but in that scenario she would be unimpressed. Now we often say to her we have half an hour to eat before a learner zoom and she will happily say no problem call me when you can. However that's when we have been back to back sessions and she can see that by our diaries.

If I had been on the phone all day with IT which yes a pain but not the same as consistent work she would definitely see it as being precious and taking the mick. This from a woman who insists and checks that we take time for food and a break (once playing a whatsapp game where we took a photo outside because two of our team hadn't left the house in days and they were really suffering ...she even cancelled appts to ensure it so gives you an idea of her flexibility) .

I would be very unimpressed if I was your boss. Employment requires a certain amount of flexibility. Like your employer allowing you to work from home. To insist on having an hours lunch break at a set time- which they've generously given you as they aren't legally required to- when working from home and not having done any work yet is ridiculously inflexible.
There will times when you need your employer to offer you things they're not required to give you. Like time off for doctors appointments.

I hope you've made yourself irreplaceable in your work.

Another vote for I would have taken the call.

So you havent really done anything all morning and your boss calls you to discuss something and you say no?

Yes

And so silly to be so rigid in a pandemic / upcoming depression as an inexperienced person on a grad scheme

Oof. This is not how to get on a good footing with your boss, especially if you're on a grad scheme. This was not the time to assert your boundaries. Next time, just take the call.

Had I been 1/2 way round the park, I'd have been fine saying "really sorry, I've just gone out for some fresh air in my lunch break, I'll call you back once I get in."
But if I were in the house, I'd have taken it and dealt with it then.
That is regardless of the fact I'd not been able to work that morning. I wfh quite a bit, and really appreciate people taking my call when I phone, if they are able, so I offer the same courtesy to others - or you can spend 2 or 3 days playing phone ping pong.

In terms of the fact you'd not been able to work, then it does depend, as pps have said, if it was a case of you'd been sitting at the laptop trying things all morning, or if you'd logged a call and they'd said "You need to give us an hour" and there then wasn't things you could do. If that were the case, I'd have taken any breaks then.

Flexibility from my employer is really appreciated by me, and I understand that works both ways, so I offer it back. It works really well.

I have never had an hour’s break in any job so never been able to go for a walk in it as not long enough.

Telling your boss to call you back is just generally rude, unless there is some really good reason why you could not have called her. As a manager, there is a huge difference between hearing:

I'm really sorry, I've just popped out to grab a sandwich. Can I call you back in 15 minutes?

versus

It's not convenient because I'm taking my lunchbreak. Can you call me back?

You have told your boss that you think your time and convenience is more important than hers.

I think it would have been a sensible idea to take the call, eat while doing so if you need to then go for your walk afterwards.

Yeah, not great for boundaries and a healthy work environment.
It was one day where OP had had IT problems. It wasn't going to set back her health or boundaries.
As for everything else you need to put in place to work from home healthily, adults should be able to do that themselves because a lot of it is the same training you get for healthy IT use in a workplace ie frequent breaks; not looking continuously at a screen; staying hydrated; walking/standing; having breaks to be active; positioning your screen and chair appropriately.

shiny your manager sounds lovely and really mindful of the teams mental health. I'm really lucky to have a supportive team where we have regular zooms and wattsapp chats as well as mental health stuff and challenges send by our mental health ambassador. Last week it was to review a book, film, bit of music, walking area, meal, wine etc (as funny as possible)

Yes you're still entitled to a lunch break. No, you don't have to take your boss's call during said break.

I appreciate being flexible but if you're heading out the door and the work would take an hour, I also would've wanted a walk first.

It was one day where OP had had IT problems. It wasn't going to set back her health or boundaries.
Was it not? It's a drip-drip, this kind of thing.

As for everything else you need to put in place to work from home healthily, adults should be able to do that themselves because a lot of it is the same training you get for healthy IT use in a workplace
a) not all workplaces by any means give this kind of training (to invoke my lodger again, her employers never have)
b) as has been said, employers have a specific duty of care and legal obligations to take steps to protect staff's well-being when WFH. It's got nothing to do with being 'adults'. What a silly, spiteful (and more to the point ill-informed) thing to say.

I would have taken the call. Building relationships with the team at the stage you are at is vital. If you ever need a bit of flexibility in future I can guarantee your boss will remember this and act accordingly. Chalk it up to experience and move on now.

I’ve only ever worked for sensible bosses who backed off immediately on realising they were interrupting an employee’s lunch (eg walking over to a desk to see them eating or calling and hearing cafe noises if off site). The fact that they were respectful of my downtime means I’ve never complained at working late to get a project done, nor the odd time I’ve had to skip lunch entirely to deal with an urgent problem. A manager who doesn’t understand that lunch breaks are a thing is going to be an absolute nightmare to work for.

If you ever need a bit of flexibility in future I can guarantee your boss will remember this and act accordingly

I'd be amazed if they remembered such a minor thing.

I would have taken the call, I took a call with difficult client whilst walking my dog in my lunch break. It was worth it as he appreciated me being flexible and answering his call and discussing a problem.

I just gave myself an extra long lunch break the next day to compensate

IMO if you show a bit of flexibility, you will get given a bit more leeway as well. It works both ways.

If it happened at an office building would they have cancelled your lunch break for this? No. Look after your mental health and always take your breaks.

I’d be amazed if they remembered such a minor thing

People remember the consequences. So not that the OP said she’d call the manager back but the manager was unable to complete something because she needed to speak to the OP.

@IntermittentParps do you have a manager or manage other people? It’s difficult to tell from your posts whether you actually work in an unusually tolerant environment or you just imagine that’s how it should be.

Jesus wept OP.

It's this kind of jobs worth behaviours from grads that winds everyone else up.

You should just have taken the call. Sometimes days don't go as planned. That's life. I don't know anyone insisting on a full hour for lunch, they're all fighting to keep their jobs!! Incidentally all our grads are furloughed, you're very lucky not to be.

Am I being a cow? Probably. But I'm giving you realistic advice.