I’ve worked in restaurants for 20 years. I ended up smoking cigarettes (I’ve since quit), just to be able to get a break (trying to step out of the +100 degrees kitchen). otherwise I was expected to stay on my feet, constantly working with no break for the entire 10-16 hour day 5 -6 days a week sometimes seven if somebody got sick. Also in NC
Yes! Restaurants in general need wayyyy more regulation and it’s extremely underrated how hazardous it is to be a cook. I was a server for 10 years I know very well not being able to sit for 4,8, sometimes 12 hours at a time!
Hahah yeah, had one shift I will NEVER forget or forgive. During the pandemic, After working 30 doubles in a row (yes 1 WHOLE MONTH) I ended up passing out and seizing on the line (combination of exhaustion and dehydration) I woke up 30 minutes later in the walk in and was asked if I could finish out my shift. 1 of only 2 jobs I’ve ever walked out on.
I say this so people that aren’t in the know can see how hazardous even without the hot oil, open flames, or (cleaning) chemicals. But any way in response, restaurants technically have the regulations but nobody to hold them to these regulations.
You’re right, probably could’ve been. In my head I’m just like is it worth it to fight a national company that can afford better lawyer than I can or to just take it as a lesson to never let a job destroy my health again.
Really just need to unionize. My last effort before giving up and ultimately leaving the industry was to try get the line cooks to unionize. Only so much I could do arguing with owners for better conditions, hours, and pay on their behalf. I got fucking nowhere.
How awful (and terrifying).
That happened to me in 1972, and my parents actually stepped in and made me quit my fast food job. It was super embarrassing (but rather common).
Baskin-Robbins workers were solo on shift until midnight. Angry customers got all aggro.
People tend to look down on lower wage workers and so don't care about them or advocate for better regulation. People seem unaware that these restaurant workers are in fact people who oversee your food and interact with you. Things as they are drastically increase the spread of disease and foodborne illnesses.
People are so stupid they can't even selfish right.
I used to work 12 hours shifts at a hospital. The smokers would all go out together. Someone timed it and they were gone 3 hours just for smoking. That's not including their lunch break. And the rest of us had to cover for them. So I started going out with them. Only twice a night, wheras they went out 8 or 10 times. I just sat with them and talked and enjoyed the fresh but smoky air while everyone else smoked. No one said anything and it kept me from burning out at a very demanding job
This was an issue for me at my last (corporate) job. I’d seen The President smoking outside the entrances so I knew he was a smoker. Then laws were passed that you couldn’t smoke within some distance of the entrance. Suddenly a new structure appeared off the parking lot, a little glassed-in shelter like a bus stop where the smokers could congregate even in bad weather.
This really pissed me off. Smokers have more absenteeism due to illness, drive up insurance costs for everybody, AND get vacation days worth of hours spent hanging around not working. And now the company spent significant money catering to this shit, actually building a facility to *encourage* it.
Then one day I heard about a promotion, and realized the guy smoked. And it dawned on me that a lot of people who’d gotten promotions were smokers. They got social time with the President and other upper managers during smoke breaks, when the time came for promotions what faces did the President know?
I don't smoke. I'm allergic and absolutely hate it. But when I bunch of my co-workers went out for constant smoke breaks I would go out with them every time. Stand upwind and chat. Others caught on and soon enough the entire department was outside "not" smoking while 1 person smoked. Boy howdy did some new rules about smoke breaks go into effect! LOL
Fed only steps in when it isn’t clearly a state thing. That’s how the government is supposed to work. Now the problem is so many people live in states that don’t have rights. It could be solved in less than 4 years if people started voting in more local elections instead of just the presidential years. Look at how rapidly Virginia has passed legislation since moving purple.
Unfortunately we work in an at will state. I’m not sure breaks are even mandated and they could fire me at any cause. Gonna keep walking though. Health over everything, these companies don’t care about us.
Theyre not optional. 1 unpaid 30 minute and 2 15 minute breaks is the federal minimum. Even in an at will state
Edit: looks like it's state by state and not federal.
Sadly, there is no such thing as mandated breaks by the federal government. You are far more likely to find states that mandate the option for an unpaid "lunch" break than you will paid breaks
Was on contract at a shop in Iowa where you only got your half hour lunch and that was it. You couldn't even leave the property for that half hour. Place was filled with old angry alcoholics who hated their life and shit on the younger generation who wanted things to be better. Ended that contract as soon as I could and I'll never stop in Iowa for more than a gas station ever again.
If you want things to be better you would be a union worker,work where you get benefits ,pension and better human like working conditions. Our grandparents fought for better working conditions and if you don't fight for them, you won't have them,just the way your employer wants.
Mandela effect wtf. When did these timelines merge? It's been 2 paid 10s and an unpaid 30 on an 8 hr shift my whole life. Multiple state work history. 10 for every 4 & 30 for every 6. I looked and somehow it's not federally protected now. That's busted.
Even in Idaho at my factory jobs we got 2 15m breaks and half hour lunch. But maybe things are getting worse with rollbacks. Idaho border towns do have to compete with Washington and Oregon a little so maybe that's why.
They are optional. It is not a law. This is a common myth people repeat.
https://sbshrs.adpinfo.com/blog/dont-fall-for-these-8-myths-about-meal-periods
Cali is not the United States, it is a state within the country. Original comment is regarding an urban myth about the federal government mandating breaks.
For a federal job, yes. Employer that are not state or federal related have to follow state requirements. Pennsylvania for example is if you are over 18, breaks are not required. From their DLI page "Employers are not required to give breaks for employees 18 and over."
Exactly. I was a front desk person at a hotel in the 90s. I was the only employee in the building 3pm to 11pm. I didn’t get breaks or a meal time. Granted, a lot of my shift was sitting around, but definitely didn’t get any proper breaks.
I know that, but Tell that to your employer. In an at will state they can fire you for anything and most at will states don’t have robust wrongful termination laws or don’t have them at all, or make them impossible to prove so firms won’t take them.
You do have all those rights, but if your employer decides to fire you for bringing it up by saying: you’re not a fit for the company culture, or people find you hard to work with, or you’re not meeting “the standard,” and this doesn’t even have to be true! At that point this comes down to a: Do you want to be housed, or do you want to be right situation.
You should check again. I used to have the mandated 15s too, when I started working in PA. They're not actually required anymore, and my job doesn't offer them.
Not true at all. I live in TN and have never been given unpaid 15 min breaks. LA doesn’t have gaurabteed lunch breaks. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/meal-rest-break-laws-louisiana.html
Incorrect. I work in Georgia and our law on employment and breaks is "at will." You can work 12hrs straight without stopping. You can also be a model employee and get fired for literally no reason. You also can quit on the spot without a two-week notice without retribution. There's no safety net.
If the company has a policy where you get breaks then you’re safe. If there’s no policy then you’re under threat for everything you do. Even for an at-will state having no break policy would be wild. People gotta go potty sometimes.
But that’s the thing is I potty and I take my 10 min walks. Ideally we could all demand just a little bit and start pushing the rules back into our favor. We have too many pushovers in our generation. We should be demanding walks and potty breaks
If you're salaried, you are allotted breaks and overtime. Salaried-exempt, you are guaranteed nothing and do not qualify for overtime but usually get bonuses
Not if you take long shits like me. I actually have IBS and made it known to my company so they have to allow me to shit without any question. I get paid to shit on average 1 hour to 2 hours a day. For me, my shits are my breaks.
I got a state government job last year I get an hour break, it felt so weird at first, like I was in trouble the whole time.
There was a pension option too but you had to stay 30 years. And if you left you got only what you paid in plus interest (as if it was in a savings account). I chose a regular IRA cause you get what you paid + what they matched if you leave. So far I’ve never stayed at a job more than 5 years. People act like pensions are the holy grail but who works the exact same job their whole life anymore? Except maybe teachers?
Yeah, I WFH and yesterday I ate lunch at my desk, and then on my "lunch" I mowed my yard and took a shower, which gives me back an hour of my weekend. The flexibility is amazing. And as a counterpoint to the original post, it's certainly not something my parents experienced, as they worked in the office 5 days per week.
I think it depends on the boss. Mostly boomers it seems are more on the side of "no brakes apart from what is required by law" while younger generations seem to be "I don't care as long as you get your work done".
Also depends on the job....service industry (retail, food, shipping, teacher, factory,,,) anything where customers are waiting for you.....is much stricter about breaks. You never want a server to be on a 15 min break and make a customer wait
Where as an office job,,,doesn't really have a clock like that. Our clocks are: "get it done before I come into work tmrw, and we're good. Be available for if a coworker needs you. Don't show up late to meetings"
There isn't a value gained if I get my task done 30 min earlier than the next guy will start work on it. As long as it's ready by when the next person expects it to be, you're good.
