How long is your lunch break?

[AnnO'Neemus]

I've been offered an office job and I accepted, and I accepted the salary offered, (£1k less than my last job), having been told that the working hours were 9.00-5.30, which I assumed to mean 37.5 hours a week.

However, I've received the offer letter, and found out that there's only half an hour lunch break. My last job only had half an hour lunch break, but that was working in retail, and was a total piss-take, it was supposed to be 40 hours a week, but ended up closer to 45 hours a week and I wasn't paid for the overtime, which mounted up over the course of the three months I did that job.

The job I had last year was in a call centre and was only a half hour break too.

Before these last three jobs, I've never before - in more than three decades of working! - had an office job that doesn't have an hour long lunch break. Well, that's not strictly true, I did do an internship in France years ago where we had a very civilised two hour lunch break. So I've never had less than an hour's lunch break while working in an office, apart from in the last 2-3 years. Each time I thought it was an anomaly.

While it might seem churlish to quibble over 30 minutes a day, I think that's not the point. The point is that over the course of a year, to my mind, working that extra 2.5 hours a week, over the course of a year equates to a big difference; it's like working 3+ weeks for free.

It really irks that employers can't/won't be transparent and upfront about the terms and conditions. It's like they lure you in, get you interested, then you find out that you're being low-balled in the pay negotiations * plus * the hours are longer than expected.

The hourly rate will be less than I was earning doing legal secretarial work in the 1990s. I am really, really lucky that my housing costs are very low.

But the other issue with breaking it down into an hourly rate is that if I work 40 hours a week, my hourly rate is below the Living Wage Foundation's real living wage, whereas if I work 37.5 hours a week, it's above.

(I used to have to some decent well-paid jobs, but my mental health took a massive hit and I ended up suffering from Complex PTSD due to antisocial behaviour and harassment from neighbours that had an adverse impact on my health and ability to work. I'm reluctant to continue working for poverty pay.)

I was excited about getting a new job, but now I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth and thinking they're yet another company that doesn't respect work:life balance, just wants to exploit people.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

That's really unusual, AnnO'Neemus . I thought 1 hour for lunch was absolutely standard for office jobs. Is it a very small company?

It's a red flag for sure.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

That's really unusual, AnnO'Neemus . I thought 1 hour for lunch was absolutely standard for office jobs. Is it a very small company?

It's a red flag for sure.

Yes, it's a very small company.

And yes, that's what I fear. It doesn't bode well. My heart sank.

 

[[62]]

Mix of home and office working for us and you can take as long as you like for lunch (we have flexitime), but has to be minimum of half an hour.

 

[Looby]

That's really unusual, AnnO'Neemus . I thought 1 hour for lunch was absolutely standard for office jobs. Is it a very small company?

It's a red flag for sure.

Not at all in my experience. I can only think of two jobs where it was an hour as standard including civil service where it was 30 mins but we could take longer as flexi time.
I’ve done admin, sales, civil service, social care, charity sector.

LA and NHS both 30 mins too. Not office jobs exactly but sort of office based if that makes sense.

 

[Looby]

It’s important to ask this stuff at interview. It’s not just them deciding if you’re suitable, you’re sussing them out too so you know all this before you start. Hours, pay, training, other policies like sick pay.

If there’s anything else you need to know ask now before you start and decide if you still want the job.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

It’s important to ask this stuff at interview. It’s not just them deciding if you’re suitable, you’re sussing them out too so you know all this before you start. Hours, pay, training, other policies like sick pay.

If there’s anything else you need to know ask now before you start and decide if you still want the job.

Yes, lesson definitely learned now.

Although one of the standard tips about interviews is not to ask about how many holidays you get, so as not to seem so keen on holiday, lest they think you're a slacker who's only interested in paid holidays.

And I wonder if questions about breaks might also come across as being a bit workshy?

I should definitely have checked before verbally accepting the verbal offer that was made to me at the end of the interview.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Not at all in my experience. I can only think of two jobs where it was an hour as standard including civil service where it was 30 mins but we could take longer as flexi time.
I’ve done admin, sales, civil service, social care, charity sector.

LA and NHS both 30 mins too. Not office jobs exactly but sort of office based if that makes sense.

Wow, that's interesting. I temped for a health authority years ago, so classed as civil service, I think, and had an hour for lunch. The weird thing about that job was that you couldn't get a cup of tea or coffee whenever you wanted. The boss was ex-military and seemed to think he was still in charge of a regiment or something. There was a 10-minute tea break in the morning and one in the afternoon, all at the same time. No deviations.

And I also temped as a medical secretary at a local hospital for 2-3 months and had a lunch hour there too, so I thought that was fairly standard. Although, of course, I'm aware that staff working on the front line in the NHS can often barely find time to pee or have a cup of tea, let alone a bite to eat.

 

[rubbershoes]

Yes, lesson definitely learned now.

Although one of the standard tips about interviews is not to ask about how many holidays you get, so as not to seem so keen on holiday, lest they think you're a slacker who's only interested in paid holidays.

I interviewed someone once who's two questions were how much holiday you got and how much time you could take off sick.

