Do you suffer from "lunch-ism" at work?

[justdivein]

Like many people I'm working from home at the moment. On paper we can take lunch whenever we like, and for me that is usually at 12, because that's when I get hungry, and when my DH (who is working in another room) also gets hungry. Our daily lunch date is one of the perks of working from home.

However ... in a bid to improve the work-life balance of people who are too disorganised to mark their preferred lunch time in their online calendar , so end up with back-to-back meetings, our management now suggests that everyone should generally avoid booking meetings between 1-2pm. So, all of a sudden:

1. the preferred lunchtime of (presumably approximately) 50% of staff is considered less sacrosanct than that of the other 50% of staff,
2. my tentatively reserved 12-1 slot is being regularly and un-apologetically breached in order to leave the 1-2 slot free,
3. if I want to protect my preferred lunch slot, whilst also respecting the 1-2pm curfew, the combined effect is a significant reduction in the number of meeting slots available to book.

Rant over ... it's time to draw a line in the sand ... I'm off to convert my tentative lunch booking into a fully blocked out slot.

I would eat my arm off if they made me wait until one (early waker here, normally starving/snacking by 11:30)

Talk to your boss, mention that that’s the way it works for all of you at home and just ask whether you can have it fixed at 12. They are probably just trying to ensure people don’t go far off track too often but may be ok with your suggested time if they know you organise yourself well and you are where you said you were.

You may also volunteer yourself to cover for other people while they are at lunch in exchange of eating one hour earlier.

Our lunches are scheduled (30 mins) so depending on shift/day it could be any time between 11.30am and 2.30pm
We can't all go at once as we can only have two people out for lunch at one time

I work in within a MDT there is no way lunch could be synchronised between all of the different partners. I generally have my lunch break at half twelve but just move it if a meeting needs to happen.

If I wanted to have a lunch date with my DH every day I would put it in my calendar as unavailable. Can you not do that?

YANBU OP. There’s an unwritten rule at my work that people try not to schedule meetings between 12-2.

Unfortunately there are always twats that see this as easy prey and book a meeting in then because it’s likely everyone will be “free” at that time and they’re too lazy to try and find another time. You always get a ridiculously fake “apologies for scheduling this over lunch!” I’m, no you’re not fucking sorry are you? Because you always fucking do it...

It’s great in a way that your workplace is trying to encourage people to take a break in their day (it’s so easy when working from home to just grab food and continue on through) but it’s not great they’ve arbritrarily decided when that break will be.

Just have a snack at 11 or eat a bigger breakfast and switch to 1 - it’s not exactly a massive deal is it

They stagger the lunch breaks at DPs work, he starts at 8am finishes at 5.30pm & doesn’t have his lunch till 3.25pm

I take lunch at 12 usually and have it booked in my calendar, but if I have a meeting I'll just move it later. It has rarely been an issue for me and I manage to get my lunch around the middle of the day. If people try and book meetings with me right across the middle of the day and it would me I would have no time for lunch at all I'll just reject it and say I'm on lunch at that time, unless it is very critical. I've not seen issues with people having different lunchtimes meaning meetings can't happen and so I'm not sure there really is a need to have an enforced lunch hour.

Aside from very short notice critical meetings (such as responses to an operational incident) most people trying to squeeze meeting in at lunchtime are just people who haven't planned properly anyway, not sure why they should be pandered to.

We have to book our lunches after 12:30, we also have to take our lunch in a single block. I’ve booked mine at 3:30 so I can do the school run (I can get there on time if I literally run).

However I eat my lunch any time between 11-2, I’m a type one diabetic so if I need to eat I need to eat. I just work while I’m eating.

How many meetings do you have at your place of work that you can't fit them into the remaining 5.5 hours of the working day?

We have a flexible working policy, start any time from 7:30 - 10, finish any time from 4-7, lunch between 12 and 2. So core hours when everyone should be available is 10-12 and 2-4. Somehow we all manage to speak with the people we need to speak to!

I'm much preferring wfh because no-one books meetings in between 12 and 2 in a bid to secure a meeting room!

What was the official lunch time at work? Shouldn't everyone stick to that?

Surely 12:30 - 1:30 would have been the most logical 'set hour'?

This makes sense. Then the earlier eaters at least get half an hour, which is what a lot of people take for lunch anyway. Suggest it to management.

I work 8-5 and take my 45 min lunch at 11:30. If i was told i had to wait longer i would mark myself as unavailable and go and eat something. When i need food, i NEED food

12 is best.

@galgaf12

What's a lunch hour?

Is that you, Violet?

I work in catering and more meals are sold between 12 and 1 then 1 to 2 and i dont get lunch till 2.30

Well done for making sure you have a lunch hour - I find can be forgotten when you’re at home.

But this reminds me of years ago when I worked as a receptionist. Reception needed to stay open so someone had to cover my lunch break. My cover suggested when I started that we take alternate times each day, so 12 one day and 1 the next for fairness. We did this for about 6 months until one day we discussed which time we preferred and it turned out she preferred 12 and I preferred 1!

I've never worked anywhere office-based where the lunch hour, if given, was anything other than 1-2. But given that some people think 12-1 is quite normal, I think the 12:30-13:30 idea is a good 'un.

Unless they've said you have to take lunch 1 - 2 I think the obvious answer is to just block out your 12 - 1 slot permanently and then on the few occasions when there isn't a space on everyone's calendars, ask people if they can move their lunch to 12 - 1, and be flexible if they can't.

It's frustrating when norms don't fit your preferences and talents, but the previous norm wasn't fitting a lot of other people's preferences and talents. If they haven't actually said you need to move your lunch hour I think the approach isn't too heavy handed (though obviously, everyone likes a bit of a whinge when the winds are no longer blowing quite as much in their favour, so YANBU to be a bit miffed).

I work for a large telco - 12 to 1 is the norm for us. Far too early for me

All the martyrs on here, honestly 😂

I get hungry around 12 too but there are days I have to wait for my lunch because of meetings, court hearings etc. I still take a break though! I guess if it’s a problem maybe have some fruit or nuts as a snack to graze on until you can stop.

There is no "standard lunchtime for an adult" - what an utterly ridiculous idea! Is there also a standard bedtime and a standard getting up time?

Everyone in my house is up before 6am and in bed before 10:30pm. I think those should be the standard getting up time and standard bedtime for adults because that's what I do - breakfast at 6:30am, lunch at 12 noon and dinner at 6pm everybody...

I don’t care what time I take my lunch but when DH was WFH during covid the last thing I wanted to do was have lunch with him, I was already in the same house 24/7 and that was enough. I’d take my lunch back to my desk and read Mumsnet thank you very much.

I’m genuinely quite shocked by this thread! Surely flexibility is a key competency in many roles?

I’m a senior manager and often have back to back meetings so have to squeeze things around, if one of my team told me they couldn’t meet 12-1 because they were on their lunch I’d be seriously unimpressed . By all means take a full lunch break but seriously. I’ve found it’s these same people who clock watch and then complain about a lack of flexible working.

If you’re an adult surely you can shift your lunch by an hour to meet the requirements of your role.

OP, before management said that booking meetings between 1 and 2 was to be avoided, were you trying/managing to schedule meetings at 1pm? Or (given that so many people like to take lunch then) were you not finding that people were not available then anyway? I would instinctively avoid 12.30 to 2 for anything unless it was expressly billed as a lunch meeting. If I really had to schedule at that time I would apologise for potential lunch disruption. I also have the added hassle of colleagues in different time zones whose lunchtimes I have to avoid, not because I have been told to do so, but out of courtesy.