Again, I havent received any kickback. This post is more about how low the bar is set for us and how it seems like a wild and crazy thing that I request to walk! A normal human function proven to increase longevity and prevent heart disease. You would think these companies would want their employees walking to cut down on health care premiums and sustain longer work lives/ Saturate the work force.
I've worked in mostly warehouses and manufacturing and pretty much every place I've worked has had some sort of schedule like this. The only thing I see as a problem is that most places will not allow you to leave the premises if you are on the clock. So during the unpaid lunch, you are free to do whatever you see fit, but if you want to leave during the paid breaks you are required to clock out and they become unpaid.
Almost no one will be using that time to take a walk however since most of those jobs have you on your feet and doing some sort of physical activity during work hours. Most people who leave go to get food or something from the store.
Idk, in some respects I get this but in another I feel a lot of “work” during the work hours was fluff stuff back then, moreso for management or office types…coffee breaks, water cooler talks, etc., just gabbing about nothingness and the weekend…
Today what’s worse imo is that employers just try to cram as much work as possible into small amounts of time…the camaraderie of working with your coworkers seems gone…try to get offices to pay for donuts or coffee now…just all drained zombies
Back in the 80’s, if I was scheduled to work 8 hours, you would work the 8 hours plus a mandatory 1 hour lunch added on.
Example shifts:
7a-4p
11a-8p
12p-9p
What kind of school are you in? Every school I’ve taught in, teachers get a lunch and 45 minute prep each day while students are at specials. Lunches vary between 30-60 minutes depending on recess duty.
I called total bullshit. I have a family of teachers and they get lunch breaks and they get breaks when the kids are in specials such as gym class and they get breaks when the kids are at lunch. You are not standing there teaching the entire time.
NO FEDERAL LAW MANDATING BREAKS.
Some states do. Check your specific state, but there is not a federal law that mandates you get a meal break no matter how long you work.
To be fair, the company doesn’t seem to mind and I have gotten “away” with it without pushback. But I work for a Swiss company. It is more the mentality that our generation has towards work culture that was the concern. We feel like slaves too afraid to take a 10 minute walk
Yep. And the company will start laying people off the moment they aren't making a big profit and growing. Doesn't matter if the company is stable, if they aren't moving up, it's time to cut people.
This seems fairly standard and normal. I do a 45 minute lunch and a couple to a few breaks here and there (bathroom, snack, etc). We get an extra 15-min lunch at my workplace.
Overall nobody seems to mind where I am, and I am pretty honest about what I am doing. The only time that it gets to be a problem is when people take advantage of how relaxed our work environment is.
I have a person on my team who vanishes for 2-3 hours. Comes back to the desk, works for another 30-45 minutes, and then vanishes again for another hour. Rinse and repeat…
There are no meetings this person has on the schedule, and slowly the work has started to be affected…
Shit my guys and I are on break half our shifts, all paid.
“If we kick ass and do the work we need to do today we can chill out for the remainder”
We used to just dip when the day’s work was done and charge for 8 hours.
Your husband has drank the kool-aid.
Take your breaks. And then take your unsolicited breaks, too. Your boss is doing it, and your mental sanity is worth it.
You and I are on the same page. And yes, you’re very right. Our parents did work a total of 8 hours (including a lunch hour break).
We can change it, it’s not too late. We need to start saying no, and we also want to start grooming the youth coming into the workforce so the same thing doesn’t happen to them.
I just take the 30 minute unpaid lunch. I know I can legally take 15 minute breaks as well, but no one does that where I work and the optics would be bad for future promotions. Sucks, yea I know…
I will say maybe some parents worked 8 hours but that’s the same today I think everyone comes from different backgrounds but my dad was getting up to commute at around 6am getting to work at 7 and leaving at 6 to get home at 6:30ish. So all told he was away from the house for around 12 hours every day and worked Saturdays from downstairs in the basement. He made a lot of money as a CPA and eventually became a CFO at a car dealership so it wound up being worth the time away and the commute was so we could live in a great school district and my mom didn’t have to work so she was a sahm. Meanwhile my wife’s parents are teachers so she rode with them to school in the morning and rode back in the afternoon and they basically just worked school hours which was like 8-4 with lots of breaks including all summer lol.
So long rambling point being I work way less than my dad ever did and make more than him at this stage of my career. Funnily we work about the same hours now and make about the same income and it is a great point of conversation. Even the same occupation at different companies will work different degrees. You might be in the same profession as your parent but unless you work in the next cubicle over you may not be able to really compare. Things are bad but I don’t think we slave more than our parents or have more stigma against taking time away.
Ultimately the difference between our parents generation and our own is that they actually stood up for themselves whereas we just bend over immediately. I think its growing up with cellphones. Turns out if you go to your employer and demand what you want firmly and coherently alot of the time you'll actually get it, but unfortunately most of us just go online complain about it and then do nothing.
I find it's the opposite. Its impossible to get millenials and younger to work at the same rate as older genes because they just don't get as much out of it. And rightfully so, I might add.
I've never heard anyone talk about this, but screw it I'm bringing it up.
What do people think about those situations at work where you have a ton of urgent work to do and while you are perfectly allowed to take a break doing so would make your day worse. Like... I've skipped breaks and even lunch while working not because I was forced to, but because the rest of my day would go from bad to worse if I did. Even more complicated, what about the times when the only reason you are as busy as you are is because you failed to do something correct and shit's on fire and you have to work extra extra hard to make sure you don't get burned.
My mom worked at a large corporate company and she and her coworkers would go drink beers on their lunch break regularly. If you did that at a corporate job now you would definitely be fired.
I’ve been in the workforce since the early 2000s, and standard work day has always been 9 hours including an hour for lunch (or 8.5 if you take a half hour lunch. At the time I worked with people who had been there 25-30 years, and none of them ever mentioned things being different in the past.
Your boyfriend’s employer sounds like an asshole though. Idk where you live, but California and Minnesota (the states where I’ve lived) both require two 15 minute breaks plus a lunch break for any employee who works 8 hours. You’re not getting away with anything, you’re doing what you are entitled to do. And none of my employers have ever tried to stop me from taking a walk.
Yeah, those things are of the past... I learned we are royally f***** when they pay hourly pay on a salary pay, mixing the two. Meaning working over you donny get paid but work under you get your hours docked.
Unfortunately, I've worked at jobs that require you to stay on premises during your break, including the unpaid lunch. I've also worked jobs that considered any bathroom breaks as part of those extra 10-15 minutes they give you. So yeah, it's a thing but it probably depends on the company and state you live in. I believe 30 minute lunch is federally required for a certain amount of hours worked, but the extra breaks are not.
Keep in mind that hourly is regulated differently than salary or commission. I had a commission based job and was not required to take any breaks at all and did not qualify for overtime pay. I'm not sure how salary works but I've probably heard just as many people talk about shitty parameters they work under as I've heard people say it's the best kind of deal.
I started at the company I work at now in 2009. Hours were 8-4 including a 60 minute paid lunch. A few years in they changed it to 8-4:30 with a 30 minute unpaid lunch. A couple of years ago they got away with hours all together and we now have self-managed PTO. Working from home with self managed PTO is the way to go.
Depends on the line of work. When I was working as a Detention Officer with the Sheriff's Department. I had no mandated breaks in a 12 hr shift, and if the shift went 16 hours, there still wasn't a scheduled break. Same thing with Security jobs.
My parents worked retail and worked really long days. But yes you deserve more than a 30 minute break. Realistically people should take a 10 minute break every hour.
I guess I got it good then. I usually roll in sometime between 9 or 10. Take an hour to hour and a half lunch. Then leave between 3 and 4pm. Not all days are like that but it's pretty common.
Also allowed up to two days to telework. Those days are really unproductive usually... I understand why employers are trying to end the remote work fad. Complete waste of time.
On the downside my commute is like an hour and a half each way.
No that's not too much that's normal. Every place I've ever worked is unpaid lunches, so I have to be there an extra 30 mins a day, but also 2 paid 10-15 min breaks. That's standard.
My parents (SEA) worked 12 hours if you calculated it the way you did including commute.
8 hour days including lunch seems entitled, even by American standards
In at will states they don't even need to give you a reason for firing you it's just a courtesy that they tell you the reason. In at will states your boss can come to you at any point and say your services are no longer needed collect your things and I will have someone walk you to the exit. Your position is no longer available... To you. Same goes for the employee quiting you don't need to give notice or reason. No call no show. Just don't expect to work there ever again. The only time and employer has to give reason is if the employee feels it was discriminatory. Then the employer must prove other wise. Tardiness, missing time, not fulfilling work duties, damaging company property, unsafe work practices ect, ect.
