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???

Yes but OP is an adult and doesn't need a college to parent her.

I could not sit in with no break op. I used to temp even a short walk outside the building breaks up the day. Canteens can be clicky.

That doesn’t sound healthy at all. I can understand not wanting to sit in a crowded canteen but with the weather being so nice why not go outside for a break?

Stop giving unpaid work over your hours. Nobody will ever appreciate that. The day you leave that job is the day you realise they weren't your friends and you've wasted a chunk of your life and work for no return.

Take your breaks.

These are your RIGHTS and workers fought for them. Stop giving the impression they're unnecessary.

Walk away from your desk, go for a walk, go to a cafe, sit in the canteen with a book / audio book if socialising is too much.

Your boss is right.

Maybe they would prefer you to be available later in the afternoon. If you work through lunch you go home earlier and are therefore not available.

Unless op does feel she's being exploited I'm not sure demanding op works her hours, nothing more, is helpful.

People do take on roles they know are full on, long hours, flexibility needed etc. If op is happy to do this (I get the feeling she is) and is paid enough to do so, then there's no issue here. A lot of people thrive in that sort of role.

But her manager is not happy.

Whether she feels she's being exploited or not is irrelevant. She says she works "way above" her hours. So I assume this is all unpaid work?

She should be taking breaks and she should not be working way above her hours. If that's what she needs to do to keep on top of the work then the workload is too heavy or @Shanna8 isn't able for the job.

You said "I'm very busy and would prefer to work through and get home at a reasonable time", which made it sound like you were leaving earlier than you should.

Her manager is advising op to take breaks. Unless it's because op shouldn't eat at her desk then it seems manager is doing what they should - encourage breaks.

I often work very long hours. Not because the workloads are too much, or I'm incompetent, I'm in a role, like ops, that never ends, I could work 80 hours a week and still never finish my work.

I know its weird to some, but like I say there are a lot of people out there that are happy with this sort of working environment.

Obvs if op comes along and clarifies it is very shit and she feels overworked then that's different.

Yabu. Duty of care. I always go for a walk by myself in my lunch break. I can chat while I work so need fresh air and exercise in the middle of the day.

If you are so busy that you need to work extra hours every single week, it's your CEO's problem.
If not now, then when you crash and burn, and MN advises you take her to an employment tribunal on the grounds of unreasonable workload.
Or do yourself a favour, and take a proper break. I used to be "too busy" to take a lunch break. When I started taking one, I was less stressed - it helped me get work into perspective.

I second what @JFDIYOLO said.

It is a duty of care and HR issue. You are legally required to have a break if you work a full day.

If you eat crunchy or smelly food in a shared space, she may also be gently trying to nudge you away from doing that. A colleague of mine will quite happily graze on carrot sticks and crisps for what seems like hours every afternoon.

I didn’t interpret it the way you did. I realised OP meant she would just be working later if she took her break. It sounds like a very corporate environment and unfortunately workloads are often punishing with routine unpaid overtime the norm. Working lunch means less unpaid overtime at the end of the day.

"If not now, then when you crash and burn, and MN advises you take her to an employment tribunal on the grounds of unreasonable workload."

Some MNers may well advise op to take to a tribunal. Would be a bit embarrassing for op though (and the posters advising it) if she hasn't tried to address the workload issue, if op feels there is one.

Why do you do that? Are you hoping for a big promotion? I can't think of any other reason why someone would give all their time, including lunch breaks, evenings and weekends to some company that likely would forget about you tomorrow. Crazy.
Lunch breaks are so rare in my profession which not surprisingly has a high rate of burnout that job ads actually state protected lunch break as a 'benefit'. Take your lunch fgs, go for a walk, finish work on time and spend your evenings and weekends doing things you enjoy. There is more to life than work.

I think this is about the legal requirement to take an unpaid break. So working through and going home early is not legal.

Where you take your break is less of an issue though.

When working in the office I stay until 5:00-5:30pm. If working from home I would be online until 6:00-6:30pm. I start at 08:30am, so I put in the hours. I am not working through lunch in order to get that time back.

I am not going home early.

It's probably not a taking a break rather than eating in your office that's the issue. Set aside 20mins to eat and browse mumset

Still not legal to work through lunch. Lots of people do but if managers cracked down we’d all have to comply.

I am equally in a job where the work never ends. I could work 80 hours a week and still have stuff on my desk. So I work my hours and do what I reasonably can in those hours.

Occasionally I will stay back late, if it suits me, to try catch up and clear some of what is around my desk. Just to make room for more 🙄

But I don't get any extra thanks, or pay, for it. I don't get a medal at the end of the year for going above and beyond. Work hours are there for a reason. If the work you are being given far exceeds the hours it is possible to do it in then you are being taken advantage of.

If you handed in your notice tomorrow you'd be replaced pretty quickly. And you'd be forgotten about in a matter of weeks.

I would phrase it with your boss as you've explained here.

"It's impossible for me to fit in all my work during my contracted hours. I work through lunch as I can't commit any longer to my working day than I already do. But I agree with you I should take my break away from my desk so will make arrangements to do this. Please be aware this may mean re prioritising a few tasks"

That way you've covered yourself against any comeback but also taken on board what she's said.

This is sheer stupidity.

We all need to remember that we are completely replaceable. All of us.

Work the hours your paid for OP and if the work doesnt get done so be it.

It's a legal requirement that you take a break. It doesn't matter that you're working over your hours. In fact that makes it worse as longer hours would mean you should be taking a longer break.

Take it alone if you want. Go to your car and read or listen to the radio. Eat at your desk but go for a 30 minute walk (I've done that many times). Read in your office. Do a sudoku. Doom scroll on your phone. Listen to a podcast.

Whatever you enjoy doing that isn't work, do that.

Why are you working so many hours above your contract?
Why do you not take a break at lunch? Even to eat and just stop working? You can still sit at the desk if you want but you should actually take a break.

If you burn yourself out your company could get in trouble for allowing you to work so many hours without taking a proper break. And without paying you for those hours.