Do you work through lunch breaks if needed?

[Notfatbutchunky]

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?

Another teacher here - I work through my lunch “breaks” supervising children who aren’t out for playtime or who want my 1:1 attention, whilst I try and prep for afternoon lessons.

I actually eat my lunch whilst sitting with and supervising the children eating theirs.

Yes always. Teacher. Otherwise I would just be working even later into the night. Overwhelmed all the time.

Yes

Every day, unless meeting someone (work related) for lunch. And I work evenings, and weekends. But private sector and well compensated.

I work through lunch every day. I am at my desk by 8 every day and never leave before 5.30/6. My days can be even longer. I'm paid for 37.5 in the public sector. It's endemic in my organisation. Everyone works above and beyond in the healthcare and admin and management functions. If people stopped I suspect the organisation would fall over.

People have stopped thinking it will get better.

My dh works in the private sector. He has an hour for lunch and goes to sit in his car, pop to the shops or occasionally drive home for lunch

At one time, I would have bent over backwards to help my employers, but the years have worn me down. Their inability to be flexible, whilst expecting employees to be flexible, is a joke.

They can fuck off.

I get an unpaid hour for lunch and I take every single minute of it.

I start at 9am on the dot and finish at 4.30pm on the dot.

They don't get one minute of my life that they don't pay me for.

I never thought I would be one of 'them' people, but here we are.

Yes, I'm a teacher. Work through lunch break, at home and in the holidays. Feel for anyone working in the public sector

do you even get paid for your lunch break? in many companies your one hour break is actually unpaid. you are essentially choosing to do free work over resting.

Yes I regularly work through lunch breaks, under and overtime. I think it's fairly common in the private sector. I worked in the civil service for a while and it could not have been more different, people just didn't give a fuck if really important public services didn't get fulfilled so long as they did not work a single minute more than they had to. People would be lined up in the foyer to clock out at 4pm. There was no pride in their work at all. Nobody got sacked for being shit or incompetent either and infighting and bullying were rife.

I wouldn't work through if I didn't want to though, but I like my job done well and I'm not low paid. I certainly wouldn't do it if it was demanded or expected.

I’m not paid hourly, but don’t often really take lunch.

I do intend to though, and I think it’s much better for you, so unless it’s an emergency YANBU

Depends how you grew your work. My work is very much part of who I am so will do whatever if takes to get things done as well as possible. Even if it means working over lunch or late.

However I would feel very differently if I worked the tills at tesco or spent the day making sales calls.

Yep, same. And in my toxic school, senior and many middle leaders do duties every day and for all of break and lunch time and after school for about 30 mins. Ridiculous.

Put your foot down if poss or find a new job if not.

No I take mine have done jobs where not possible but now am employed I get 30 minutes unpaid at working day so take it . I might take it late but not paid enough to skip it .. if I did I would take my time back

I used to do things half an hour of the hour break. Then I was asked to supervise 1:1 for half an hour during lunch. So now I get paid for working, and the "admin" things don't get done. Fine for me, not so fine for the class teacher (whose idea it was!) I refuse to stay an extra unpaid half hour at the end of the day as I really liked being able to go out at lunch, and now there isn't enough time.

Absolutely not

This is why I've left the profession. I'm not prepared to keep giving up my time to work for nothing. The salary is low enough without all that.

@EmmaM84

A restructure has recently been proposed where they plan on actually removing an officer permanently, despite the cries for more staff. Because the work has been getting done, they see a cost saving here.

Well what a great way to boost morale for your staff. Instead of recognising everyone is pulling more than their own weight and rewarding accordingly, they give you a kick instead. I'm sure that will win to. Hope the change of tactics works OP. 🌹

Yep! Get an hour or half an hour took off me for breaks but sometimes its too busy to leave the shop so i sit and eat at the till while serving 🙄

Its a disgrace. I work in local authority . If i work through lunch i add an hour to my flexi that day. No one checks.

Every day i work over my 7:24 as we are drowning in work and a line manager who cannot manage our workload (we get excited when he takes a day off so we manage better without him) but if they can’t find the staff to join us, i take that extra.

Ive not WFH at all (impossible) and i bet a lot of money that those at home take more than their fair share of breaks.

Nope you pay for my time I don't get paided for lunch breaks so am taking it.

I’m an NHS nurse, our shifts are 12.5 hours with 2 half hour breaks. I will always take at least 1 of them to eat or I’d keel over (even if sometimes it’s well over half my shift before I get to go!) but getting the second break depends a lot on workload, I don’t always manage. If it happens once no biggie, if we’re short staffed and happening all the time I do speak with my manager and they add the breaks I missed as overtime so I get paid for them (but I know not many managers are that good!). Breaks are pretty sacred where I work though, it’s the only time we’re off the ward completely, and in 8 years of working there I only had someone come grab me off my break once and it was for a full on resuscitation so I call that acceptable!

I always had my half hour break but not necessarily at the same time each day because of work

Break necessary to manage stress levels. Does your manager want you off sick?

Another teacher and yes, it's kind of expected. We're not meant to be checking emails or doing paperwork while teaching, PPA time invariably gets taken up by other matters (and isn't daily, in any case), but most emails are "urgent" and people, including parents, get shirty having to wait, so you end up doing that at lunch as well as photocopying and chasing up colleagues/ students for things.

YANBU.

It is your manager's job to organise the team so you can do the job, safely and legally.

If they haven't managed to do that and you're being asked to work through lunch breaks, that's their failure, not yours.

Ask them to put it in writing, then politely say no in writing and that they'll need to find extra cover so you can work safely and legally.

Baffles me that people put up with this in the public sector.