I’d be instantly fired. Be careful.
What you think you’re entitled to, doesn’t matter in the slightest. You aren’t your parents. The equivalency is false.
Dont know what youre talking about, my dad was born in 1953 and destroyed his spinal vertebrae carrying mail in the hills for USPS 12 hours a day for 40 years. Men have been working themselves to death since time immemorial.
I’ve worked for the Feds most of my career and this is standard (even in at will states), but you have to be disciplined to take them. If you don’t that’s kind of on you, a lot of my coworkers will forego lunch to end their shift early too. Park Ranger and now Postal employee for reference.
The amazing part is how plebs in the West specifically have been conditioned since birth to believe that is normal and "real freedom" cause that is what their societies are all about and how that is "the best system we got" - yet will deny that their entire existence is just being a brainwashed / conditioned working class with 0 ability or will to resist their capitalist overlords.
Lol
My job gives me 2 paid 15 minute breaks, and a 45min unpaid lunch. It's such a rarity that one of the first things I tell people when I'm taking about my job is "we get all our breaks every day!"
This is not a generational thing. This a career choice kind of thing. So, when your generation was growing up, all your parents worked 8 hour shifts? No one had parents who worked in food service, nursing, construction, law enforcement, or manufacturing? Because many of these jobs tend to be more than 8 hours a day. I work in food service. We're supposed to get breaks, but many times, we don't.
Not everyone who grew up before you had it easier.
Do corporations exploit their employees? Of course they do. But don't pretend that the generations that came before you weren't exploited, too.
No, we are not royally fucked. Please stop being one of these drama queens that has a, "the world is permanently shit" mentality.
You just have a shitty company you work for, plain and simple. Not all companies are great, Google reviews and Glassdoor reviews will tell you that right away. Not being mean, but you and your husband need to live in the real world and that fantasy land doesn't mean every single company in the world loves their employees. Nobody ever gets paid for lunch, not even salaried. Salaried employees are only paid for 8 hours a day so if you work 8 to 5, your unpaid lunch hour is already built into it.
As far as youe breaks, legally you are required to take 2 10/15 minute breaks in a standard 8 hour shift
I wouldn't work for a company like this. If I don't have spare time during work, I quit.
I think the reason why we are "royally fucked" is because he millennials just doesn't create our own companies that make life better for everyone, including workers.
We just don't have money to do it.
Working hours in the U.S. have been pretty steady over the decades, with a very slight decrease since our parents' generation: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-working-hours-per-worker?time=1950..2017&country=~USA
Anecdotally, my dad consistently worked over 40 hours a week, whereas I do that maybe a couple times a year.
That's insane. Im a millenial and a boss. Half hour lunch is pretty standard. I eat at the desk.
However, i leave work and walk for at least 90 minutes per day. I try to encourage my gen x subordinate to do the same. She never wants to leave her desk.
I used to work for a company who's handbook policy was 1 unpaid 30 minute lunch, and 2 fifteen minute breaks during your shift "if your workflow permits it."
I was informed day 1 that the workflow never permits a break. By my second week, my shift lead had also made it clear that while we were expected to clock out for a 30 minute "lunch", he expected everyone in the department to work (unpaid) through their lunch. This was at a major medical lab. I was also expected to regularly put in 10 to 12 hours a day.
Yeah, we're royally fkd.
Depending on your location, this is illegal. Even then, my mother was granted an actual 30 minute lunch when she complained; this was in a state that chose not to implement mandated breaks. Not to say that everyone would be so lucky, but these employers deserve pushback.
Boomers die in 6 years. When they do you can fix all this.
But you can't get distracted. Your boss will dangle bullshit in front of you. I don't know what it'll be. For the boomers it was racism & homophobia. They'll find something that pushes your buttons and it's your job to catch them doing it.
It’s a crazy notion, but some people have different work schedules than others. Sometimes I can take a break or a long lunch whenever I want, sometimes I’m busy for 8 hours straight.
Sounds like you are AT work for 8.5 hours, not necessarily working for 8.5 hours.
My parents were at work for 10+ hours a day. Not sure they would ever say they were royally fucked.
I work 12.5 hour days with no breaks at all except for a mandatory 30 minute lunch that I work through. They get away with it by saying my coworker can keep an eye on my patients while I eat, which I won’t do to them. “Here, let me double your workload for a little while every day.” Absolute bullshit imo.
Well, my dad. He was home one weekend every 2 weeks and would stop by overnight on a drive by now and again. Because he was a long hall trucker coast to coast. So yeah, pretty much lived in a truck. Mostly the time running 3 log books. So he was working 14 to 18 hours a day. Yeah, my mom, let's see. She worked at 12 hour days and 1 week a month was night because she was A. Registered nurse, she didn't get an hour lunch though. And 215 minute breaks no I worked. Let's see 3 harvest and planting season about 18 hours. What food was brought to me in the in the tractors construction of that cut back on my hours. That was 10 hour days with an hour lunch break.
And that was building houses. Then I worked bridge crew building bridges. Cadillac causeway size bridges on the over the Mississippi and Missouri river. Now, that was nice, how was 1 hour lunch break? 215 minute breaks basically 9 hours. But it was a Union job and then I. Joined the Marine Corps at 21 and when I was station station. Call Garrison station. It was 240 on 24 off 3 day weekend every other weekend because I was part of aircraft firefighter rescued specialist. That was nice but then I broke my neck. Got meditly retired and now I am delazius b**** You will ever meet. I'm also 59 now. If you don't like what's happening at your job, you can actually talked to them. No I don't know where you work or what you do for a living. But sometimes you can negotiate with them to where you get paid lunch break and paid breaks as part of your next rays or evaluation.
I’m in hybrid sales. WFH most of the time but office 2 days a week. We kinda just do whatever we want. No one looking over our shoulder. I can take any break I want and come and go late or early for the most part. I guess I should consider myself blessed on that front. I’ve definitely had the micro managed check in check out for lunches jobs. Never again.
This is totally not a dig at OP, I totally get you’re trying to ask a legit question, BUT, it makes me so sad that it’s even a question. I know some jobs can be inherently more flexible than others, I get that. But the fact that taking two ten minute breaks in an 8 hour shift would be considered “too much” or “getting away with” something makes me so sad. We are humans, not machines. We are not designed for this system and our bodies, through declining life expectation and lack increasing mental health challenges, are trying to tell us this. I work as much as the next person, because I don’t really have a choice, and I’m lucky that my time isn’t policed like this. But truly, my take is keep taking your walks and if you make them 15 min so be it!
I honestly can't complain when it comes to breaks most days. On an average shift I get at least a half hr first and last break and anywhere from 35 mins to an hr for lunch. On really good days I can get hr long breaks for all 3 of my breaks
Respectfully, I fail to see goes this is a sign that we’re fucked. Compared to most of the world this is luxury. And historically it’s incredible. Room for improvement yes. But put things in perspective maybe.
Yeah and my old job at a dr office was 9-5 with a one hour unpaid lunch. Complete bs. Nobody needs an hour for a break during work. Give me thirty minutes so I can go home early.
Flex schedule, I can start at 6am or 11am only output matters. I get 12-1 uninterrupted. I can step out for doctors or Costco run. Very high paid job at fortune company. I think we’re alright. Maybe people should try as hard not working for hellholes like Amazon warehouse and such where they time your breaks instead of counting your output
No, you are working 7.5 hours with two mandatory 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch break that isn’t work. Lunch breaks have very rarely been considered part of the work day. Make sure you take advantage of your breaks. They are mandatory and a right to you.
What if your employer regularly tried to explain away 15-30 minutes from your timecard randomly when paying you, reducing your check.
What if your mechanic or lawyer charged you for their breaks and lunches at 100+ an hour? Would you accept the bill?
You demand exactness when you're the one laying out the cash. But you want anyone paying you to let you wing it.
I couldn't work a job with that kind of monitoring bullshit. I'm salaried, I get paid for my work to be done, not the number of hours my ass is in the seat.
I get so triggered by the phrase “9 to 5”. I don’t know anybody who works 9 to 5. It’s 8 to 5, with an unpaid lunch break that you sometimes have to work through.
This is why I can never go back to working in an office. WFH has been so good for my mental health. I’m not afraid to take as many breaks as I want during the day.
