People who work through unpaid breaks annoy me.

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trencheel303

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I'm a believer in a favour for a favour and I'm lucky that my boss is of similar mindset ,have to agree about working through your lunch break ,bit of a mugs game that ,plus its a HS issue . I do a hard manual job there's no way I'd work through or not take my entitled breaks ,in my surroundings its dangerous
 
Some of us that do it are not mugs as you say it is often the fact that we are needed. i hardley ever get a full break or any at all. and why because the customer comes first. so if i am needed on the shop floor then i go on the shop floor. ok my job is not rocket science but hay ho..
 
I hate people who take fag breaks during paid time when non smokers carry on working.
 
tiler65 said:
I hate people who take fag breaks during paid time when non smokers carry on working.
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shall i start on that one...

oh" let so and so go have a cig" emmmm i was due my break 2 hours ago but he/she gets to have a Cig.. and then gets a chuffing break on top of the 3/4 fag breaks he has had. ...

i'll stop
 
gumbo-67 said:
Some of us that do it are not mugs as you say it is often the fact that we are needed. i hardley ever get a full break or any at all. and why because the customer comes first. so if i am needed on the shop floor then i go on the shop floor. ok my job is not rocket science but hay ho..
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thank you

i am the same

to the OP

glad you think i am a mug

family run buisness and yet what you are saying annoys me , i do this to help the buisness survive in such a time we cant afford to loose money
 
what an unbelievable bunch of whimpy whiney lot you are....:)

the answer to your problems is so simple...
just mind you own sodding business and let others lead there life how they want..


just IMHO :)
 
I'll say swings and roundabouts.........

Give and take

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to have a boss with similar interests (i.e. If I work through lunch can I F.O. at 3 because I have an appointment with the first Tee at 4pm) and we didn't exactly pay any attention to core hours etc etc.... and I have done similar for people who have worked for me, when I was in a managerial position...... it's a bit of give and take..... but those who work thorough lunch to prove a point they are the hardest working donkey is odd......
 
I sometime work my lunch hour (don't get any other breaks).
My employer gives me time off as and when I need it provided I make up the time.
I help myself by working extra through busy periods, keeping clients happy, giving me less stress.
 
I have no problem to work through if I need to, to get the job done. I will also start early and work late.

But I don't every day, and also make sure that I get my time back in other ways, and at other times.

I have worked a job where I started at 0745 and finished at 1800, with an hour for lunch. But the nature of the job often meant working through lunches and I have started a day at 0530 and finished at gone 10pm, without a "lunch" though having eaten. I would do that for 5 days a week then also do every other saturday morning.

However, that was the nature of the job. I am sure that some self employed people will be along in a minute to tell me that my 60-70 hour weeks (though no every week I must add) are nothing compared to what they do.
 
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
 
wisemen said:
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
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You were lucky ;)
 
wisemen said:
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
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bloody hell, i used to get up half an hour before i went to bed work 25 hours a day down mill 8 days a week and pay mill owner 6pence for the privilege.

You had it lucky.
 
wisemen said:
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
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You had a shoebox? Our dad used a rusty axe!
 
I suppose if this is all we have to worry about, then we're pretty darned lucky.

There's a lot of people out there who feel lucky just to wake up in the morning and live another day.
 
Does this also include the hour or so before 9am and the hour or so after 17:30 ? I have no issue what so ever about working through lunch, or after work, or starting early, if it benefits me.

if you work in an environment which provides for performance related pay, working through lunch breaks is not doing it for free. It's allowing you to complete work which gets you additional money (e.g. I'll often close business with a phone call over the lunch break).

Steve
 
trencheel303 said:
It's your employers duty to provide cover while you and/or other employees are on a break. If you are having to avoid breaks just to keep business going it means you're overworked. It's also illegal to be asked to work through an unpaid break.

A lot of employers think it is perfectly acceptable because so many people do it. Funny: Work an hour of unpaid time, and nobody says a word. Leave 5 minutes early and you get the hot coals...
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i know all of the above but if you have ever worked in a shop and there is 2 people 2 tills and 20 customers what am i ment to do? "sod it she can cope" and yes we are understaffed. but it is just not one to get some one else in just to cover breaks. as some one else has said it is not all the time and it is a case of i help you you help me.. aprt from the smoking on paid time that stil bugs the life out of me..
 
i quite often eat lunch at my desk and get the phone if no-one else is available.

i dont know whether its a case of being a doormat, more a case of it makes some peoples lives easier in that there is currently too much work for them to do as it is and with breaks it just stacks up further.

that said we do go out friday lunchtime and usually make up for some of the break time lost..
 
As a tomato picker working in a greenhouse, during the long hot summer months I used to get straight down to work after coming in at 5.30 am and just keep going non-stop until I have done what needs doing and get away by between 1 pm and 2 pm thus avoiding the mid-afternoon greenhouse heat. That way it feels like I have the rest of the day to wind down and relax (usually spent being asleep due to heat exhaustion!). I also find that once I sit down to eat, I find it hard to get going again.
However, in the winter months I revert back to a bog-standrad 39 hours week and since then I'm only earning the basic minimum wage THEN I religiously have the normal morning and mid-day tea breaks, especially since the workload usually drop back at this time of the year.

