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To be fair, how would you ensure that people consumed a meal worthy of being called "lunch" at a certain time of the day, for which they were not being paid? Surely you couldn't force them to eat, could you? Would you prevent them from eating between arrival and "lunch" in order to make sure their appetites were sufficient to consume enough food at "lunch"?
I think eating is only part of it. It does a person good to take a mental break. The rule is not followed, but it is a written rule that we can not eat lunch at our desks. I requested to take half hour lunches and get off a half hour earlier, and was told to make it the exception not the rule because my supervisor thinks people need that break.
I'm not in healthcare, I'm in an office. Are salaried people really able to get away with leaving an hour early if they skip lunch?
I'm with the poster who talked about those who sit at their desk and peck away. I never allow myself more than ten minutes to eat lunch, because I feel like I'm robbing the company if I take longer.
I'm in a corporate healthcare setting. Salaried people at my employer have the flexibility to come & go, as long as the production expectations are met. Technically, we can't leave early because we skipped lunch, but we can leave early if they have a personal appointment, and we are not required to give the reason.
"Rob the company"?? Seriously? I've never thought that way, as I'm the type that gives 110%, but once it starts affecting my health, and thus my job, I back down. My company "talks" about work life balance, although they don't always reflect it in their culture and expectations. I believe it's my responsibility to make sure that happens by managing my workload & setting boundaries.
Are salaried people really able to get away with leaving an hour early if they skip lunch?
I can "get away" with anything ... with my supervisor's permission.
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I'm with the poster who talked about those who sit at their desk and peck away. I never allow myself more than ten minutes to eat lunch, because I feel like I'm robbing the company if I take longer.
Good grief. No wonder U.S. workers are expected to work longer and longer hours when mindless drone attitudes like this exist.
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Originally Posted by coop_x
If employees are expected to work for eight hours between 8:30 and 5:30, then they should stay until the close of business, which is 5:30! It doesn't matter if they skip their lunch break - they need to be there until 5:30.
Then they'd be there for nine hours. Do the math. Does the policy specify which eight hours the employees need to work? Because working from 8:30 to 4:30 without a break is ... wait for it ... eight hours! What do you know about that ...
The only people who would complain about this either have no life outside of work, or perhaps asked the boss for permission to leave early and the boss said no.
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Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan
Giving employees a little bit of flexibility in the timing of their work day is a very cheap, perhaps even free, way for many employers to improve employee morale.
I don't care if you don't want to take the hour for lunch you are given, you work until 5:30, unless you have an appointment and truly need to leave. Leaving an hour early everyday just because you sat at your desk while you ate lunch? Makes my head spin how entitled people are these days.
I don't understand how that qualifies as "entitled". That statement sounds somewhat entitled, to be honest. Expecting people to stay an extra hour because your interpretation of the official policy differs from theirs, is just dumb.
In the military, there is a well-understood, but seldom-verbalized aphorism:
For enlisted men, anything which is not specifically authorized is forbidden; for officers, anything which is not specifically forbidden is permissible.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always find a parallel within the cronyism/nepotism, office politics and senseless conformity of the corporate jungle. and it has been pushed to new limits by those seeking to suck, rather than work their way to the top, and who would rather supervise other peoples' efforts than contribute a few of their own.
This unfortunate situation can be attributed to a number of factors, the increasing diversity of the workforce -- gender likely being the largest single contributor, the demise of organized labor as a stabilizing factor, and the breakdown of nationally-based standards in a globalizing economy. The goal today too often is not to get a more-satisfying role, but to avoid the really-dirty part of the task at hand.
But nature abhors a vacuum, and if the excesses of the most mercenary managers are not addressed and remedied by those directly responsible, the day might come when the worst abuses will be addressed from outside, with all the potential for waste and short-sight common to any bureaucracy.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-27-2014 at 05:59 PM..
Anyone else encountered employees (salaried) who work 8:30 to 5:30 shifts (pretty normal hours, imo) and who feel like, if they skip the lunch break they are given, they can just leave at 4:30? Business hours are from 8:30 to 5:30 - you'd better be there at the start and close of the day. I don't care if you don't want to take the hour for lunch you are given, you work until 5:30, unless you have an appointment and truly need to leave. Leaving an hour early everyday just because you sat at your desk while you ate lunch? Makes my head spin how entitled people are these days.
Our Company (a large fortune 500) has a flexible policy which allows people to set up their own starting and stopping time as long as his/her immediate supervisor is informed and agreed. The only stipulation is that all employees must be at work during the core hours which is from 8AM to 4PM. Our official starting time is 7:30 AM and quitting time is at 4:30 PM with 1 hour lunch. Technically, I could come to work at 8:00 AM, skip luch, and leave work 4:00PM. Some people in our team would prefer 30 minutes lunch and leave work 30 minutes earlier. Contrary to your believe, it has been proven to be a very productive practice.
You are griping about people going to the restroom 2-3 times a day? Most normal people pee 4-8 times a day. You would not like to work with me. I drink water ALL day and I am constantly running to the ladies room. LOL.
If someone wants to take a shorter lunch so they can get off early, who are you to judge? SMH. I wish people could just go to work and mind their own business. More work would get done if people would focus on their own jobs instead of being worried about what everyone else is doing.
This really is industry specific. I work in corporate finance and we have times (month end) where we are so busy that we skip lunch so that we can leave by at least 8PM. Other times we have so much downtime that we're.....well on these boards arguing politics and religion :P
I work in corporate health care and we are allowed to skip the hour lunch and get off "early." One chick works 5:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. every single day. Well, I use that word "work" loosely...
If someone wants to take a shorter lunch so they can get off early, who are you to judge? SMH. I wish people could just go to work and mind their own business. More work would get done if people would focus on their own jobs instead of being worried about what everyone else is doing.
Get a life, dude.
I worry about what others are doing because I believe in fairness. If I work my ass off and meet my deadlines consistently and do my work with pride, I'd expect others who are getting paid the same as me to do the same. If they aren't then something needs to be done about them. That's B.S.!!!!!
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Does the policy specify which eight hours the employees need to work? Because working from 8:30 to 4:30 without a break is ... wait for it ... eight hours! What do you know about that ... 