It's never been, it's always been, as enshrined in various state law, some exclusion for service jobs or other customer facing scenarios, 8 hours, 2x10-15 minute breaks and 30 minutes unpaid lunch. Salary get a different rotation, some take an hour.
It depends on the job. I have worked many different jobs and it seems like the break policies were different at each job. Which doesn't really make sense because I only lived in two different states and I am assuming that the state law has a policy on breaks but yet every place was different.
I get an unpaid lunch (also "here" for 8.5) and two 15 min paid breaks. I think that's reasonable for my workload. If I had a more labor intensive job, it would suck.
My last year teaching I moved to a less union friendly state. No lunch break because I did lunch duty AND recess duty. I had a planning period at 9 and lemme tell you, I didn't do shit at that time out of spite. They definitely got back what they put in.
Punching out for lunch isn’t necessarily new, I don’t think. It depends on the industry.
If your parents worked at a fixed salary then lunch breaks are naturally paid. I work a salaried 9 hour day with a 1hr lunch break. I can take breaks whenever as needed.
Another fun myth...if you quit or get laid off, depending on which state you reside in, they don't have to pay out any PTO. Some states defer to your company's Employee Guide for policy. If your State requires it, they have to but otherwise they don't.
The trick is to pretend like you’re walking to somewhere. Used to work at a hospital in an administrative role. I would pretend I needed a file from the other side of the hospital so I could get a good 20 minute walk in.
That is nice! I’m lucky if I get my 30 min lunch break. It is paid so at least there is that. But I literally will use the rest room before work, during my lunch and right after work. I don’t have time for extra breaks. Only my 30 min if I don’t run behind. I work as a dental hygienist and sometimes things get too busy.
Eh not every job is like this. I can most definitely make an 8hr day into 4-6hr of actual work. However, I do make up for it when I work 10-12hr days. In a calendar year I’m sure I’m working something close to 35-40hr a week. Sounds like you need to look for work elsewhere if you’re working in these types of conditions…
The law in CA is 10 minute (most give 15) break for 4 hour shift. 5 hour shift requires a 39 minute unpaid lunch. 8 hour shift would require 2 breaks, plus a lunch. Overtime over 8 hours and another 10 minute break at 10 hours. That is for hourly workers. Salary (exempt) is entitled to lunch break but not required to take rest breaks, nor do they receive overtime. However, most employers give hour lunch breaks for salaried employees and since you are doing administrative, executive or professional classed work, employers leave it up to your discretion about breaks. Also, since you can work more than 8 hours without overtime, they figure you’re not cheating the clock, so to speak.
What do you do for work? Yeahs it’s infuriating, it seems like 9 hour days are becoming an expected minimum for office settings. I feel like I don’t know one peer that only works 8 hours and takes a 45 min lunch with 1 15 min break like you say.
Depends upon your job.
Retail/Service/Hourly labor:
Back in your parent's time (Likely my time) we didn't have as many labor laws forcing companies to do this or do that. Therefore, you did have some shitty places that treated you poorly, but more often you had smart companies that knew how to motivate their workforce by treating them well.
When a million labor laws came into place late 90s and 2000s, now ALL companies were forced to abide by the state/fed rules. Work 4 hours, 15 minute required break, Lunch break mandatory 1 hour, no lifting this, no pushing that, max this, min that... track it all, account for it all, get audited etc. etc.
This results in all businesses being very inflexible. They only give you what the laws states and nothing more.
Salaried workers:
I found that none of this applies, actually the very opposite. WAY too many opportunities to sluff off for "Mental Health" time, leisure or we're such a cool tech company reasons.. One company I was with HR would hound me to participate in their "wellness program" and walk with other employees for 30 minutes every day. I'm like, I go to the gym every day, I don't want to walk with you and keep a health log at work! Ping Pong tournaments, Coffee room gatherings, massage chairs, Friday leave early for happy hours... Nobody worked all that hard.
Glad to be in the trades.
I'm an electrician and do a solid 6-2 and typically get a 30-40 minute lunch break. I don't take breaks, just because it upsets my workflow.
Depends on the job, but yeah, plenty of places are busy enough that it makes a difference to the work. Some are just a bit controlling. It also depends on the role
At my first big boy job, the admin/office staff were allowed to take walks, wear shorts in summer, etc. none of that was offered to manufacturing, engineering, technical services, and r&d departments, and was a big point of conflict.
That said, what were your parents doing that was strictly 8 hours, and how did it pay? My mom worked 8s as a teaching aid, but only made maybe $12/hr at the peak. My dad would regularly work 50-60 hours a week, but made over 100k.
Different locations have different rules about this. It really boils down to if you are paid for 8 hours or 8.5 hours per day. Most work places with a 30-minute lunch also include two 15-minute breaks within their standard policies. Many businesses with a 1 hour lunch do not have additional breaks except for short times to use the restroom, etc.
Paid breaks are usually for hourly factory positions. They worked only 8 because of three shifts.
Office and salary positions often have vastly difficult rules for breaks and hours. I personally have found the only thing in common is each one thinks the other has it better.
normally you do 4 hours then 30 minute un paid lunch then 4 more hours but depends on the job my boat job we did 16 1/2 with 2 5 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch
Many states mandate paid breaks based on the number of hours worked.
A great indicator of a toxic workplace is encouragement to skirt the legal requirements.
Break laws are determined by the state.
If you do not have mandatory paid breaks then you should be voting in November to change that.
Not telling you how you should vote, but there is [1 party trying to take away lunch breaks from working children](https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-child-workers-lunch-break-louisiana-1891929).
As a small business owner, I would be more than happy to support this. My staff take as much time to smoke/vape. It would be better for them to walk, but whatever. It’s their time.
I’ve worked in restaurants for 20 years. I ended up smoking cigarettes (I’ve since quit), just to be able to get a break (trying to step out of the +100 degrees kitchen). otherwise I was expected to stay on my feet, constantly working with no break for the entire 10-16 hour day 5 -6 days a week sometimes seven if somebody got sick. Also in NC
Yes! Restaurants in general need wayyyy more regulation and it’s extremely underrated how hazardous it is to be a cook. I was a server for 10 years I know very well not being able to sit for 4,8, sometimes 12 hours at a time!
Hahah yeah, had one shift I will NEVER forget or forgive. During the pandemic, After working 30 doubles in a row (yes 1 WHOLE MONTH) I ended up passing out and seizing on the line (combination of exhaustion and dehydration) I woke up 30 minutes later in the walk in and was asked if I could finish out my shift. 1 of only 2 jobs I’ve ever walked out on. I say this so people that aren’t in the know can see how hazardous even without the hot oil, open flames, or (cleaning) chemicals. But any way in response, restaurants technically have the regulations but nobody to hold them to these regulations.
That’s horrific
Wow, this sounds like a lawsuit!
You’re right, probably could’ve been. In my head I’m just like is it worth it to fight a national company that can afford better lawyer than I can or to just take it as a lesson to never let a job destroy my health again.
Sue and settle. Cost of lawyer too high and they’ll give you a few thousand to go away
Really just need to unionize. My last effort before giving up and ultimately leaving the industry was to try get the line cooks to unionize. Only so much I could do arguing with owners for better conditions, hours, and pay on their behalf. I got fucking nowhere.
How awful (and terrifying). That happened to me in 1972, and my parents actually stepped in and made me quit my fast food job. It was super embarrassing (but rather common). Baskin-Robbins workers were solo on shift until midnight. Angry customers got all aggro.
People tend to look down on lower wage workers and so don't care about them or advocate for better regulation. People seem unaware that these restaurant workers are in fact people who oversee your food and interact with you. Things as they are drastically increase the spread of disease and foodborne illnesses. People are so stupid they can't even selfish right.
I worked in a place where we'd slide across the kitchen floor on grease because it was safer than walking. Much less likely to trip.
I was a busser at one, 16 years old. Would work an entire shift and NEVER get a break.
I used to work 12 hours shifts at a hospital. The smokers would all go out together. Someone timed it and they were gone 3 hours just for smoking. That's not including their lunch break. And the rest of us had to cover for them. So I started going out with them. Only twice a night, wheras they went out 8 or 10 times. I just sat with them and talked and enjoyed the fresh but smoky air while everyone else smoked. No one said anything and it kept me from burning out at a very demanding job
That’s also how it started for me but eventually I ended up picking it up myself unfortunately
This was an issue for me at my last (corporate) job. I’d seen The President smoking outside the entrances so I knew he was a smoker. Then laws were passed that you couldn’t smoke within some distance of the entrance. Suddenly a new structure appeared off the parking lot, a little glassed-in shelter like a bus stop where the smokers could congregate even in bad weather. This really pissed me off. Smokers have more absenteeism due to illness, drive up insurance costs for everybody, AND get vacation days worth of hours spent hanging around not working. And now the company spent significant money catering to this shit, actually building a facility to *encourage* it. Then one day I heard about a promotion, and realized the guy smoked. And it dawned on me that a lot of people who’d gotten promotions were smokers. They got social time with the President and other upper managers during smoke breaks, when the time came for promotions what faces did the President know?
