Manager schedules daily check-ins during employee's lunch break, employee insists on cooking during the meeting anyway: 'I made a full grilled cheese on my little desk griddle'

This manager was unwilling to respect his employee's designated lunch breaks, so in return, this employee was unwilling to wait until after their meeting to eat.

Many of us have worked in environments where the sometimes unspoken rule is the pressure to stay at one's desk and work through lunch hours. Oftentimes, new hires will take notes from their superiors. If they see that the folks on the team rarely take the lunch break that they're very much entitled to take, then the cycle will likely continue until someone challenges it.

This worker shared his story about what happened when his manager decided to reschedule their daily check-in meetings to take place right at 12:00 pm. Despite numerous attempts to subtly imply that this was not an ideal for him, as the employee was someone who valued his lunch breaks, his manager would not budge. So, the employee decided that he would comply and attend these meetings, but he wasn't exactly going to follow classic meeting decorum.

Instead, he decided to use this time to cook elaborate and sometimes very noisy lunch while remaining unmuted during these meetings. First, it was ramen. Then, it was a salad that required a ton of chopping (yes, he chose this recipe specifically because of the number of vegetables he would need to chop). Finally, he decided to cook a full-on grilled cheese with a small griddle he was gifted by his spouse. His manager wasn't very happy with this, but at the end of the day, he had no one to blame but himself.

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A remote employee eats lunch during a Zoom meeting.
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A remote employee stands from his desk to refill his drink while eating lunch during a Zoom meeting.
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If this manager could not see the value and importance of allowing employees to utilize their lunch hours, then he doesn't deserve their undivided attention during those 12:00 pm meetings. I don't care where you work. Employees need breaks to recharge and regroup. Otherwise, morale will decline, as will the quality of the work itself.
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A remote employee works on his laptop while no longer having to meet with his manager during lunchtime.
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