To dislike lunchtime learning

[MaMaD1990]

It's a thing at my workplace - a topic is chosen and every week there are a few sessions of 'lunchtime learning' to discuss said topic. Calendar and emails sent pretty much every frikkin day to remind us to attend. The aim is to hone our critical thinking skills - fabulous. But AIBU to want them to stop harping on about us attending when all I want to do is give my brain a break for 30mins at lunch? It's as though you're seen as a bad employee for not attending. Its also no mandatory (apparently...). Why can I not just go to work, do my job and then come home? Ahhh life.

@tttigress this was working for a local authority, I don't think I ever had a lunch break that wasn't sat at my desk anyway then we're 'encouraged' to essentially undertake training under the guise of it being a social event involving food..must be worse in the private sector where there's actual chance of career progression!

@MaMaD1990

Sorry I should've said in my OP, I don't go to them at all, explained my reasons for declining but did say if one popped up that I was particularly interested in or could offer decent input, I would go.

That sounds ok to me

I used to quite like these before Covid. Now they mean another hour on zoom and there's no free lunch or opportunity to chat to people so fuck that!

Our employer tried this shit last year, my team all attended the forty minute session we all then left work forty minutes early. Management asked why we were leaving early and we enjoyed saying that we had all worked through the unpaid portion of our lunch so we has completed our paid hours for the day.

Funnily enough that was the last lunchtime learning session. We enjoyed our little pact.

Well its nice to know I'm not alone in it! I understand it from the company's side of things, making learning available to everyone, lunchtime being the only time people generally don't have meetings and it's not mandatory BUT the undertone of the expectation that you and the emails about attending (from various teams and people) is quite irritating. And noone in the company gets paid for their lunch break - also annoying.

Set up an alternative lunchtime learning session called mindful sandwich eating

Urgh I can never quite understand why people think these are a good thing - I’m all for development but not at lunchtime, especially not if there’s no lunch provided!

Depending on what job you do, are you able to just take your lunch break the hour before / after the lunch and learn? They’re usually 12 - 1 in our office so I then just have my lunch afterwards!

We have them at my work. I’m pretty sure most people take a lunch break as well, if it fits in with their work day. That said we’re quite flexible anyway, as long as you do the right amount of work over all, and the time in lunch and learn counts towards your hours.

So I think calling it “lunch”‘anything is just code for “feel free to be eating during this”!

I understand the time of the day they are done, as 'breakfast' meetings are at the time of the school run so exclude many, and afternoon ones once offices are open could mean some are excluded by limited evening public transport afterwards.

What is wrong is for any inference to be drawn on those who don't watch them.