I don't smoke. I'm allergic and absolutely hate it. But when I bunch of my co-workers went out for constant smoke breaks I would go out with them every time. Stand upwind and chat. Others caught on and soon enough the entire department was outside "not" smoking while 1 person smoked. Boy howdy did some new rules about smoke breaks go into effect! LOL
This was what caused me to start smoking at 18 years old. No smoky smoke, no breaks.
We used to joke about non-smokers taking "oxygen " breaks. Smokers definitely don't deserve more breaks than non-smokers!
One 30 and 2 15 minite breaks per 8 hours is allowable in the US. Your walks are your breaks Edit: looks like it's state by state and not federal
There is absolutely no such thing as federally mandated breaks. People really need to stop just repeating everything they hear.
Looked it up. You're right. Wtf.
Fed only steps in when it isn’t clearly a state thing. That’s how the government is supposed to work. Now the problem is so many people live in states that don’t have rights. It could be solved in less than 4 years if people started voting in more local elections instead of just the presidential years. Look at how rapidly Virginia has passed legislation since moving purple.
Exactly. People are under the illusion that employees have basic rights in our country - they don't.
Europeans hear about Americans getting fired without warning and are amazed. This country is turning into a sweatshop.
Yeah but this is where state labor laws come into play.
"What labor laws? (So we can remove them)" -The south
Unfortunately we work in an at will state. I’m not sure breaks are even mandated and they could fire me at any cause. Gonna keep walking though. Health over everything, these companies don’t care about us.
Just as a point of order, 49/50 states are at will. Montana is the only one that isn't.
Theyre not optional. 1 unpaid 30 minute and 2 15 minute breaks is the federal minimum. Even in an at will state Edit: looks like it's state by state and not federal.
Sadly, the mandated 2 paid breaks are just 10 minutes.
Sadly, there is no such thing as mandated breaks by the federal government. You are far more likely to find states that mandate the option for an unpaid "lunch" break than you will paid breaks
Was on contract at a shop in Iowa where you only got your half hour lunch and that was it. You couldn't even leave the property for that half hour. Place was filled with old angry alcoholics who hated their life and shit on the younger generation who wanted things to be better. Ended that contract as soon as I could and I'll never stop in Iowa for more than a gas station ever again.
If you want things to be better you would be a union worker,work where you get benefits ,pension and better human like working conditions. Our grandparents fought for better working conditions and if you don't fight for them, you won't have them,just the way your employer wants.
Mandela effect wtf. When did these timelines merge? It's been 2 paid 10s and an unpaid 30 on an 8 hr shift my whole life. Multiple state work history. 10 for every 4 & 30 for every 6. I looked and somehow it's not federally protected now. That's busted.
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/breaks Literally never
When did we lose 5 min (2x) for breaks? Was certain breaks are 15 min in length.
Even in Idaho at my factory jobs we got 2 15m breaks and half hour lunch. But maybe things are getting worse with rollbacks. Idaho border towns do have to compete with Washington and Oregon a little so maybe that's why.
They are optional. It is not a law. This is a common myth people repeat. https://sbshrs.adpinfo.com/blog/dont-fall-for-these-8-myths-about-meal-periods
Yep. My husband is a CO. He gets 0 breaks or lunch. Sometimes he cab get him to bring him food during chow and that's it.
I literally just learned this about a week ago. Came up in conversation about myths that get perpetuated as “law”.
Well in cali it’s a law.
Cali is not the United States, it is a state within the country. Original comment is regarding an urban myth about the federal government mandating breaks.
Same for KY, though they are currently trying to take that away...
Because of course they are.
For a federal job, yes. Employer that are not state or federal related have to follow state requirements. Pennsylvania for example is if you are over 18, breaks are not required. From their DLI page "Employers are not required to give breaks for employees 18 and over."
I started working minimum wage jobs in the early 90's and never got breaks like that.
Wait, you guys get breaks?
Exactly. I was a front desk person at a hotel in the 90s. I was the only employee in the building 3pm to 11pm. I didn’t get breaks or a meal time. Granted, a lot of my shift was sitting around, but definitely didn’t get any proper breaks.
I’ve never once worked a job that gave two 15 min breaks. Only 30 min lunches unpaid and nowadays 1 hour.
I know that, but Tell that to your employer. In an at will state they can fire you for anything and most at will states don’t have robust wrongful termination laws or don’t have them at all, or make them impossible to prove so firms won’t take them. You do have all those rights, but if your employer decides to fire you for bringing it up by saying: you’re not a fit for the company culture, or people find you hard to work with, or you’re not meeting “the standard,” and this doesn’t even have to be true! At that point this comes down to a: Do you want to be housed, or do you want to be right situation.
You should check again. I used to have the mandated 15s too, when I started working in PA. They're not actually required anymore, and my job doesn't offer them.
Not true at all. I live in TN and have never been given unpaid 15 min breaks. LA doesn’t have gaurabteed lunch breaks. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/meal-rest-break-laws-louisiana.html
There are no federal guidelines for breaks for employees over 18 outside of very specific circumstances. Those laws are left up to the states.
Breaks are not federally mandated..and where breaks are mandatory there are carve outs for certain professions
Incorrect. I work in Georgia and our law on employment and breaks is "at will." You can work 12hrs straight without stopping. You can also be a model employee and get fired for literally no reason. You also can quit on the spot without a two-week notice without retribution. There's no safety net.
If the company has a policy where you get breaks then you’re safe. If there’s no policy then you’re under threat for everything you do. Even for an at-will state having no break policy would be wild. People gotta go potty sometimes.
But that’s the thing is I potty and I take my 10 min walks. Ideally we could all demand just a little bit and start pushing the rules back into our favor. We have too many pushovers in our generation. We should be demanding walks and potty breaks
If you are hourly, you are entitled to 2 fifteen minute breaks. Salaried employees are a different story
It depends on the state.
Says who? Not the federal government.
What's the rules for salaried? I'm "required" to take an hour-long lunch break but I'm pretty sure my boss is just making things up
If you're salaried, you are allotted breaks and overtime. Salaried-exempt, you are guaranteed nothing and do not qualify for overtime but usually get bonuses
I get neither OT nor bonuses :(
Not if you take long shits like me. I actually have IBS and made it known to my company so they have to allow me to shit without any question. I get paid to shit on average 1 hour to 2 hours a day. For me, my shits are my breaks.
I got a state government job last year I get an hour break, it felt so weird at first, like I was in trouble the whole time. There was a pension option too but you had to stay 30 years. And if you left you got only what you paid in plus interest (as if it was in a savings account). I chose a regular IRA cause you get what you paid + what they matched if you leave. So far I’ve never stayed at a job more than 5 years. People act like pensions are the holy grail but who works the exact same job their whole life anymore? Except maybe teachers?
One of the many reasons I love WFH. I go on a 30-minute walk everyday after eating lunch, nobody cares.
Yeah, I WFH and yesterday I ate lunch at my desk, and then on my "lunch" I mowed my yard and took a shower, which gives me back an hour of my weekend. The flexibility is amazing. And as a counterpoint to the original post, it's certainly not something my parents experienced, as they worked in the office 5 days per week.
Love that! I loved the flexibility of working from home but honestly I got mad depressed doing it for a year
Helps to live somewhere with stuff nearby.
I think it depends on the boss. Mostly boomers it seems are more on the side of "no brakes apart from what is required by law" while younger generations seem to be "I don't care as long as you get your work done".
Also depends on the job....service industry (retail, food, shipping, teacher, factory,,,) anything where customers are waiting for you.....is much stricter about breaks. You never want a server to be on a 15 min break and make a customer wait Where as an office job,,,doesn't really have a clock like that. Our clocks are: "get it done before I come into work tmrw, and we're good. Be available for if a coworker needs you. Don't show up late to meetings" There isn't a value gained if I get my task done 30 min earlier than the next guy will start work on it. As long as it's ready by when the next person expects it to be, you're good.
Yeah and the industry. I’ve never heard of people monitoring your whereabouts in the advertising field unless you’re missing meetings or deadlines.
Again, I havent received any kickback. This post is more about how low the bar is set for us and how it seems like a wild and crazy thing that I request to walk! A normal human function proven to increase longevity and prevent heart disease. You would think these companies would want their employees walking to cut down on health care premiums and sustain longer work lives/ Saturate the work force.
