People working through lunch..

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No idea if this is a common thing at other companies, but at my place it seems the normal thing to do is that people just work through their lunch or take about a quarter of what they're actually entitled to.

I've never understood it, and I always make a point of taking my full lunch break as I need that time away from my desk before I go into the tasks that need completing in the afternoon.

Is this common these days?

Agreed. Used to break my back bending over backwards. Still got made redundant without them giving a toss. So I now do what's contracted and no more or less.

"You'll Never Get Ahead!"

Maybe 40 years ago loyalty to a company was rewarded. Not any more.

My company is the opposite: it’s expected that we take it and working through it is heavily discouraged. And if you use your lunch break to go to the gym or do some other kind of healthy activity which ultimately increases wellbeing, you can take extra time so that you also get a chance to eat afterwards. Insurance: without a doubt our actuaries have all the calcs to hand about the performance-enhancing and sick leave-reducing effects!

I worked in an office where people used to fritter away the mornings and late afternoons but made a big show of working through lunch as it looked good if any of the Dept heads or CEO walked around the offices on their lunch breaks.

It's shocking how little people do in offices. I used to work with a woman who could spend all day composing a letter... Several of the managers did little more that sit on people's desk and chat the day away. Everyone claimed to be struggling with their workload! I think it can become a bit of a mentality.

I didn’t always get breaks on the ward if it was busy/we were short staffed or we’d literally go sit eat and be back out in 5/10 mins on a 12 hour shift that could be tough but you get on with it. Since working in community I manage my own caseload so often I do work through but means I can get away sharp if all my paperwork is done by my last patient etc if I feel I need longer I’ll not work through lunch and do paperwork at the end of the day we do get dna or cancellations though so can get caught up elsewhere.

I think it depends on the type of job. I'm a teacher so my workload is up to me to manage (outside of teaching hours) and it makes sense to work through lunch to have a bit less to do after school or in the evening. DH logs his hours against projects and works on a screen so he tends to take a lunch break.

It's not common in my workplace. Taking lunch breaks is seen as important to avoid burnout. People do occasionally work through, but this is usually because they need to leave early etc

I do take my lunch break but I take it at my desk mostly. I often read/scroll though the internet etc

In the office I don't usually, though I take a few short breaks to do personal admin etc. We have weekly hours targets and I like to make sure I'm ahead so the end of the week isn't fraught.

If I'm wfh I usually do have a break of 1-1.5 hours so I can do some exercise. I'm saving time by not commuting those days and I also need the change of scene/pace!

I’m self employed, work from a salon at my home. Lunch is a priority! The standard of my work would suffer otherwise. You get no thanks for not taking a break.

25 hours over 4 weeks? Ha I hope you aren’t working as an accountant or maths teacher 🤣🤣

I don't think it's any more common today than it was 20 years ago - I think it just varies across workplaces. I've worked in a couple of places where having a sandwich at your desk and not taking a proper break was very prevalent - in one case the culture of the organisation was just a bit crap and there was a lot of competitive look-how-busy-I-am stuff going on, and in the other the office was kind of in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do nearby, so a lot of people seemed to think there was no point taking a proper break if they had to spend it in the office anyway (I was not one of those people; I had absolutely no qualms about taking the full hour just to read a book or something).

I've also worked in a place with flexi time and a clock-in/clock-out system, so some people would take 30 mins only for lunch instead a full hour and then go home a bit earlier or something.

At my current place, there's two people who make a whole thing out of performatively eating at their desk and complaining about not having time for a break (they absolutely do have time, but anyway). Most people here actually make a point of having a proper break though - city centre office, so people will often pop out and do a few errands or go to a cafe, and we also have an office that has a few areas designed for taking breaks in, with sofas and lunch tables that are specifically not for working at.

My lunch break is in my calendar as a reoccurring appointment and I will always take it. Happy to move it or occasionally abbreviate it to support scheduling etc but I am required to clock at least 30 minutes lunch break every day and I am not credited or paid for it, so why would I work for free? I have had no problem advancing in my career and as a manager I keep an eye on my team to make sure they are taking breaks too.

When I first started my working life I was on flexi with core hours of 10-12 and 2-4. You could take a two hour lunch if you wanted without needing to give a reason! Though obviously not all the time. But during my last working years they did away with core hours, which was supposed to give more flexibility but actually resulted in less. As I previously said there was pressure to take the minimum possible lunch break, and the earliest I could leave without it being frowned upon was 5pm. In the early days a half day meant you could leave at 12. But by the end it meant working through your lunch break and finishing around 2! More like a two thirds day than a half day.

I’ve never had a job that was hours-based. They’ve always been task-based. No contract has ever referred to break times. Sometimes I left at 3pm. Sometimes I left at 10pm. Lunch “breaks” were self defeating. Taking one was always at the expense of something else, a daily calculation.

In my previous life in banking I always got an hour for lunch. When I joined the NHS I couldn't work out why it was a 37.5 hour week rather than 35. Then I realised that lunch was 30 minutes. Which isn't enough time to do anything really.

Our company is very strict on taking the appropriate breaks from a safety perspective due to the industry and wellbeing of employees. This is mainly intended for staff on site but the culture expands across the business.

For the last 35 years, I've always worked through lunch, grabbed a sandwich and eaten it at my desk.

Now I work from home, we have an instant messaging timer, that I set, and then make a sandwich, put some washing on, put supper in the slow cooker, go for a run if it isn't raining (!), do some life admin.

Much better for me, my family and I suspect, my health. 😊

In lots of jobs the workload is higher than you can fit into a 9-5 and one hour lunch.
I work part of my lunch at least some of the week. I can’t easily stay late due to nursery pick up so it’s the easiest way to catch up on things.
Overall my job is relatively flexible and well
paid so I don’t mind working lunch occasionally.

When I worked in the office I worked while I had a snack , I left 20 m earlier as I only had 10 m official break

Sometimes I work through lunch, sometimes I take the full allowance, most of the time a bit less.

I never eat at my desk though. If I had to sit in a room with other people eating at their desk I would leave and go and sit in the break room until they had finished (people eating in there don't bother me). I know this is my issue so I will move rather than saying anything. I just can't concentrate with crunching, slurping and chewing going on around me - I find it irrationally annoying.

I routinely work through lunch.

Those around me who don't work through lunch tend to be late hitting deadlines and also, if I am honest, not that interested in promotion/bonuses.

I shouldn't have to work through lunch but doing so has netted me several bonuses and promotions so I'll keep doing it.

That being said, my office can and do work flexibly and there is no pressure at all to work through lunch - I do long hours, including working through lunch, for me and for faster promotion.

Lunch is for wimps……

In the office i eat at my desk and keep
working to avoid awful surfacey wanky chat with colleagues. And to avoid those dreaded networking lunches, where you get dragged to que for awful food and then sat in a deafening cantine. Soooo not a lunch break.

When wfh i totally take the hour and head into the countryside to walk our dog.

Whilst I regularly work through my lunch break as others have said 30 mins you cant really do much so get through the to do pile. However I actively encourage my staff to and if they dont want to leave their desk to read some news or on here just for the headspace break.

So busy at work I always work through lunch, just eat at my desk. Suits me to do it. Plus nowhere to go where I work. Occasionally have a walk round the scenic business park.

Common where I work and people end up eating at their desks and I hate it! Even if you’re too busy to take a full lunch break there’s a canteen and multiple breakout areas to eat away from your desk. I just hate the smell and sound of all these people eating around me! I always have minimum 30 minutes and eat in the canteen.