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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you work through lunch breaks if needed?

121 replies

Notfatbutchunky · 10/08/2023 13:53

I work within the nhs high stress job very low pay we are understaffed. When someone takes annual leave the whole place crumbles.

I am WFH today on my own all calls and work have been forwarded to me.

Manager seems to think I should work through my lunch! I’m stressed enough as it is I should be able to take my 30 mins break in peace.

I have flat out refused AIBU?

OP posts:
Proudgypsy · 10/08/2023 14:19

If you choose to that's fine. But your manager can't legally force you to.

AlltheFs · 10/08/2023 14:20

Only when I want to- I have today and yesterday as I want to leave early.

But equally sometimes I take a long lunch because I need to and work late instead.

Basically I do what I like as I can in my role. I never ask anyone I manage to work through a break though-I actively encourage them to take them.

Kabbalah · 10/08/2023 14:21

Regularly.

PeachF · 10/08/2023 14:21

Unless someone's going to die through me taking my break then no.

I value my time and my health more than any workplace could ever value me.

ManateeFair · 10/08/2023 14:21

There are many situations where I might happily work through my lunch break - but certainly not in the circumstances you've described here! It's not like it's an emergency; it's a foreseeable situation involving business as usual activities and it's not your problem that your office is understaffed.

It's up to the manager to sort out cover for your lunch break, and if there's nobody else available then the manager needs to accept that calls will go unanswered for half an hour.

Also, if people keep agreeing to work through their lunch break, management will never actually do anything about the under-staffing problem because that means there are no consequences. If the goodwill of employees agreeing to work through their lunch break is propping up the service your team provides, they won't do anything until the goodwill stops and the service collapses.

SirenSays · 10/08/2023 14:22

I think I could count the lunchbreaks I had while working for the NHS on one hand.

PumpkinPie2016 · 10/08/2023 14:22

I often do (teacher and head of dept) - either on official duty or things like helping kids with homework, setting up my lessons for after lunch, calling parents/responding to emails/marking.

As someone else said, it is disgraceful in any job that employees aren't taking lunch breaks 😕

Iudncuewbccgrcb · 10/08/2023 14:22

I quite often do, not because I'm made to but because I work in a building that's part of a council depot, there's no mobile phone signal and nowhere to walk to as I'm basically in a motorway siding. I just crack on with work whilst I'm eating which takes the pressure off the rest of the day.

I only get 20 mins break anyway for dinner in a 7.5 hr working day due to a miscalculation when my contract was written meaning I get paid for half an hour longer than the office is actually open for, again due to a quirk of where my main office base is, so rather than reducing my pay I knocked the 30 mins off my 50 min dinner break.

When I work from a more central office with normal office hours, I will make up for the other times by taking a slightly longer lunch break and having a proper browse round the shops or a walk by the canal.

I think I probably do a very similar job to the OP.

Kabbalah · 10/08/2023 14:24

PeachF · 10/08/2023 14:21

Unless someone's going to die through me taking my break then no.

I value my time and my health more than any workplace could ever value me.

That's me, my patient could die. I can't just announce I'm taking a break to get my lunch, even at 3 in the morning.

Blossomtoes · 10/08/2023 14:27

I worked in the NHS for over 20 years and I probably had the same number of lunch breaks in that time.

TooBrightInHere · 10/08/2023 14:29

Haven't taken a lunch break in years (NHS). It's just not a thing where I am

Cowlover89 · 10/08/2023 14:31

YANBU X

Wishihadanalgorithm · 10/08/2023 14:32

As a teacher of 20+ years experience I always used to take a full hour for lunch and likewise when I worked in retail management. These days if I’m not running a club or revision lesson I am working for at least half of my lunch. I always get time to sit and eat but usually only 15 mins.

I look back on those days of sitting in the staff room, giggling with colleagues as invaluable for my mental health. These days, I feel incredibly isolated and miss the downtime which made the afternoon slot always more bearable.

CountryStore · 10/08/2023 14:32

I'm NHS, we usually have our (30 minutes in 12 and a half hour shift) break, but sometimes it's just not possible. But usually, yes, I'm happy to say.

switswoo81 · 10/08/2023 14:36

I'm a teacher and everyone of my colleagues takes the full 30 mins lunch break unless there is an emergency with a child.
For me to give my best for the rest of the afternoon I need to be fed and watered!

slowsundays · 10/08/2023 14:40

I stopped a while ago. Doing more work and going above and beyond in the role I'm in is a waste of time and energy - it just lands you more work for the same pay. There's no route to promotion etc.

I did in my old job where performance mattered but I moved to a new role when my contract ended and I found out all of my other remote colleagues are being paid 3k more than me as they got to keep their office salaries when made remote. I find it utterly pointless to do more work than them and take it on for less money and no prospects.

Yes I am looking to leave but a job is a job right now Blush

Selfesteem23 · 10/08/2023 14:43

i work on a ward. Sometimes get breaks sometimes don’t. But there’s no flexibility and no real time to get time back either we are just too busy and short staffed.

JamSandle · 10/08/2023 14:44

No.

I think skipping that break regularly contributes to ill health which I'm not prepared to sacrifice for work.

There may be the odd time I choose to but overall no.

saoirse31 · 10/08/2023 14:45

Tbh, I think any professional doing a job works through their lunch when needed.

deedeemegadoodoo · 10/08/2023 15:10

I’m a teacher of 20 years and I eat and work during my lunch ‘break’. I usually work through the morning break as well.

Before I was a teacher, I was in a completely different industry. We had to physically move away from our desk and the lunch break was sacrosanct.

purplecorkheart · 10/08/2023 15:13

Yes in my current job if needs be. However there is a lot of give and take here. There is never an issue if someone needs an hour for a medical appointment etc.

Bonfire23 · 10/08/2023 15:14

No, we are allocated breaks and lunch and have to take them

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 10/08/2023 15:16

Another teacher here. I have a 1hr lunch break and work for half of it, except the day when I run a lunchtime club, when I work all of it. I've never routinely worked through my whole lunch break.

Alphabetica · 10/08/2023 15:32

It's only on MN that people in professional roles seem to all take lunch breaks. Much like the 'if your colleague is off sick, it's your manager's problem to sort the worload not yours' trope that's currently running on another thread. I've only worked in jobs where there are no spare people to do these extra jobs, so you either work through your lunch or end up doing the same amount of work later anyway.

Nevermind31 · 10/08/2023 15:35

I do. Frequently. Also evenings and weekends.
but I do take time out of my day to attend school assemblies, end of topic showcases, sports day, children off sick, etc.
so I think it’s fair. But I am very senior, so can work very flexibly.

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