However, since I'm going to be made redundant after 17 years of working for that same tomato greenhouse firm, I guess life will probably turn out to be one very, very long tea break for me. :shrug:
 
wisemen said:
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
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PMSL :lol:

perfect timing.
 
dougietee said:
They might have nothing better to do.
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like me...not that I work hard;)

there is nothing to do on lunch break....

but if needed I can take a couple hours break and go somewhere to sort some things...Boss has no objections ;)

and many times we can leave around 1 hour earlier anyhow :)
 
trencheel303 said:
I know it sounds like such a petty thing to say, but it does... You're not proving anything except that you're prepared to be a doormat and work for free. In other words, a mug.

People who work through an entire unpaid lunchbreak, for instance, is the exact kind of thing that makes management's heads grow bigger. What is wrong with people?!?! Take breaks!
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why do you care?

if they want to work whatever they want to work, how does it affect you?
 
Have you ever noticed that more good things happen to those who are a little early than those who are a little late?

Have you ever noticed that those who put in a little more effort at work are the ones who get a bigger pay rise and get promoted faster?
 
KIPAX said:
what an unbelievable bunch of whimpy whiney lot you are....:)

the answer to your problems is so simple...
just mind you own sodding business and let others lead there life how they want..


just IMHO :)
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No subtlety but so true, fair made me laugh, did that!
 
er - what are these words - lunch? break? not something you come across when you're a freelance.

Just thought of an other one - holiday - what's that?
 
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trencheel303 said:
I care because people shouldn't feel the need to work through their unpaid break times just to make ends meet. What really annoys me is that a lot of managers will actually let it happen without saying a word, despite the legal implications or the effects on the workforce. I'd also be willing to bet that it's a false economy; if I worked through lunch break without eating anything properly, by 3 O'clock I'd be zombiefied and unable to focus on anything. Hell, even with a big lunch, I'm still starving by the time I go home and make myself a big dinner.

It also makes the rest of us, who take the breaks that we have a right to, look bad in front of the management. Like I said above, I don't know anyone who works through their breaks to get any recognition for it either. When I started here I used to do it all the time, fighting tooth and nail to meet the clients' needs and sometimes letting my lunch go cold. My boss never said thank you, or well done, instead just sat there like nothing was happening. I eventually stopped doing that, take my full hour to the second and if I don't get all the work done by the end of the day because of it, well I tell my boss that we're understaffed just like I did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

I don't see why I should give one hour of my free time when I'm not going to get anything back in return.

Just sayin'.
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Are you someone who gives a gift to receive a gift?

some of us work through breaks etc cos we enjoy our job and it gives us self satisfaction to put effort in. I certainly don't need any recognition for doing so, I get a nice feeling of self worth that I put in a good shift. Not everything has to have a return for it to be worth doing
 
Perhaps this is why we no longer manufacture things in the UK ( except debt of course), half a bowl of rice a week........ you want a break? (in a slightly eastern accent).

All for rights but I work with someone who don't give a toss and it's bloody annoying!:bang:

To all the Python fans......respect!
 
Ian D J said:
As a tomato picker working in a greenhouse, during the long hot summer months I used to get straight down to work after coming in at 5.30 am and just keep going non-stop until I have done what needs doing and get away by between 1 pm and 2 pm thus avoiding the mid-afternoon greenhouse heat. That way it feels like I have the rest of the day to wind down and relax (usually spent being asleep due to heat exhaustion!). I also find that once I sit down to eat, I find it hard to get going again.
However, in the winter months I revert back to a bog-standrad 39 hours week and since then I'm only earning the basic minimum wage THEN I religiously have the normal morning and mid-day tea breaks, especially since the workload usually drop back at this time of the year.

However, since I'm going to be made redundant after 17 years of working for that same tomato greenhouse firm, I guess life will probably turn out to be one very, very long tea break for me. :shrug:
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Ian, When in season, how many other people work in the greenhouse? And how many of these are workers from other EU countries?

I am going to guess that there is quite a few, and that they come in, get their heads down and get the job done. And I'll bet you have had plenty of Brits start working there and not last?

If I'm correct, and I appreciate I am jumping to conclusions, it is exactly for these reasons that the Tomato farmer I met and had a tour of his greenhouses (fascinating industry, loved the trip :thumbs:) prefered the Polish workers to the brits because they used to ask how late they could work to, to get more money, rather than asking when they could finish, like the brits would.

Slightly off topic....
 
trencheel303 said:
I care because people shouldn't feel the need to work through their unpaid break times just to make ends meet. What really annoys me is that a lot of managers will actually let it happen without saying a word, despite the legal implications or the effects on the workforce. I'd also be willing to bet that it's a false economy; if I worked through lunch break without eating anything properly, by 3 O'clock I'd be zombiefied and unable to focus on anything. Hell, even with a big lunch, I'm still starving by the time I go home and make myself a big dinner.

