lunch and coffee breaks count towards 8 hour work day? usually 8 hour work day = 4 hours work before lunch and 4 hours work after
I quit my last employer because the extra 2 hours required for commuting and dressing (both of which incur unreimbursed expenses) on top of my 9 billable hours was taking up a significant chunk of my compensation.
I can't imagine lunch taking a full hour, seems like a waste of time to me though I know other people have different opinions on this, it's individual preference.
Do you have mandatory lunch times and locations? Doesn't anyone ever want to spend their lunch break exercising or taking a walk? Or even going home to eat with their families? These are all common in my office. What if you hired a Muslim who fasted for Ramadan? Will you force them to watch everyone else eat?
As for hour+-long lunches, I don't get it either. I guess some people like it - in the same way in which I like to come home and work on my own projects. Everyone wants to allocate time on stuff they like. I don't particularly fancy eating with people.
I am lucky I don't have a micromanager as a boss.
No. In some offices there is a canteen where you can sit down and have a lunch with your colleagues, though.
Times and locations are most of the time decided by people. For example, you might decide to go to a restaurant/pizzeria with 2-3 colleagues, or just one, or more people from different departments, etc.
> Doesn't anyone ever want to spend their lunch break exercising or taking a walk?
Normally, people here in Europe tend to eat at the same time - let's say 12:30, or 13:00, or 13.30 - depending on the country.
> Or even going home to eat with their families?
This is almost never the case - as far as I know.
> What if you hired a Muslim who fasted for Ramadan?
I had a Muslim colleague once, and while he was fasting, he just didn't join, which is fine. However, before/after he was always part of the group.
Mine was not a criticism, just an observation, because that's what I have noticed during the years. It doesn't imply anything, just that under the following circumstances:
- in a country where people tend to eat at the same time on average ( let's say at 12.30),
- there is a canteen/kitchen in the office, or restaurants nearby,
- nobody goes to see the family during lunch,
- nobody goes for a walk during lunch, except for reaching the restaurant, or in the case everyone in the group (that doesn't have to be the whole team/company) is willing to.
Then, I have noticed that when people don't sit at the same table (it doesn't have to be the whole company simultaneously), there are issues in the teams. As I said, this is a personal observation, and I want to thank you for answering because your response offered me different insights and points of view (like: exercising, going for a walk, eating with family, etc).
Elective lunches and socialization is certainly a thing at my office too. It's just there is such a variety of lunch activities in my office and it's never been a hinderence to the team dynamics.
There's also some people with strong opinions on your relationship with your co-workers should be business-only and others who have met their best friend or even spouse at work.
None of this has ever hurt team dynamics though.
My office skews older though.
When there is a justification that goes beyond that, for me it's okay - actually, I am okay with every decision.
However, I have seen places where people create real factions during lunch time, or they just tend to be alone, because of the reason mentioned above.
No criticism, just an observation, which is wrong apparently, if not all factors (different schedules, etc.) are taken into account. :)
In the US almost all Low-skill jobs that pay by the hour dont count lunch as work time. At those jobs you usually explicitly "clock out" for lunch.
At salaried jobs it is less common, though I'd guess 50% or more don't count lunch as work time.
If that is the case, then workers should also be allowed to eat at their desk (or otherwise eat while working - reading emails on phone, etc) and leave early if they spend less than an hour at lunch.
To be clear, I live in the United States.
Just how it should be.