They didn't get the job

 

[Elpenor]

Contract vs what you can do are two separate things, worth checking with your line manager

I have flexi time like @[62] and take between 30 minutes and two hours depending on what I have planned, for example sometimes I do stuff in the garden at lunchtime while I still have some energy

 

[iveivan]

Where I work, it’s fairly flexible. There are no set break times and I don‘t really take a lunch break (just 5 mins to get a takeaway from the canteen). I almost always work more than the contracted hours in a week. I do go to the in-office gym in the morning when I’m in the office and not working from home. Others may go to the gym at lunchtime, have lunch in the canteen but start earlier or stay later. Most people aren’t gymgoers though.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

I interviewed someone once who's two questions were how much holiday you got and how much time you could take off sick.

They didn't get the job

Yeah, that didn't bode well either!

 

[kalidarkone]

I get an hours break within a 12.5 hour shift, split into two half hours. I get paid for 11.5 hours. So it's an unpaid break or 45 minutes of it is unpaid.

 

[Elpenor]

I interviewed someone once who's two questions were how much holiday you got and how much time you could take off sick.

They didn't get the job

The way to ask this question is to ask about the various non salary benefits on offer or to ask a general question such as what is it like working there, what keeps them working there etc, why do they like it etc tends to get the answer I find

 

[moomoo]

I work in retail and get half an hour break but it’s not policed so some days I may have 15 mins, some days I don’t get a break and some days if I want another cuppa later in the day then I’ll have one.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I interviewed someone once who's two questions were how much holiday you got and how much time you could take off sick.

They didn't get the job

Yeah, fuck hiring people who know their rights that's what I always say.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Yes, lesson definitely learned now.

Although one of the standard tips about interviews is not to ask about how many holidays you get, so as not to seem so keen on holiday, lest they think you're a slacker who's only interested in paid holidays.

And I wonder if questions about breaks might also come across as being a bit workshy?

I should definitely have checked before verbally accepting the verbal offer that was made to me at the end of the interview.

I agree about not asking about holidays, sickness and working hours at interviews. That's what I've always been told, and it would worry me if someone I was interviewing did that. But when the job has been offered, then you can go ahead and clarify those points before you accept.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Yeah, fuck hiring people who know their rights that's what I always say.

Of course you should know your rights, but if you immediately start asking about holiday and sickness entitlement at the initial interview, you probably won't get very far.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Good questions to ask in interview:

Do your boots taste as yummy as they look?

 

[Silas Loom]

Unless you are in a position where someone is rostered to relieve you at lunch, permissible break times are usually a matter of cultural norms and unwritten expectations rather than the letter of the contract.

I appreciate that these can be more challenging to follow than written rules for a lot of people, particularly the neurodiverse, and a work around might be to ask a friendly colleague who seems to be in good standing to explain how they treat break times, then follow those as rules for the first few weeks.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Contract vs what you can do are two separate things, worth checking with your line manager

I have flexi time like @[62] and take between 30 minutes and two hours depending on what I have planned, for example sometimes I do stuff in the garden at lunchtime while I still have some energy

That would be ideal. There's the option to do hybrid working, wfh two days a week after completing the probationary period, so maybe it might be possible then.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will be possible generally as it's not like some businesses where there's an early shift and a late shift, there's standard hours, and I assume the building and secure compound will be locked outwith those hours.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Unless you are in a position where someone is rostered to relieve you at lunch, permissible break times are usually a matter of cultural norms and unwritten expectations rather than the letter of the contract.

Possibly because people are too scared to ask about their basic rights at interview thanks to a pervasive culture of bootlicking.

 

[klang]

people wth health problems and child care duties should def enquire about their leave and sickness entitlement, the sooner the better.

everyone should, really.

 

[klang]

if employers find it difficult to face these kind of questions they should be more pro-active and inform potential employees about their rights and duties before it the topic gets a bit awkward.

 

[SpookyFrank]

if employers find it difficult to face these kind of questions they should not be employing people.

Cfy

 

[marty21]

It's flexible in local government, you could take 2 hours and make the hours up later . Most people take 45 minutes or so.

 

[dessiato]

I get 24 hours a day for lunch. It’s one of the very few advantages of not working.

When I was working I usually worked in the afternoons so had lunch before work, when I had to go in in the mornings I had 2 hours for lunch, the advantage of living and working in Spain.

 

[klang]

Cfy

i manage a team and have interviewed / employed plenty of people, and of course I inform them of policies directly affecting their employment. I would never not employ a person because they want to know what's going on.
I'd be ashamed if I'd 'forget' about such an important part and would leave it to the more vulnerable person to bring up the 'awkward'.

 

[Silas Loom]

Possibly because people are too scared to ask about their basic rights at interview thanks to a pervasive culture of bootlicking.

Very few relationships in life come down to contracts or legal rights. Those are only in place as a failsafe when the normal processes of give and take and implicit bargaining break down. Employment is generally a friendlier and more accommodating relationship than you pretend.

 

[klang]

'sorry, I'm just wondering if I get enough consecutive days off for school holidays because on my salary I'd find it hard to cover for child care, and I whether I need a docs certificate every single time I'm recovering from a bad asthma attack?'
'get the fuck out, you lazy bastard!'