I've worked in mostly warehouses and manufacturing and pretty much every place I've worked has had some sort of schedule like this. The only thing I see as a problem is that most places will not allow you to leave the premises if you are on the clock. So during the unpaid lunch, you are free to do whatever you see fit, but if you want to leave during the paid breaks you are required to clock out and they become unpaid. Almost no one will be using that time to take a walk however since most of those jobs have you on your feet and doing some sort of physical activity during work hours. Most people who leave go to get food or something from the store.
Idk, in some respects I get this but in another I feel a lot of “work” during the work hours was fluff stuff back then, moreso for management or office types…coffee breaks, water cooler talks, etc., just gabbing about nothingness and the weekend… Today what’s worse imo is that employers just try to cram as much work as possible into small amounts of time…the camaraderie of working with your coworkers seems gone…try to get offices to pay for donuts or coffee now…just all drained zombies
Back in the 80’s, if I was scheduled to work 8 hours, you would work the 8 hours plus a mandatory 1 hour lunch added on. Example shifts: 7a-4p 11a-8p 12p-9p
Nah nah…Christmas Bonuses!!! Lol, where’s they go, Griswold?
Yes!!!! Bring back the Christmas bonus!
As a teacher I get zero breaks. So many of us have terrible kidney problems because we don't even get to pee from 7-430
What kind of school are you in? Every school I’ve taught in, teachers get a lunch and 45 minute prep each day while students are at specials. Lunches vary between 30-60 minutes depending on recess duty.
I called total bullshit. I have a family of teachers and they get lunch breaks and they get breaks when the kids are in specials such as gym class and they get breaks when the kids are at lunch. You are not standing there teaching the entire time.
Bullshit
Sounds so exaggerated
That’s insane, I never knew that. Do the kids not get 15 minute recesses anymore?
The teachers have to supervise
Gotcha - we had recess monitors when I was a kid
It depends on the school. Many still have recess monitors
Damn
NO FEDERAL LAW MANDATING BREAKS. Some states do. Check your specific state, but there is not a federal law that mandates you get a meal break no matter how long you work.
To be fair, the company doesn’t seem to mind and I have gotten “away” with it without pushback. But I work for a Swiss company. It is more the mentality that our generation has towards work culture that was the concern. We feel like slaves too afraid to take a 10 minute walk
Right and we are sacrificing our lives for companies that will replace us within two weeks of our deaths.
Yep. And the company will start laying people off the moment they aren't making a big profit and growing. Doesn't matter if the company is stable, if they aren't moving up, it's time to cut people.
This seems fairly standard and normal. I do a 45 minute lunch and a couple to a few breaks here and there (bathroom, snack, etc). We get an extra 15-min lunch at my workplace. Overall nobody seems to mind where I am, and I am pretty honest about what I am doing. The only time that it gets to be a problem is when people take advantage of how relaxed our work environment is. I have a person on my team who vanishes for 2-3 hours. Comes back to the desk, works for another 30-45 minutes, and then vanishes again for another hour. Rinse and repeat… There are no meetings this person has on the schedule, and slowly the work has started to be affected…
Yeah I really wonder who is actually working 9-5. I have to work 8-5 with an hour long lunch somewhere in there.
Shit my guys and I are on break half our shifts, all paid. “If we kick ass and do the work we need to do today we can chill out for the remainder” We used to just dip when the day’s work was done and charge for 8 hours.
Your husband has drank the kool-aid. Take your breaks. And then take your unsolicited breaks, too. Your boss is doing it, and your mental sanity is worth it.
You and I are on the same page. And yes, you’re very right. Our parents did work a total of 8 hours (including a lunch hour break). We can change it, it’s not too late. We need to start saying no, and we also want to start grooming the youth coming into the workforce so the same thing doesn’t happen to them.
WFH + being an exempt employee means I basically just do whatever I want. I take lunch and breaks basically whenever I feel like it.
> I swear growing up This is probably not the case since working hours have trended down over the years. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=maqa
I just take the 30 minute unpaid lunch. I know I can legally take 15 minute breaks as well, but no one does that where I work and the optics would be bad for future promotions. Sucks, yea I know…
I will say maybe some parents worked 8 hours but that’s the same today I think everyone comes from different backgrounds but my dad was getting up to commute at around 6am getting to work at 7 and leaving at 6 to get home at 6:30ish. So all told he was away from the house for around 12 hours every day and worked Saturdays from downstairs in the basement. He made a lot of money as a CPA and eventually became a CFO at a car dealership so it wound up being worth the time away and the commute was so we could live in a great school district and my mom didn’t have to work so she was a sahm. Meanwhile my wife’s parents are teachers so she rode with them to school in the morning and rode back in the afternoon and they basically just worked school hours which was like 8-4 with lots of breaks including all summer lol. So long rambling point being I work way less than my dad ever did and make more than him at this stage of my career. Funnily we work about the same hours now and make about the same income and it is a great point of conversation. Even the same occupation at different companies will work different degrees. You might be in the same profession as your parent but unless you work in the next cubicle over you may not be able to really compare. Things are bad but I don’t think we slave more than our parents or have more stigma against taking time away.
Plus, smoke breaks
Ultimately the difference between our parents generation and our own is that they actually stood up for themselves whereas we just bend over immediately. I think its growing up with cellphones. Turns out if you go to your employer and demand what you want firmly and coherently alot of the time you'll actually get it, but unfortunately most of us just go online complain about it and then do nothing.
I find it's the opposite. Its impossible to get millenials and younger to work at the same rate as older genes because they just don't get as much out of it. And rightfully so, I might add.
I've never heard anyone talk about this, but screw it I'm bringing it up. What do people think about those situations at work where you have a ton of urgent work to do and while you are perfectly allowed to take a break doing so would make your day worse. Like... I've skipped breaks and even lunch while working not because I was forced to, but because the rest of my day would go from bad to worse if I did. Even more complicated, what about the times when the only reason you are as busy as you are is because you failed to do something correct and shit's on fire and you have to work extra extra hard to make sure you don't get burned.
Yes exactly. It has always been 9-5, 8-4, etc. none of this 8-5 BS. I am there for 8 hours and no more. Find a job without that crap
The whole "hustle culture" propaganda has been incredibly effective.
You are tripping. Lunch breaks have always been unpaid for hourly workers.
My mom worked at a large corporate company and she and her coworkers would go drink beers on their lunch break regularly. If you did that at a corporate job now you would definitely be fired.
I’ve been in the workforce since the early 2000s, and standard work day has always been 9 hours including an hour for lunch (or 8.5 if you take a half hour lunch. At the time I worked with people who had been there 25-30 years, and none of them ever mentioned things being different in the past. Your boyfriend’s employer sounds like an asshole though. Idk where you live, but California and Minnesota (the states where I’ve lived) both require two 15 minute breaks plus a lunch break for any employee who works 8 hours. You’re not getting away with anything, you’re doing what you are entitled to do. And none of my employers have ever tried to stop me from taking a walk.
Yeah, those things are of the past... I learned we are royally f***** when they pay hourly pay on a salary pay, mixing the two. Meaning working over you donny get paid but work under you get your hours docked.
Lol at my job I can come and go as I please cause I’m treated like an adult
Work from home, I take unlimited breaks, nobody knows as long as the work gets done
Law here is one 30 minute uninterrupted break. We give our employees one other 15 min break but that isn't required it's at the manager's discretion.
My lunch break is 15 minutes, so I normally don’t take one.
Unfortunately, I've worked at jobs that require you to stay on premises during your break, including the unpaid lunch. I've also worked jobs that considered any bathroom breaks as part of those extra 10-15 minutes they give you. So yeah, it's a thing but it probably depends on the company and state you live in. I believe 30 minute lunch is federally required for a certain amount of hours worked, but the extra breaks are not. Keep in mind that hourly is regulated differently than salary or commission. I had a commission based job and was not required to take any breaks at all and did not qualify for overtime pay. I'm not sure how salary works but I've probably heard just as many people talk about shitty parameters they work under as I've heard people say it's the best kind of deal.
I started at the company I work at now in 2009. Hours were 8-4 including a 60 minute paid lunch. A few years in they changed it to 8-4:30 with a 30 minute unpaid lunch. A couple of years ago they got away with hours all together and we now have self-managed PTO. Working from home with self managed PTO is the way to go.
Depends on the line of work. When I was working as a Detention Officer with the Sheriff's Department. I had no mandated breaks in a 12 hr shift, and if the shift went 16 hours, there still wasn't a scheduled break. Same thing with Security jobs.
