A boss has been slammed after enforcing a ‘bizarre’ lunch break rule with his employees – but many think it’s ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’.
British career expert Ben Askins shared text messages between an employee and his boss discussing a lunchtime faux pas.
‘Where are you? Why aren’t you at your desk?’ the boss demanded.
The employee was concerned and said: ‘I’m just out grabbing some lunch, what’s wrong?’
‘Lunch is from 12 until 1,’ the boss said. ‘It is nearly ten past and I need to speak to you about this [document] you sent.’
The employee explained: ‘It’s been a busy morning and I wasn’t able to get away until about half 12. I’m on my way back to the office now and will be back in a few minutes.’
‘Okay, I know you are new here, but the reason we have a set lunch time is so that when we need each other, we can get a hold of them quickly,’ the boss wrote back.
Mr Askins said: ‘A set lunchtime is pathetic. You’re not children. Just say you’re allowed to take an hour for lunch – take it when you want.’
A boss has been slammed after enforcing a ‘bizarre’ lunch break rule with his employees
He added, ‘Most people will roughly have it between 12 and 1 – but it doesn’t matter if you have to work late and take it a bit later.
‘Otherwise, people will just stop working on the stuff they’re already working on.
‘You’re going to damage your business in the long run if you make these childish rules.’
The employee apologised for not knowing about the rule and promised to be back soon.
While the boss said it was ‘all good’ – he asked the employee to ‘make sure it doesn’t happen again’.
‘Gotcha, will do. Do you still need my help when I get back?’ the employee asked, to which the boss replied: ‘No don’t worry, I figured it out.’
Mr Askins also said it was ‘annoying’ that the duo went through ‘all that’ just for the boss to claim he figured out the issue himself.
Many sided with the boss.
‘It’s not pathetic, it’s necessary. If there is no set lunch then people can come and go as they please. Needing structure is a must in any functioning business,’ one said.
‘I’ve never worked anywhere that didn’t have a set lunch time,’ another revealed.
‘I thought the manager was understanding and fair,’ a third said.
But a few others slammed the ‘unreasonable’ policy.
‘I had a set lunch at a call centre with 12-hour shifts. I got in trouble for starting my break late so I started hanging up on customers on the dot and got in trouble for that,’ a man shared.
‘Set lunches only work when tasks are of a guaranteed length so you can know not to start it too close to lunch – or can be interrupted and resumed. Factories can do that, but office jobs often can’t,’ a worker pointed out.
Another said, ‘Why do some managers act as if the world will end if a task isn’t done immediately?’
