'No late lunches, no exceptions': Worker reprimanded for taking late lunches to help the business, makes them regret it

Advertisement
  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/stress8all 15 hours ago No late lunches, no exceptions. S OC I work a field services job where faults are called in and are attended to within a few hours. Lots of driving, very unpredictable workloads with "while you're here" faults. Some venues can have as many as 300 machines, so it's not uncommon to have 3-10 extras mentioned on top of the original issue. Usually we would just fix them and not bother wasting the time having a call raised, processing it through our job syst
  • 02
    Font - I got into the habit of picking up enough work at once that I could reasonably expect to run out of work with 1-2 hours left at the end of my day. If anything went wrong, I'd have a buffer to get the work done by end of day, even if it meant skipping my lunch break. Typically I'd be taking my lunch break around 2-2:30pm for half an hour, on a 4pm finish, if nothing went wrong.
  • 03
    Font - I got rebuked for taking lunch too late. Explaining the rationale didn't help, policy is policy. So now, I take one job at a time instead of taking multiple logical jobs that minimise time spent travelling. I raise a call for every single extra job, even if it's a one minute fix. I down tools and take my lunch break exactly halfway through my shift, no matter what I'm in the middle of. This is likely going to result in venues unable to trade for 30 minutes longer in some cases.
  • 04
    Font - The end result is that I have no stress on me because I only ever have a single job behind me. I'll never get caught at the end of the day with work left undone. I waste more time raising new jobs, reducing the actual number of fixes I get done each day, but my stats will look like they've doubled. And of course, my meal breaks are exactly how they asked them to be. I'm happier through the course of my day than I've been in a long time.
  • 05
    Font - Edit: For clarity, I do not work in the US. Breaks are legally required after working 4 hours, but are not required to be taken at that time. The timing of the break is only limited in that it must not be taken within one hour of the end of the shift, so as long as it's finished by 3pm on a shift finishing at 4pm, there is no legal issue.
  • 06
    Font - Panne-n-koek 13 hr. ago Isn't this delicious compliance? On account of the timely lunch break Vote MeButNot MeToo 11 hr. ago Depends on what OP brings for lunch. Vote Reply Share Vote Reply Share Talmaska +1.7 hr. ago A toasted meat-loaf sandwich with thinly sliced onion and 4 year old cheddar cheese. Digion mustard & a little bit of horse radish...perfection. : Reply Share
  • 07
    Font - geon +1 14 hr. ago This is not malicious. You are happier and stress free. Sounds like that's exactly what the employer wanted. Vote Reply Share Comprehensive-Ice770. 13 hr. ago I wanted to say this too, an employer that prioritises policy and employees rights to breaks is a good employer, even if the level of productivity/jobs done slows. Vote Reply Share
  • 08
    Font - +1.14 hr. ago This is one of those rare cases where I have to back the employer. I'm guessing that a 4PM finish means a 730AM start. If you are FLSA non-exempt, then the latest they can legally give you your lunch would be 130PM (6 hours from start of shift). They aren't being petty, they're trying to follow the law. Metraxis Vote Reply Share :
  • 09
    Font - stress8all OP 14 hr. ago Fortunately I don't live in the US, so this doesn't apply. Our Labor laws in my state require breaks after certain time periods worked, but the only stipulation about the time it is to be taken is that it cannot be taken within 1 hour of the end of the shift. Which means as long as the break ends by 3pm on a 4pm finish, there is no breach. Vote Reply Share
  • 10
    Font - zork3001 +1. 12 hr. ago The stats are what managers get graded on. So your productivity metric increased making you and management look better. That's a win-win. Vote Reply Share
  • 11
    Font - Paul Michaels 73 +1. 13 hr. ago Good for you, dude. Vote Reply Share

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article