Maybe I eat at my desk so I can spend that hour lunch break with my kid in the afternoon. Maybe I'll take a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day because I didn't sleep well the previous night. I'm so glad to be rid of these inflexible, petty rules that are for the average, not the individual.
no lunch police will come knock at the door once you start eating your salad.
It’s more about forcing workplace to provide a dedicated space with a table, a fridge … the minimal amenities to have a civilized lunch. Establish rapport with your coworker, or focus on your cold pasta salad to reach mindfulness.
If you want to save 2min40s and develop a ulcers, you are free to do so.
That said, a nice kitchen is nice.
Something illegal is still illegal. Relying on non-enforcement at some companies is absolutely absurd - not only is enforcement of something like this going to vary (so some poor unlucky souls won't have the option at all), but you open yourself up to selective enforcement.
It feel blindingly obvious that the correct thing to do is to remove this ridiculous law, and then, if you want "the minimal amenities to have a civilized lunch" - then legislate that, not some absurd illiberal law that removes a choice that is very desirable for some people.
I say this as someone who sometimes wants to eat lunch at my desk so I can get off earlier, and other times will go out to eat with co-workers and enjoy their company. There's no reason to not give me that choice.
> One female labor inspector noted in her report of 1901 that women saw the enforcement of the law as "tyrannical."
Tyrannical indeed.
I would say I had a few thousands, so let me speak from experiences
- You can eat how you want, rest assured you have the choice to eat at your desk if you wish to do so. Again, the lunch police is not gonna burst at your office because of that.
- the breakdown of amenities is already settle legally ( the more employee, the more amenities. Threshold at 10, 50 and 100 employees.)
As a French elector, I like that law being in place. You should become a citizen and find a representative to vote against it.
On the flipside, there are workplaces who avoid this form of contempt for their employees without being remote. My in-office job at eg Google had the majority of the flexibility you're describing, including the naps! The other companies I've been at didn't have the same resources as the Googleplex, but still trusted me to understand best what determined my productivity. Perhaps I've been spoiled, but I truly can't imagine working somewhere that was so openly disrespectful of my ability to do my job effectively; I'd feel like a McCashier or something.
On the axis of workaholism, this French law and, say, Goldman Sachs may be on opposite sides of the spectrum. But on the axes of treating employees like children, they're two sides of the same coin.
« Oh really company? you can’t have some common sense decency in regard to lunch? Alright, I will spell it out for you »
From the worker side, nobody will come to say anything if you decide to put grease on your keyboard and stain your shirt during lunch time. You are free to do so.
They can't have "common sense".
I eat at my desk because I want that break time to do something else that actually matters to me and furthers my own personal goals
Nobody will actually enforce it, but employee will know that eating at a normal pace and taking a breather is an option.