Manager insisting I take lunch

[Shanna8]

Hi, I would really appreciate some advice. I am PA to the CEO of a large organisation. I work in a solo capacity, no team or colleagues to have lunch with. This suits me fine. Our canteen is very busy, noisy and full of fellow co-workers who lunch together every day e.g. Finance colleagues sit at one table, HR colleagues sit at another table etc. The CEO sits with other Executive members. It's a bit clicky tbh ... but not having someone to have lunch with does not bother me in the slightest. I take lunch in my office, which I prefer. I tend to eat while working as I'm very busy and would prefer to work through and get home at a reasonable time. My Manager (CEO) has raised this with me on 3 occasions in recent weeks i.e. you really need to start taking lunch, you should not be working while having lunch etc. Yesterday she made another comment and I now feel pressurised and upset. I have told her previously (jokingly) that I have an aversion to the canteen, that I cannot stand it! There are other "solo" workers who also take lunch in their office and yet they are not being targeted. I could approach one of these colleagues for company at lunch time but I don't want to do this. It will result in me being tied to this arrangement every day, having to go to lunch when I don't want to/have something urgent on. There is no-where else to go for lunch except my car. I feel upset and resentful that I will be forced to sit in my car every day when I would prefer to keep working. I am now wondering why my Manager is insisting on this? Is it a duty of care / HR issue? Is she fearful I will take sick leave and cite being over-worked with no breaks? Is there any solution? Should I talk to her? AIBU???

Duty of care I would imagine. You should be leaving your desk though, getting some fresh air?

No formal advice but for your health you really should be away from your desk/area of work for at least half an hour around lunchtime! I can't believe how much better I feel going for a 20 minute walk at lunchtime instead of sitting at my desk browsing the internet.

There is a legal requirement for employers to give employees a 30min break if they are working for 6 hours or more. So your boss is acting appropriately in asking you to take a lunch break.

If you don't want to go to the canteen, could you eat in your office and read a book rather than working?

Also, if you are a PA - does your office function as a sort of front door to the CEO's office? Do people see you eating lunch when they come for a meeting with the CEO? If so, maybe it's this that is the problem..

YABU.

She is right to insist. You should be having breaks away from your desk

It's also highly unprofessional to be sitting eating at your desk while you're working.

Why do you feel upset?

It is duty of care and also a legal requirement to have a break.
Having lunch at your desk may be less of an issue as you’ve stated that you would rather work through and leave earlier

www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work

You may not be on the same grade or salary as them, but as PA to the CEO you are part of the Executive team. What would happen if you went to sit with them at lunchtime?

It's duty of care. I'm also a PA and have been told in the past i need to go for a wander to have a break. It's nice they are noticing and looking out for us.

Some industries require workers to physically log they are taking a break after 6 hours. You are supposed to take a break.
It sounds like it is the working while eating lunch rather than being in the office that’s the problem.
Can you remain in the office and just move away from your desk?

There's a statutory 20 minute break if you work for 6 hoursor more and it must not be taken at the end of the 6 hours.
So you shouldn't be missing the break and you can't offset it to leave early I'm afraid.

No, my office isn't really front facing (and I am very discrete while eating). I do appreciate the legal requirement. I just feel there is no solution.

Bring a book and whip it out when ceo is around? I'm sure it's fine to eat at your desk it's the working while eating that's the problem

I would suggest that you tell your manager that you’ll eat lunch outside and then go for a walk. Go outside and walk around the corner and sit on a bench, in a cafe or just walk up around the block.

You do need a break from your screen if not from your desk.

Just take your lunch down to the canteen and sit by yourself for half an hour with headphones and a book?

Have you explained to her why you don’t want to go to the canteen? I’d be honest with her. Perhaps if she knew that 1. You were too busy to stop working and 2. You had no one to sit with, she might either understand more or suggest some alternatives.

If she’s the CEO she could suggest that the table cliques are broken up at lunch, or that it’s more staggered so less busy, and hopefully she might find a way to lessen your workload so you get a proper break, even if it’s a walk around the block.

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist
it’s a minimum of 20 minutes but the principle is the same of course.
In many roles staff may be allocated a set amount of time usually 30 minutes, often unpaid and their contract says they can’t take it at the end of the day.

OP as well as your welfare, the manager may not want to risk other people trying to take their break at the end of the day. Plus legally they have to make sure you have 20 minutes after 6 hours work, so if your break allocation is 30 minutes she could only allow you to carry 10 minutes of that to the end of the day.

I don't think it's the lunch in the office that's the problem, more that you're not taking an actual break and working through.

I work way over my hours and would not look to take my lunch break back. I work evenings and weekends regularly so I give way more than I am getting back. I don't mind this. I took on the role knowing it was full on.

Is your managers issue really that you are eating at your desk? Or is it that you are finishing early and saying you haven't taken a lunch break so have worked your hours? As the latter would be the issue for me if I wanted you to stay to your contractual finish time.

I often take my lunch break sat at my desk, but I'll eat my food while reading news or catching up on messages/scrolling Instagram.

You do have to take a lunchbreak when you work more than 6 hours, so your manager is right to point this out.

I was told that there's a legal requirement to have a break away from the desk if you work more than 6 hours. Two days a week I work 5 hours and have lunch at my desk. One day a week I work 8 hours and I have to go for a lunch break, otherwise I'm breaking the law!
If you hate the canteen, can't you go for a stroll outside? You'd feel better for moving your body and having a break from the screen.

Don't be daft. People fought long and hard for workers' rights, don't shit on them.

If you have too much work get help.

Of course there's a solution.

Sit in the office and read a book/scroll through social media/whatever

Go for a walk.

Take a drive to somewhere nice - the amount of people here who drive to the seafront and eat their lunch in the car always amazes me.

A colleague of mine goes to the gym for an hour in her lunch break.

There's any number of things you could do other than sit at your desk and carry on working.

Because she doesn't want to be forced to socialise and I don't bloody well blame her

Eat when/where you want. But take a break and go outside for a walk. Just show you're having time away.

I think it’s a combination of a) busybodies thinking you should be doing something active just because they like to go for a walk, b) they don’t want anyone thinking they’re pressuring you not to take a break or overloading you with so much work that you don’t feel like you can, and c) not wanting people to see you munching on a bag of Frazzles when they come in to see your boss.

Talk to your boss. Ask her if it’s the eating at your desk that’s the problem, or the fact that you’re not leaving it. If it’s the eating at your desk, then you’re just going to have to suck it up and eat elsewhere. If it’s that she doesn’t want anyone thinking that she’s not complying with the law, ask her if there is a business need for you to work later and, if not, tell her that you’re taking advantage of flexible working arrangements to achieve a better work life balance.