Lunch Hour
 

A couple of years ago, when I couldn't find a permanent job, that I wanted, I signed up with various employment agencies and became a temp.

During this period (about 2 years) I worked for several different companies and experienced a selection of terms and conditions.

In my earlier employment, I had been fortunate to work flexible hours, therefore, if I needed a 2 hour lunch, I could make up the time by getting in earlier, or staying later. Also, if the weather was bad and I had nowhere to go, I could take 30mins and save the time for another day.

I personally feel that in order to have a proper break ie time to buy lunch, eat it and digest it and possibly read a magazine or run errands, that the minimum lunch time should be one hour. I know from my experience of temping that this is not offered by many employers, what is your experience and are you happy with your present limits?

Re: Lunch Hour
 

When I retired from the civil service 15 years ago, the rules were that you had to take a break of 30 minutes minimum at lunchtime.
I don't know whether that still applies now.

Re: Lunch Hour
 

The lack of flexi time in companies is where this country still has victorian working conditions. :mad:

I have to take a one hour lunch time, I want half an hour and leave work half an hour earlier to catch an earlier train but they insist on old fashioned methods. strange how the companies who who don't want to be flexible always expect you to be flexible if something goes wrong and they expect you to stay on after the normal finish time.

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My OH who is an electrician only gets half an hour but he's used to it so it doesn't really bother him!

When I used to temp I made sure I always got my hour lunch break, but when I became an Office Manager I was lucky to get 5 mins!

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My official break is 30 minutes but I am lucky to get that long, especially on night shifts when there is nobody to relieve me.

The one thing that does bug me is the 'working lunch'.

This has been adopted by lots of companies and public services (including the NHS).

In my job, I am not paid for lunch break, so the 'working lunch' means that you are doing work, for which you are not getting paid. I now refuse to attend working lunches, in my book, I am either working and getting paid for it or I am on my lunch and not getting paid.. I do quite a lot of unpaid time during the week, going in on days off for various meetings, assessments etc. I'll be damned if they are going to try and take my lunch break too..

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Think yourselves lucky, 20 mins for me.........(officially of course;))

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all my jobs when i was younger were 1 hour dinner breaks but these days most are 30 mins which seems to occur more in bigger companies than smaller ones

one company that i worked for would not let you leave your bench until the buzzer went for lunch but you had to be back at your bench 5 mins before the buzzer went off for you to come back , the job was messy and the factory was huge so when the buzzer went at say 12.00 you had to walk to the toilets to wash your hands then walk all the way back to the exit and it could be as late as 12.10 before you got to the oustide of the building due to ques for washing etc . this left only 15 mins to get your butty from the butty van , eat it ,smoke a ciggy and get back to your bench for 12.25

if you complained you got told that if you dont like it you know where the gate is

they were correct i did know where the gate was and i used it :)

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When I was working lunch break didn't come into it, working on the road, catch a snack when possible, you just worked meals in to your work load. More often than not we would call at Transport cafe and have a full breakfast, which really set you up for the day

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20 mins officially i had fer 23 years, suited me.:)

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I work flexi :D

I have to take a min of 30 mins but could take from 11:30 - 2:30 if I wanted. I have to fit 35 hours in and must be available for meetings between 10am - 11:30 and 2:30 - 4, other than that its up to me

I usually start work at 7-7:15, take 30 mins lunch, finish at 4 but I work a 9 day fortnight so do my 70 hours over 9 days instead of 10 meaning I get a non working day every other week to look after Siobhan/do jobs/relax/etc

Sounds good to me!

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Well done!:)

Unfortunately, too many employers get away with bad practices because workers are in fear of losing their jobs, however bad they are.:mad:

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We start from 7.30am (most come in between 8 and 8.30, except me), and book work for morning or afternoon, work is allocated accordingly, the ones who come in early are able to have an early lunch, if they have no lunch, they finish the day early, so long as the work is done, is up to them!

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Which is how it should be in most businesses. Do you need any IT staff ? :D

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geesh, you know IT covers a multitude of sins :D

Come on, whats your skillset? We are recruiting at my place.

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he can type qwerty realy fast ;)

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How effective can they be if they don't have a lunch break, not to mention such issues as poor eating habits or employment law:eek:

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Excuse me I'm far more multi skilled than that. I know how to change an ink cartridge too :p

Entwisi I'm more MIS than IT but I ddn't want somebody to ask what MIS stands for :D. Mostly application support for accounting systems with some analysis and report writing. I suspect your environment is very techy compared to what I usually do. :)

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heh, yep, rather so based on the conf call I've just come off.... :D

Re: Lunch Hour
 

We're not allowed off site during our lunch breaks so we can't do any shopping or anything, got a canteen so no excuse to go out and buy food, reason for it is we get paid during our breaks and could be needed and expected to work but take lunch early/late, if we really need to go out we can get a pass which has to be handed in with your leaving time and arrival back time, this then gets deducted from your wage, think we get 3 x 25 min breaks a day but usually stretch these to about 45 mins - only work 3 1/3 days a week average over 3 week so plenty of time to do the shopping etc :)
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Re: Lunch Hour
 

When i was working at gordon & brown in 1999 I didn't get a dinner break becouse I was classed as part time I worked from 8am till 2:30pm i was alwod a 10 min break for my breakfast that was it.

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at my last place i started at 8.30am, got 30 mins lunch and finished at 4pm..we were allowed a brew while we gave the kids their snack and could nick a bit of fruit... It nearly killed me, my half hour dinner was spent chain smoking lol

When i worked at holiday club we started at 8 and finished at 5.30, had lunch with the kids and took turns going for a fag lol

Working as a ta was best... i got the same breaks as the kids but was rota'd 2 breaks and a lunchtime on yard duty (always got to go for a fag first tho lol)

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bloody disgusting what employers get away with

because workers are so poorely thought of it gets forgotten that you are been paid to provide a service not to be dictated to and belittled

for every hour they pay you they probably make 10x if not more what they pay you and they also forget that just because they pay your wages they dont actualy own you

i can think of 1 factory that has banned talking or at least did while i was there and the way i see it is what right do they have to enforce that as long as the work gets done

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when i had me own business it was as n when i could fit one in, ya cant say to customers sod off i'm having me lunch.:)

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I have two jobs. I start one at 8.30am and finish at 11.30am...this is only 3 hrs so I don't get a break there.

I arrive at my second job at 11.45am, have 15 mins for my lunch and start work at 12noon.

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I think my team are quite lucky they officially get 1/2 hour but if they want to take longer ie they are meeting friends or need to go somewhere I'm fine with that as long as they don't take the p*** and abuse the situation, which they don't I just feel that if it is too rigid and set in stone than it can cause adverse effects within the office and as we all spend too much time at work as it is we may as well try and make it as pleasant as it can be

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The break on the 5 1/2hr day i work - i get 5 mins for a cig and thats it.

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jen i know the score, but thats unfair.:eek:

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I would ban you from talking as well :rolleyes::p

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We get decent breaks depending on how long your shift is.
If you work between 4 and 5 and a quarter hours you get 15mins,6 hours to 7 and a quarter 30 mins,8 hours you get an hour and 9 or more you get an hour and a half!
If you don't get all your breaks in they will either pay you for them or let you go early.