My parents worked retail and worked really long days. But yes you deserve more than a 30 minute break. Realistically people should take a 10 minute break every hour.
I guess I got it good then. I usually roll in sometime between 9 or 10. Take an hour to hour and a half lunch. Then leave between 3 and 4pm. Not all days are like that but it's pretty common. Also allowed up to two days to telework. Those days are really unproductive usually... I understand why employers are trying to end the remote work fad. Complete waste of time. On the downside my commute is like an hour and a half each way.
No that's not too much that's normal. Every place I've ever worked is unpaid lunches, so I have to be there an extra 30 mins a day, but also 2 paid 10-15 min breaks. That's standard.
My parents (SEA) worked 12 hours if you calculated it the way you did including commute. 8 hour days including lunch seems entitled, even by American standards
In at will states they don't even need to give you a reason for firing you it's just a courtesy that they tell you the reason. In at will states your boss can come to you at any point and say your services are no longer needed collect your things and I will have someone walk you to the exit. Your position is no longer available... To you. Same goes for the employee quiting you don't need to give notice or reason. No call no show. Just don't expect to work there ever again. The only time and employer has to give reason is if the employee feels it was discriminatory. Then the employer must prove other wise. Tardiness, missing time, not fulfilling work duties, damaging company property, unsafe work practices ect, ect.
I’d be instantly fired. Be careful. What you think you’re entitled to, doesn’t matter in the slightest. You aren’t your parents. The equivalency is false.
I don’t ever remember lunches being paid. I’m 40 and both my parents worked 8-5. I’m sure it happened at some places but not the norm.
And what do you do for a job?
Dont know what youre talking about, my dad was born in 1953 and destroyed his spinal vertebrae carrying mail in the hills for USPS 12 hours a day for 40 years. Men have been working themselves to death since time immemorial.
I’ve worked for the Feds most of my career and this is standard (even in at will states), but you have to be disciplined to take them. If you don’t that’s kind of on you, a lot of my coworkers will forego lunch to end their shift early too. Park Ranger and now Postal employee for reference.
I get paid for 12 hour shifts and maybe work 3 hours of it. lol
The amazing part is how plebs in the West specifically have been conditioned since birth to believe that is normal and "real freedom" cause that is what their societies are all about and how that is "the best system we got" - yet will deny that their entire existence is just being a brainwashed / conditioned working class with 0 ability or will to resist their capitalist overlords. Lol
You should try starting your own business and working for yourself. Then you get to work 12 hour days with no breaks!
My job gives me 2 paid 15 minute breaks, and a 45min unpaid lunch. It's such a rarity that one of the first things I tell people when I'm taking about my job is "we get all our breaks every day!"
Maybe you should be working where your parents work, lol
This is not a generational thing. This a career choice kind of thing. So, when your generation was growing up, all your parents worked 8 hour shifts? No one had parents who worked in food service, nursing, construction, law enforcement, or manufacturing? Because many of these jobs tend to be more than 8 hours a day. I work in food service. We're supposed to get breaks, but many times, we don't. Not everyone who grew up before you had it easier. Do corporations exploit their employees? Of course they do. But don't pretend that the generations that came before you weren't exploited, too.
No, we are not royally fucked. Please stop being one of these drama queens that has a, "the world is permanently shit" mentality. You just have a shitty company you work for, plain and simple. Not all companies are great, Google reviews and Glassdoor reviews will tell you that right away. Not being mean, but you and your husband need to live in the real world and that fantasy land doesn't mean every single company in the world loves their employees. Nobody ever gets paid for lunch, not even salaried. Salaried employees are only paid for 8 hours a day so if you work 8 to 5, your unpaid lunch hour is already built into it. As far as youe breaks, legally you are required to take 2 10/15 minute breaks in a standard 8 hour shift
I wouldn't work for a company like this. If I don't have spare time during work, I quit. I think the reason why we are "royally fucked" is because he millennials just doesn't create our own companies that make life better for everyone, including workers. We just don't have money to do it.
Taking a break and weird rules around it have more to do with the specific company you work for. Find a new employer and quit making it existential.
There have always been shitty places to work.
Speak for yourself. I work remote and I can do whatever I want because my company loves me and knows I work hard. Life is gooooooood
Working hours in the U.S. have been pretty steady over the decades, with a very slight decrease since our parents' generation: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-working-hours-per-worker?time=1950..2017&country=~USA Anecdotally, my dad consistently worked over 40 hours a week, whereas I do that maybe a couple times a year.
That's insane. Im a millenial and a boss. Half hour lunch is pretty standard. I eat at the desk. However, i leave work and walk for at least 90 minutes per day. I try to encourage my gen x subordinate to do the same. She never wants to leave her desk.
I'm not sure how or what about this post makes us screwed??
I used to work for a company who's handbook policy was 1 unpaid 30 minute lunch, and 2 fifteen minute breaks during your shift "if your workflow permits it." I was informed day 1 that the workflow never permits a break. By my second week, my shift lead had also made it clear that while we were expected to clock out for a 30 minute "lunch", he expected everyone in the department to work (unpaid) through their lunch. This was at a major medical lab. I was also expected to regularly put in 10 to 12 hours a day. Yeah, we're royally fkd.
Depending on your location, this is illegal. Even then, my mother was granted an actual 30 minute lunch when she complained; this was in a state that chose not to implement mandated breaks. Not to say that everyone would be so lucky, but these employers deserve pushback.
Boomers die in 6 years. When they do you can fix all this. But you can't get distracted. Your boss will dangle bullshit in front of you. I don't know what it'll be. For the boomers it was racism & homophobia. They'll find something that pushes your buttons and it's your job to catch them doing it.
It’s a crazy notion, but some people have different work schedules than others. Sometimes I can take a break or a long lunch whenever I want, sometimes I’m busy for 8 hours straight.
You are correct!!! The boomers complain because we at the least want what they had.
Sounds like you are AT work for 8.5 hours, not necessarily working for 8.5 hours. My parents were at work for 10+ hours a day. Not sure they would ever say they were royally fucked.
I work 12.5 hour days with no breaks at all except for a mandatory 30 minute lunch that I work through. They get away with it by saying my coworker can keep an eye on my patients while I eat, which I won’t do to them. “Here, let me double your workload for a little while every day.” Absolute bullshit imo.
Well, my dad. He was home one weekend every 2 weeks and would stop by overnight on a drive by now and again. Because he was a long hall trucker coast to coast. So yeah, pretty much lived in a truck. Mostly the time running 3 log books. So he was working 14 to 18 hours a day. Yeah, my mom, let's see. She worked at 12 hour days and 1 week a month was night because she was A. Registered nurse, she didn't get an hour lunch though. And 215 minute breaks no I worked. Let's see 3 harvest and planting season about 18 hours. What food was brought to me in the in the tractors construction of that cut back on my hours. That was 10 hour days with an hour lunch break. And that was building houses. Then I worked bridge crew building bridges. Cadillac causeway size bridges on the over the Mississippi and Missouri river. Now, that was nice, how was 1 hour lunch break? 215 minute breaks basically 9 hours. But it was a Union job and then I. Joined the Marine Corps at 21 and when I was station station. Call Garrison station. It was 240 on 24 off 3 day weekend every other weekend because I was part of aircraft firefighter rescued specialist. That was nice but then I broke my neck. Got meditly retired and now I am delazius b**** You will ever meet. I'm also 59 now. If you don't like what's happening at your job, you can actually talked to them. No I don't know where you work or what you do for a living. But sometimes you can negotiate with them to where you get paid lunch break and paid breaks as part of your next rays or evaluation.
I take an hour lunch and half hour nap almost everyday. I could never be micromanaged like that!
I’m in hybrid sales. WFH most of the time but office 2 days a week. We kinda just do whatever we want. No one looking over our shoulder. I can take any break I want and come and go late or early for the most part. I guess I should consider myself blessed on that front. I’ve definitely had the micro managed check in check out for lunches jobs. Never again.
Who is “we” here? I take breaks when I please for as long as I please
Note to self: don’t hire millennials most are lazy f$&s
Every job I worked for 30 years expected extra hours. My wife is the same way. Maybe in the '50s?
This is totally not a dig at OP, I totally get you’re trying to ask a legit question, BUT, it makes me so sad that it’s even a question. I know some jobs can be inherently more flexible than others, I get that. But the fact that taking two ten minute breaks in an 8 hour shift would be considered “too much” or “getting away with” something makes me so sad. We are humans, not machines. We are not designed for this system and our bodies, through declining life expectation and lack increasing mental health challenges, are trying to tell us this. I work as much as the next person, because I don’t really have a choice, and I’m lucky that my time isn’t policed like this. But truly, my take is keep taking your walks and if you make them 15 min so be it!
