Employee 4 months into their new job loses 2 days of PTO over an 18 minute lunch break disagreement: '[Boss] told me I took time off on company time and there would be discipline to follow'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jun 12, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Facing punishment for a small indiscretion at work never feels good, even if you have done something technically wrong, it doesn't feel good when the reaction far exceeds the crime. Sure, should you be going 18 minutes over your allotted lunch break just to test the waters, especially only 4 months into a new job? Probably not. However, the punishment needs to match the crime. Taking away their effective ability to earn PTO, which could impact their job and effective earnings for years to come, is a bizarre way to handle what should have been a simple conversation in the first instance. 

This is important because the perks (or lack thereof) of working a role can be just as important as the compensation. Certain benefits and working conditions may lead you to consider roles with lower monetary compensation, and you might consider leaving a job that pays well solely because of the conditions you're working in. Readers of this thread certainly encouraged this employee to quit his job when he was faced with the permanent reduction of two days of PTO accrual a year, all because he was 18 minutes late returning from his lunch break.

See his original account of events below, along with some of the reactions and advice shared by readers.

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  • 01

    "Took too long of a lunch, lost 2 days of PTO"

    I started a new job 4 months ago. I've kept my head down and watched how things work. For 4 months I've eaten at my desk and worked through lunch. While watching everyone else, I noted that most people take a 1-2 hour lunch roughly 3 days a week. They also use the company card from the conversations I've heard. In hindsight most people doing this are in higher positions than me.
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  • 02
    ALLPRESS ALLCRESS
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    Well I finally decided to treat myself and go to lunch one day. Just across the street, by myself, something simple to get out of the office. I was gone from the office in total, for 1 hour and 18 minutes (I checked, as this was my first time doing this I wanted to feel it out) When I returned my superior asked me where I had been for so long and seemed irritated but not mad. Well, a few hours later he called me into his office and told me I took time off on company time and there would be disci
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  • 04
    Fast forward to this morning, I received an email that I will be losing 2 days of PTO. This job has a probationary period where I can't take time off for the first year anyways. Once I can, I get 5 days of PTO for the first 10 years, 10 days PTO after that. They let me know the first PTO day being deducted is to recoup the time the company lost on me, the second day is a disciplinary measure. They will be deducted starting next year, meaning for the next two years I only have 3 days of PTO.
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  • 05
    I suppose I'm just venting cus there's probably nothing I can do about this. Edit: for everyone telling me to clarify my allotted lunch time, I have. I asked for it when I started and after the disciplinary incident I asked profusely, as I just wanted a guideline or rule so I knew what to do.
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  • 06
    Their answer was that there is no specific lunch break time. It's based on the needs of the team that day. Which explains why some days the higher ups take 2 hour lunches, and apparently the team needed me the day I took my first lunch and I was gone for too long causing others to pick up my slack. Edit #2: since it's a common question, I make 80k at this job. I am a civil engineer with a masters in concrete engineering, a very specific and niche degree. After the one year probation. period I ha
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  • 07
    EditorNo2545 · 9h ago • let me get this straight - in order to "recoup" 18 minutes of "lost time" they are deducting a DAY of pto? Then fining an additional to discipline you? fuuu..... not gonna lie, if at all possible I would be looking for new employment because that on top of what you're getting for pto is not acceptable. I'm guessing you work in america though?
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  • 08
    • No_Signal5448 · 9h ago Respond with your resignation notice. That PTO rate is abysmal, and this reactions is blatantly predatory. 48 minutes of lost time does not magically cost the company 16 hours of productivity. This company will bend you over and f you in the a, and they clearly are making no attempt to hide it.
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  • 09
    Kamel-Red · 9h ago No more working thru lunch. Take your allotted time. Cue malicious compliance.
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  • 10
    kidsally 8h ago • "Once I can, I get 5 days of PTO for the first 10 years, 10 days PTO after that." Why would you even want to work there? F that noise.
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  • 11
    thorkun 9h ago Wait what, you get NO time off the first YEAR? And you want to work there? What a weird punishment btw, it only affects you if you work more than a year.
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  • 12
    Choles2rol · 8h ago What field do you work in where the first year without PTO is normal? I'm a bit baffled by how bad their benefits are.
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