'Don’t be that coworker that works through their lunch break': Employees discuss whether if it's okay or not to spend your lunch break working

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Sep 22, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Being THAT coworker may be ruining your work life.

It's complicated to say what is a good action as an employee and what isn't. Some things are quite obvious, of course, like, for example, not sleeping on the job. But not everything about being a good employee is specifically clear. When we talk about breaks, for example, it seems as if the best employees do not take them. They work through them as if they were machines that never needed a rest. But your contract says that you are entitled to them to eat and to take a coffee break, for example. So isn't it not taking them going against what the company wants you to do? Or maybe it's the subtext of everything. They tell you you have a break that you get to enjoy however you want, when, in reality, it's preferable for you to not take them… I don't really know. 

In my opinion, about this whole thread of discourse, is that if you have a break, take it. Nothing is THAT important that you can´t even stop to get a cup of coffee or to eat your salad. You don't have to be eating at your desk --which, by the way, is actually annoying for other coworkers, as they have to smell your food when working. You have a designated space to eat. Use it! It's important that you don't burn out, and the way to avoid it is to take time to rest your mind from your work problems for at least a second. Nothing is so important that you can´t move for 9 hours. You aren´t a general surgeon who is doing an open-heart procedure. You are a person working on a laptop in a spreadsheet. You can take your lunch break where you are supposed to, the office kitchen, when you are supposed to, during your lunch break, and avoid ruining the work computer with tomato sauce. So maybe don't be THAT coworker, and just take a moment to stop your mind from overthinking. After all, it's just a job.

Advertisement

  • Don’t be that coworker that works through their lunch breaks

    It is never that serious, eat your d lunch son in
    via FindYourPants
  • An employee working on his computer while eating lunch. Representation only.
    via Tommy Texter

    An employee working on his computer while eating lunch.

    Representation only.

  • Jandur Who cares? I sit and eat at my desk. I don't need or want a proper 1 hour solitary break.
    via FindYourPants
  • fjaoaoaoao Be that coworker if you want to be. Just don't put others down in the process.
    via FindYourPants
  • Far-prophet I'm a field service tech. I don't take a lunch most days
    via FindYourPants
  • falconfoxbear I'm salaried, it doesn't matter. If I work through lunch I get to go home earlier. Plus my coworkers and I are all doing our own thing in the field and don't meet up after morning huddle. Every job is different
    via FindYourPants
  • WoWMHC I eat at my desk so that I can leave early.
    via FindYourPants
  • sus_finder13 I work through it if I get paid for it. But other than that you can best believe I take my lunch break.
    via FindYourPants
  • 666_pack_of_beer Thats the kind of thing that used to get a hole drilled in your toolbox and a gallon of oil dumped in it.
    via FindYourPants
  • BringMeBurnt Bread I agree. Last job I worked, we had paid lunch breaks. You're scheduled for an 8 hour shift, but 1 hour of that time is a lunch break that you get paid for. Whether you took the break or not, you're still leaving at the same time. So there was literally no reason not to take that break. That was how it worked at that job. Yet, there was still this one coworker I had who just didn't take the break for some reason. She'd just go "Oh, I
    via FindYourPants
  • wasn't hungry." And I'm like, you can at least just sit down in the break room and relax for an hour. Like all she's doing is working herself harder for absolutely no reason. If the company pays you to take a break, take your break. And no, the company never rewarded her for that. She didn't get promotions, raises, or anything for refusing to take her break and insisting on working more.
    via FindYourPants
  • An office space, empty.
    via kate.sade

    An office space, empty. 

  • Competitive_Unit_721 I don't take a lunch break. I leave an hour earlier than I could if I did. I will continue this. Thank you. If others want to take an hour of unpaid time in the middle of the day and work til 5 while I'm off at 4, I mind my business about it.
    via FindYourPants
  • SomeSamples If I work through my lunch break | take time to myself later in the day. Some jobs you just can't do that though. But if you can, do it.
    via FindYourPants
  • Jubainde working through lunch break sets an unhealthy expectation and gives the company free labor. stepping away protects your mental boundary and keeps management from making unpaid overtime the default standard.
    via FindYourPants
  • Overall_Head_7782 I choose to work through lunch for two reasons: 1. I don't eat lunch 2. I don't socialize I am salary and leave when work is done.
    via FindYourPants
  • Always_Compete I work through lunch so I can leave earlier, I have no interest in sitting in a lunch room for 45 min with my coworkers to take a break from work to talk more work. Management knowing I work through lunch frees me up to leave when I want, take breaks during the day when I want and makes it hard for them to micromanage my hours
    via FindYourPants

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

chronically online lunch break job office life discourse
Scroll Down For The Next Article