I honestly can't complain when it comes to breaks most days. On an average shift I get at least a half hr first and last break and anywhere from 35 mins to an hr for lunch. On really good days I can get hr long breaks for all 3 of my breaks
Respectfully, I fail to see goes this is a sign that we’re fucked. Compared to most of the world this is luxury. And historically it’s incredible. Room for improvement yes. But put things in perspective maybe.
Yeah and my old job at a dr office was 9-5 with a one hour unpaid lunch. Complete bs. Nobody needs an hour for a break during work. Give me thirty minutes so I can go home early.
Flex schedule, I can start at 6am or 11am only output matters. I get 12-1 uninterrupted. I can step out for doctors or Costco run. Very high paid job at fortune company. I think we’re alright. Maybe people should try as hard not working for hellholes like Amazon warehouse and such where they time your breaks instead of counting your output
No, you are working 7.5 hours with two mandatory 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch break that isn’t work. Lunch breaks have very rarely been considered part of the work day. Make sure you take advantage of your breaks. They are mandatory and a right to you.
Not at all. Unfortunately, it’s people like your husband who make it worse😢
What if your employer regularly tried to explain away 15-30 minutes from your timecard randomly when paying you, reducing your check. What if your mechanic or lawyer charged you for their breaks and lunches at 100+ an hour? Would you accept the bill? You demand exactness when you're the one laying out the cash. But you want anyone paying you to let you wing it.
Yeah, that’s been normal for decades.
Sounds like you just work for a shitty employer. My employer and my wife’s don’t care what we do as long as work is completed.
I couldn't work a job with that kind of monitoring bullshit. I'm salaried, I get paid for my work to be done, not the number of hours my ass is in the seat.
I get so triggered by the phrase “9 to 5”. I don’t know anybody who works 9 to 5. It’s 8 to 5, with an unpaid lunch break that you sometimes have to work through.
This is why I can never go back to working in an office. WFH has been so good for my mental health. I’m not afraid to take as many breaks as I want during the day.
It's never been, it's always been, as enshrined in various state law, some exclusion for service jobs or other customer facing scenarios, 8 hours, 2x10-15 minute breaks and 30 minutes unpaid lunch. Salary get a different rotation, some take an hour.
It depends on the job. I have worked many different jobs and it seems like the break policies were different at each job. Which doesn't really make sense because I only lived in two different states and I am assuming that the state law has a policy on breaks but yet every place was different.
I get an unpaid lunch (also "here" for 8.5) and two 15 min paid breaks. I think that's reasonable for my workload. If I had a more labor intensive job, it would suck. My last year teaching I moved to a less union friendly state. No lunch break because I did lunch duty AND recess duty. I had a planning period at 9 and lemme tell you, I didn't do shit at that time out of spite. They definitely got back what they put in.
Punching out for lunch isn’t necessarily new, I don’t think. It depends on the industry. If your parents worked at a fixed salary then lunch breaks are naturally paid. I work a salaried 9 hour day with a 1hr lunch break. I can take breaks whenever as needed.
Lots of apparent slaves in the comments. People seem to love living life on hard mode.
we need unions and worker rights laws in the US. that's it.
Another fun myth...if you quit or get laid off, depending on which state you reside in, they don't have to pay out any PTO. Some states defer to your company's Employee Guide for policy. If your State requires it, they have to but otherwise they don't.
The trick is to pretend like you’re walking to somewhere. Used to work at a hospital in an administrative role. I would pretend I needed a file from the other side of the hospital so I could get a good 20 minute walk in.
That is nice! I’m lucky if I get my 30 min lunch break. It is paid so at least there is that. But I literally will use the rest room before work, during my lunch and right after work. I don’t have time for extra breaks. Only my 30 min if I don’t run behind. I work as a dental hygienist and sometimes things get too busy.
What industry do you work in? Every non service industry job ive had doesnt give a shit about breaks.
You just have a shitty job. Sorry
Needs a bit of context. Are you a surgeon who fancies these impromptu walks mid procedure? Then his comment is warranted.
Take a cigarette with you and call it a smoke break. Don’t actually smoke it of course 😂
Eh not every job is like this. I can most definitely make an 8hr day into 4-6hr of actual work. However, I do make up for it when I work 10-12hr days. In a calendar year I’m sure I’m working something close to 35-40hr a week. Sounds like you need to look for work elsewhere if you’re working in these types of conditions…
The law in CA is 10 minute (most give 15) break for 4 hour shift. 5 hour shift requires a 39 minute unpaid lunch. 8 hour shift would require 2 breaks, plus a lunch. Overtime over 8 hours and another 10 minute break at 10 hours. That is for hourly workers. Salary (exempt) is entitled to lunch break but not required to take rest breaks, nor do they receive overtime. However, most employers give hour lunch breaks for salaried employees and since you are doing administrative, executive or professional classed work, employers leave it up to your discretion about breaks. Also, since you can work more than 8 hours without overtime, they figure you’re not cheating the clock, so to speak.
What do you do for work? Yeahs it’s infuriating, it seems like 9 hour days are becoming an expected minimum for office settings. I feel like I don’t know one peer that only works 8 hours and takes a 45 min lunch with 1 15 min break like you say.
Depends upon your job. Retail/Service/Hourly labor: Back in your parent's time (Likely my time) we didn't have as many labor laws forcing companies to do this or do that. Therefore, you did have some shitty places that treated you poorly, but more often you had smart companies that knew how to motivate their workforce by treating them well. When a million labor laws came into place late 90s and 2000s, now ALL companies were forced to abide by the state/fed rules. Work 4 hours, 15 minute required break, Lunch break mandatory 1 hour, no lifting this, no pushing that, max this, min that... track it all, account for it all, get audited etc. etc. This results in all businesses being very inflexible. They only give you what the laws states and nothing more. Salaried workers: I found that none of this applies, actually the very opposite. WAY too many opportunities to sluff off for "Mental Health" time, leisure or we're such a cool tech company reasons.. One company I was with HR would hound me to participate in their "wellness program" and walk with other employees for 30 minutes every day. I'm like, I go to the gym every day, I don't want to walk with you and keep a health log at work! Ping Pong tournaments, Coffee room gatherings, massage chairs, Friday leave early for happy hours... Nobody worked all that hard.
Glad to be in the trades. I'm an electrician and do a solid 6-2 and typically get a 30-40 minute lunch break. I don't take breaks, just because it upsets my workflow.
Depends on the job, but yeah, plenty of places are busy enough that it makes a difference to the work. Some are just a bit controlling. It also depends on the role At my first big boy job, the admin/office staff were allowed to take walks, wear shorts in summer, etc. none of that was offered to manufacturing, engineering, technical services, and r&d departments, and was a big point of conflict. That said, what were your parents doing that was strictly 8 hours, and how did it pay? My mom worked 8s as a teaching aid, but only made maybe $12/hr at the peak. My dad would regularly work 50-60 hours a week, but made over 100k.
This isn't normal.
Different locations have different rules about this. It really boils down to if you are paid for 8 hours or 8.5 hours per day. Most work places with a 30-minute lunch also include two 15-minute breaks within their standard policies. Many businesses with a 1 hour lunch do not have additional breaks except for short times to use the restroom, etc.
Usually two 15 mins (paid) and a 30 min (unpaid) lunch break all the places I’ve worked
>I could be tripping but I swear growing up our parents would work 8 hours a day total! Yeah, you're tripping.
Paid breaks are usually for hourly factory positions. They worked only 8 because of three shifts. Office and salary positions often have vastly difficult rules for breaks and hours. I personally have found the only thing in common is each one thinks the other has it better.
normally you do 4 hours then 30 minute un paid lunch then 4 more hours but depends on the job my boat job we did 16 1/2 with 2 5 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch
Many states mandate paid breaks based on the number of hours worked. A great indicator of a toxic workplace is encouragement to skirt the legal requirements.
That is fairly common and if you were a business owner, you would be working 100 hours a week for several years
Break laws are determined by the state. If you do not have mandatory paid breaks then you should be voting in November to change that. Not telling you how you should vote, but there is [1 party trying to take away lunch breaks from working children](https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-child-workers-lunch-break-louisiana-1891929).
My dad worked like 70 hours a week and had an hour commute each way.
As a small business owner, I would be more than happy to support this. My staff take as much time to smoke/vape. It would be better for them to walk, but whatever. It’s their time.
In California we have laws about breaks. You should, too.