Was I unreasonable to go to Pilates in the middle of the day? Feel sick....

[SisterJude7]

I work from home and am allocated 30 minutes for lunch. I am chronically underpaid for my level of seniority (I manage a small team). In my view, it is inhumane to expect human beings to only take a mere 30 minutes to recuperate, although many of my colleagues relish missing their lunch breaks and wear their lack of lunch as a badge of honour. I admittedly sometimes go for a run, attend a gym class or run some errands before school pick up which is beneficial for my own wellbeing. No issues with my performance, I work my hours and I have finished late on numerous occasions anyway. The daytime classes tend to be cheaper and use less of my Class Pass points and besides, I have zero time in the evening.

Anyway, on Friday, I attended a 50 minute Pilates class. I don't usually pay much attention to the other attendees, but during the warm-up, I was absolutely blindsided to see a director on the carriage opposite (she has Fridays off). My stomach absolutely dropped-she definitely clocked me and looked stony-faced but briefly nodded. To make matters worse, the shock went straight to my bowels, so I needed to dash to the loo 😭😭. I had no choice but to complete the class which felt like the longest 50 minutes of my life with a churning stomach. She scuttled out at the end of the class.

Do you think I will be in trouble? I have spent all weekend ruminating. I don't want recent minor transgressions to be put under the microscope- I've been spoken to informally about my dogs barking in a client meeting and once I also forgot a teams meeting and popped to the supermarket. I don't want to be forced to go back to the London office as my dogs have separation anxiety and I need to be around to pick up my DCs. Should I say something and get in there first? My DH thinks I am overreacting, it will be fine and that I should just buy a mouse jiggler from Amazon which I don't agree with.

Yeah a thirty min lunch and you were gone for a good hour and 15 to an hour and a half, and have other issues where you’ve been in the skive,

no one can guess if she will act, but you’ve been caught red handed.

Managing several direct lines doesn’t automatically mean seniority, if the op is low paid and only gets thirty mins for lunch it is possibly call centre or admin, customer service type work.

Hence the qualifying statement "If stakeholder service expectations are met"

If that was the way she worked she’d not have 30 mins for lunch, I am Senior, I can take as long as I wish foe lunch when I wish, what the op is posting is very different,

Assuming that there are not duties assigned to OP such as covering phones, or immediate responses, I don't see what difference it makes. Assuming OP's lunch isn't jeopardising a service level agreement, I don't see what the problem is.

I am glad your seniority affords you the privilege to manage your time, but in the presumed absence of a business reason (other than hierarchical nonsense - must keep those junior admin lot in check!) I don't see why you'd be unhappy to extend this to OP.

"what kind of jobsworth cares if she took an hour and 10 for her lunch?"

Umm, her Director who was at the same class on their off day 🙄

Yes, I suppose we'll find out if said director is a jobsworth or not. If they make a fuss over this OP, find an employer more worthy of your services.

So anyway OP have you been pulled up on it yet? [or was this a huge rage bait piece for an upcoming Daily Mail article?]

What 'services'? She spends most her day at the supermarket, gym classes and the school run 😆

"I work my hours and I have finished late on numerous occasions"

Assuming she is telling the truth with this direct quote, I don't think she is doing anything wrong.

Who the director that doesn’t work on Fridays who was at Pilates on a Friday?

Thanks.

I'd be irritated by dogs barking but don't your computers have noise suppression?

I was having a call with a colleague today who apologised for building work and I couldn't hear it! And that's not the first time, a colleague was working from her parents over the summer and they were having some work done too which I couldn't hear.

And on another note, if your colleague can take an extended lunch break to go to Pilates, why can't you? Or does the 30 minute lunch not apply to her? Edited: I hadn't realised it was her day off. But then how did she know you were supposed to be working that day? I don't know the ins and outs of my colleague's contracts.

What oart of it was her day off was confusing,?

Guys, I don't want to speak too soon but I THINK I've got away with it 🥳! Nobody has said a word. I do have a 1 to 1 booked in 2 weeks, but I'm 99% sure they would have pulled me up straight away. I am going to be super careful from now on. I work my absolute arse off for a pittance really and yes, I do sometimes fit in an errand/supermarket/workout in the day, but does it truly matter if my work is completed to a high standard? I can barely finish a coffee in 30 minutes, let alone fully recuperate. In France it is a legal requirement to have at least an hour for a meal break.

Phew 😆 now just keep a low profile for a while, and don’t push your luck!

By doing the job and hours they are paid to do you mean?

Or just being more careful?

OP I hope you reflect on this and realise how out of order you are to take the piss. Do you really want to lose a good job that allows you flexibility by taking too much.

So ask to adjust your working day to accomodate an hours break…

In the UK its something like 20 mins for 6 hours worked or something as a minimum, that's the only legal requirement. All my jobs which are 8 hour days have had an hour, are you doing an 8 hour work day?

"Fully recuperate" 😂😂😂

In many MATS schools we also only have 30 mins, which is a complete farce to go to the loo, eat, students and colleagues wanting to speak to you 'for a minute'.

Theoretically and fairly the same should apply when wfh, especially as you're near your kitchen/bathroom/that time is just for yourself.

You've said many take liberties but you were caught out, it doesn't justify it. You should seek out this person, explain and hope it doesn't lead to anything more serious. (Could they also have been doing the same thing?)

You've learnt a lesson, we all make mistakes, but this is the reason wfh has been getting such a bad rep. Hope you can resolve it and value the advantages you have.

The way id deal with this is, at your 1:1, ask if its ok to take 1 hour 15 mins on a Friday to attend the class. Say youll log in 25 mins earlier & stay on 25 mins after hours to make up the time. Deal with it head on or you may bump into this person at pilates again who could report you next time. Surely your boss will say its ok? Just make a point of emailing during those extra times so you can prove you were online!!! 😂

If you want a longer lunch break, put in a flexible working request to either start or finish later and have 1 or 1.5 hours at lunch?

What are you recuperating FROM? It sounds like an admin job

Still super curious about the fact the office is in London, where you apparently don't live, and the director is so very local to you. Such a massive coincidence, isn't it?