Work issue, lunch breaks, would you be annoyed?

Imagine getting a price from a local builder to do your new extension, only to find the trades all have lunch at different times so the electrician had to wait for the joiner to come back from the local swimming pool before the walls go up and the sockets can go on. You would be livid.

All this duty of care in the modern work place only functions when the cost is absorbed by someone else or invisible completely. The fact is, if you're at work and you're swanning off to the gym or the pool whenever you feel like it, then someone's paying for it. It's not unreasonable for managers to clamp down when it gets out of hand.
 
on swimming pools in general, they are the most annoying place to workout if there are no dedicated lanes :mad::mad:
i moved from a town where they had a pool with dedicated lanes meaning you could go pretty much any time and be guaranteed a decent swim
where i live now there are very specific times you can go swimming. took me a while to figure it all out but i now swim at these times
unless you are a club member you're money doesn't mean as much and you are not catered for
 
My workplace is quite flexible too but I only get 30 mins for lunch... I like to have a walk though so usually I just eat my lunch at my desk (whilst continuing to work) at 12:00 ish and then at 12:30 I take the half an hour for my walk... It's hard to know what the right response is here though...

Is the problem that you weren't available, or is the problem that those looking for you didn't know where you were? Did you clearly put in your outlook calendar or whatever that you were away from the office at that time? I can understand an expectation that most people will take their lunch at around midday, but different working patterns aren't out of the question provided people know where you are and can still get ahold of you in a really critical emergency... I know a guy who gets to work here at 16:00 and stays until midnight, taking a break for dinner at 20:00 ish, because he just prefers less distractions in our open plan office when everyone else isn't here! Admittedly our building is open 24hrs and a good proportion of our work doesn't require interacting with any customers, but if there is an important meeting or client visiting that everyone needs to be there for he adjusts his hours for that day to make sure he is here...

I think I'd try to find a time closer to midday to swim... maybe 11:30 to beat the lunchtime rush at the pool... and eat after whilst working
 
How long have you been taking your lunch breaks at this time?

If it's quite a while then have a Google for 'custom and practice' and have a chat with your union rep.
 
amigafan2003 said:
How long have you been taking your lunch breaks at this time?

If it's quite a while then have a Google for 'custom and practice' and have a chat with your union rep.
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I think you need to read the thread. Also not everyone has a union rep, especially if you’re in a job where it is preferable to negotiate as an individual.
 
PC777 said:
No offence but is anyone else getting George Costanza vibes from Seinfeld?



Scam's Bosses Boss: "Where's scam? We have a important call from Cali that needs dealing with"

Scam's Boss: "He's...., ahem, swimming sir."

Scam's Bosses Boss:"Swimming, but it's almost 4pm, bit late for a lunch break isn't it? Anyway, didn't I see him eating his lunch at his desk a few hours ago?"

Scam's boss: "Ahh yes that's his desk lunch, his lunch-lunch is spent at the gym."

Scam's bosses boss: "But I eat my lunch at my desk too and that's good enough for me. Didn't you tell him he can't have lunch break after 2.30pm?"

Scam's boss: "Yes but if he swims too soon after his first lunch break, his tummy hurts during his second lunch break."

Scam's bosses boss: *speechless*


Only playing around here, I don't mean to be critical, just having some fun, but couldn't help think of George Costanza sleeping under his desk and going to the gym at lunch.
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That's probably my favourite post of 2019 so far, brilliant! :D

They pay your salary; if there's certain hours they want you to be available, just suck it up and deal with it. Stop being so put out like they owe you anything.
 
amigafan2003 said:
How long have you been taking your lunch breaks at this time?

If it's quite a while then have a Google for 'custom and practice' and have a chat with your union rep.
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In terms of an adjustment to when breaks are taken normally needs of the business will trump other concerns when it comes to simply moving the time around versus any change in the amount of time and his choice to nip out for a swim on lunch isn't likely to be considered a loss of benefit.

ttaskmaster said:
I'm a contractor working on the railways. Your time on and off site is timed to the nearest 15 seconds. Break that, you're in breach of contract. Break it bad enough and you're in court. It's all in your contract.
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While stuff like that does need management for everything to run on time I'd probably tell em to stuff that if I worked for somewhere ran like that :s I've previously worked for places where you had to clock in and out for breaks but they all had far more tolerance than that. (Dunno the exact policy but the last place was something like you had a 7 minute buffer for the whole week - use that up and you got another 5 minute buffer but it would go down against you - do it more than a certain number of times or exceed that additional 5 minutes and it would go to review).

Fortunately as things stand I'm usually the most senior person in the building on my shifts so don't have anyone breathing down my neck in terms of break times unless I seriously took the ****.
 
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ttaskmaster said:
Part of that is down to the money.
For every minute that one train is stopped at Reading station, for example, it costs Network Rail £200. Two trains, £400 per minute, and so on...
This is calculated from fares, time, electricity, salaries of people not doing anything and all manner of things... because they have to quantify the business impact for legal purposes.
As an example, a massive burst water main flooded six lines running from London to the South. The cleanup took just three days. It cost Network Rail £90 million!

The other part of it is more about safety and the schedule of track possessions.
We have one job we booked back in 1998 where the earliest possession we could get was 2039. That's the year 2039... They plan things well in advance.
So yeah, the guys on before you will have moved heaven and earth to get off within their 15 seconds*, so you can damn-well make sure you're ready to be on within 15 seconds of your alloted time.
Of course, if you don't finish your work and get off the track within 15 seconds of your scheduled possession ending, you're likely to get either 33,000 volts up your backside (and another 750v off the track itself) when they turn the power back on, and/or a big-ass train splatting you at 125mph.... and both of those will happen at the allotted time.
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The electricity doesn't come back on and no trains will be running through until the ES informs the PICOP that the possession is cleared and ready to be handed back. Over-runs of work occur. If any ECO decided to return electrical supply to the track without first geting clearance from ES/PICOP, then he would be in big trouble!
 
apg said:
The electricity doesn't come back on and no trains will be running through until the ES informs the PICOP that the possession is cleared and ready to be handed back. Over-runs of work occur. If any ECO decided to return electrical supply to the track without first geting clearance from ES/PICOP, then he would be in big trouble!
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Wow you must work on the railways, that response was way behind schedule :p
 
I dont think the company is being unreasonable. As for custom ... they aren't removing the custom of a lunch / daily swim during your working day ... just asking that its changed to a time other than when they think they will likely need you most ... and even then, that time they are asking you to keep free is during what i would say is a generally accepted period of working. ( i.e. typically mid morning and mid afternoons are periods of working ... and break between. )

Personally, you're bleeding lucky to be able to do that.
 
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