Comments on: Did you just work through your lunch?

By: sharon lessard

sharon lessard — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:56:47 +0000

massachusetts food service hrs. work,lunch-breakes?
4hr
5hr
6hr

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:12:35 +0000

I work in field service and have been told that I MUST take a one hour lunch,but if I wait too late in the day (after 3 pm) then I can NOT take a lunch, neither can I leave early.

There is also no overtime allowed unless it is preapproved. Bottom line, I work nine hours for eight hours pay.

Essentially another 250 hours a year for no pay and since it would be overtime that’s 7,500.00 which I am shorted due to “lunch” (I haven’t had “lunch” in 15 years)

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:05:40 +0000

Pam illustrates what I’ve experienced in my last job as well as my current job. From my experience of 25 years working in IT, it’s gotten much worse over the past 5 years. The corporate workplace has become a very cruel place indeed. I’m miserable and a feeling of dread has taken over my life. Impossible deadlines, working for free – evenings and weekends.

The unions of yesteryear battled corporate America, and literally paid with blood for a 5 day work week and an 8 hour work day. This is all now a fantasy. I wonder if we should unionize again and fight this madness.

This seems to have made the rich richer and the middle class is now a corporate slave.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:33:13 +0000

I did not get intimidated by it. I did stand up for myself but end up they did not like it, and I’m a bad apple.

The things is that I work 12 hours a day for the last 4 days in a row. I just have to take a lunch break because I could think after all the long hours.

By: amiablehermit

amiablehermit — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:24:14 +0000

The only people who can really do something about this abuse are the workers themselves who are too intimidated to stand up for themselves.

By: Pam

Pam — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:29:27 +0000

I also work through my lunch. No one cares if you work through your lunch as long as every thing gets done. Problem is, sometimes you can’t get everything done, that’s why you are working through your lunch. Even worse, sometimes that isn’t enough. We are ordered not to put extra hours on the clock (I’m management, so I don’t get paid overtime, just straight time for extra hours). I’ve worked off the clock to finish things more than once.

The higher ups will pile on so much work and set unreasonable deadlines. It’s extortion. You’re ordered to get something done or you will be written up, but you’re not allowed to log extra hours because they are trying to look like heroes and save the organization money. So, you’re sitting in an office past 9:00 pm when you should have left hours earlier to finish things by a deadline. And all the time you’re working and not getting paid.

It’s criminal and it is a manipulation that I’m sure many other workers are dealing with, I just wish someone would do something about it. Can you imagine what it would be like for you in your company or organization if you blew the whistle on this kind of thing? You wouldn’t have a job for long, and in this economy you can’t afford to give up a job very easily which is why many people are suffering through this. I’m sure there are labor laws against this kind of treatment. Also, I’ll gladly work 8 hours straight and leave after 8 hours instead of being scheduled for 9 hours to account for a one hour lunch that I rarely get.

By: MrCrowley

MrCrowley — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:14:53 +0000

I worked for a large car rental company for the past several months and ran into the same thing with them. I went to lunch only a handful of times but every day even if i had to work through lunch, i was required to punch out like i had been on a 1 hour lunch.

i had days where i didnt even get to sit down and try to eat something due to how busy we were and the sheer lack of staff employeed at the office. I started looking for another job since i was so sick of working 12 hours shifts with not even 10 minutes to get a break and was fired for looking for another job.

By: AJMD

AJMD — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:15:20 +0000

I catch myself working through lunch sometimes but remember that that is your time to take a break. You need that time to relax, regroup, and think. Go take a walk if necessary it is good for your mental health.

By: CO

CO — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:25:35 +0000

I’m a manager, and I definitely wind up working through my lunch a lot of the time, and I certainly do not enjoy it, but the fact of the matter, for many of us, is that we are overworked and understaffed, especially in this struggling economy.

I could just as well mosey along and take the break that the law says I am entitled to, but at the end of the day if my workload isn’t complete, that’s added stress I don’t want to deal with, or, that is extra time that I must stay late to finish the job anyway.

It’s a difficult situation because my company frowns upon not taking a lunch as well as working “off the clock,” even for those of us who are salaried. Yet, if we cannot complete designated tasks in the allotted time, the company points the finger at us and says it is inefficiency, when it is really just an unrealistic workload.

I don’t agree with this practice nor do I think this is an ideal situation, but I’d rather get my job done, have peace of mind, and not have to deal with the wrath from above, even if it does mean sacrificing lunch breaks and a little personal time!

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:24:32 +0000

I just read an email from an old work associate; I thought she would follow my lead and post this for herself but I had to share this. She said, (and this is a direct copy/paste), “Not only do I work through lunch; I work through dinner too!!” She works the day 12 hour shift 8 a.m. to 8 p.m…

I have had one manager actually throw his hands up in the air in a “Where have you BEEN?” gesture when I took a longer than expected (whatever that time is) restroom break. Most companies don’t care about the grunt-workers, all they want is for their numbers to look right.

Just hard-wire me to the chair and computer, please; and pass me that bag o’ [Integrated] Chips to munch on and I’ll be fine…LOL