It also makes the rest of us, who take the breaks that we have a right to, look bad in front of the management. Like I said above, I don't know anyone who works through their breaks to get any recognition for it either. When I started here I used to do it all the time, fighting tooth and nail to meet the clients' needs and sometimes letting my lunch go cold. My boss never said thank you, or well done, instead just sat there like nothing was happening. I eventually stopped doing that, take my full hour to the second and if I don't get all the work done by the end of the day because of it, well I tell my boss that we're understaffed just like I did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

I don't see why I should give one hour of my free time when I'm not going to get anything back in return.

Just sayin'.
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I work through my lunch hour to make everyone who doesn't look bad.

Actually I don't take an hour for lunch, I just stop, eat my sarnies and then carry on. Some days I'll have to work 'til 5 nut others I can be done by 3 and there's never an issue with me leaving then.
 
trencheel303 said:
I care because people shouldn't feel the need to work through their unpaid break times just to make ends meet. What really annoys me is that a lot of managers will actually let it happen without saying a word, despite the legal implications or the effects on the workforce. I'd also be willing to bet that it's a false economy; if I worked through lunch break without eating anything properly, by 3 O'clock I'd be zombiefied and unable to focus on anything. Hell, even with a big lunch, I'm still starving by the time I go home and make myself a big dinner.

It also makes the rest of us, who take the breaks that we have a right to, look bad in front of the management. Like I said above, I don't know anyone who works through their breaks to get any recognition for it either. When I started here I used to do it all the time, fighting tooth and nail to meet the clients' needs and sometimes letting my lunch go cold. My boss never said thank you, or well done, instead just sat there like nothing was happening. I eventually stopped doing that, take my full hour to the second and if I don't get all the work done by the end of the day because of it, well I tell my boss that we're understaffed just like I did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

I don't see why I should give one hour of my free time when I'm not going to get anything back in return.

Just sayin'.
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For one i dont get an hour lunch, i get 2 x 2 min breaks a day, but hey, thats education...

And i generally work through it because in todays world, im really happy that im not a statistic they talk about on the radio everyday.

I get a pay packet, and i can pay my bills, and i even have a little left to play with.

Just be glad we have a job..... there is always someone that is willing to work through their lunch break to get your job :)
 
My personal feelings on this is it depends on what industry you are in, sometimes it is not possible to have a full break whether it be luch or elevenses.

I work in the building industry and I always take my breaks but not to the letter as I am all for give and take, my gaffer needs a job done I will work it but I need half hour off to go anywhere its ok.

I think alot of people forget where "breaks" come from and how they where derived, go back to the beggining of last centry and people worked all hours for little pay with no real breaks, then think of all the people that went without when they said enough was enough and striked and faught hard to get a little time to regenerate.
My dad was one of those people who faught hard to get what we have now, he hated to see people work through their breaks for no real gain, other than to look good.(again he worked in the building industy)
H&S now dictates that we need breaks but I think it is still reletive to the work you do, and the situation you are in.

spike
 
lawrie29 said:
Ian, When in season, how many other people work in the greenhouse? And how many of these are workers from other EU countries?

I am going to guess that there is quite a few, and that they come in, get their heads down and get the job done. And I'll bet you have had plenty of Brits start working there and not last?

If I'm correct, and I appreciate I am jumping to conclusions, it is exactly for these reasons that the Tomato farmer I met and had a tour of his greenhouses (fascinating industry, loved the trip :thumbs:) prefered the Polish workers to the brits because they used to ask how late they could work to, to get more money, rather than asking when they could finish, like the brits would.

Slightly off topic....
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Hi Lawrie :) Actually, I'm not sure if it applies to every tomato greenhouse in the UK but in my place the migrants got paid by the hour (at minimum rate) but only the straight eight hours a day doing just the picking, so they can - and usually do - go slow!
Us local workers (and there wasn't that many of us wanting to take on the job, so you're right when we have had so many Brits turning up and lasting only for a few days before saying they had enough - amazing I lasted out 17 years looking back!) where there were 6 local and up to 8 imported from other EU countries. The locals (including me) got to be allocated our own plot during the summer season and got paid according to the size of the plot. In other words, the bigger the plot, the bigger the wages and when you become as proficent as me after a few years of it, it actually was a very good deal. Except I had to work 6 days a week solid for 8 months. Our migrants only filled in the gaps left by unwilling local workers and they worked the flat weekly 39 hour on basic minimum hourly rate - like I'm on in the winter months - but they provided cover for sickness leaves and got paid extra for that.
If anything, towards the end the boss wouldn't pay out overtime, just hoped everyone did the work - and generally we all did. That was until the firm folded up due to massive overheads (we're one of the very few greenhouses to use heavy oil purely for heating) and poor fruit prices along with severe competition from Thanet Earth located some 25 miles away.

The greenhouse industry is quite fascinating - even has it's own charm - but when you're like me and have been involved in it for nearly two decades, it does get a little tiresome. And I don't even like tomatoes.
 
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I am in education x2 30 min breaks .. work though one as a paid duty the other I am in my room with my years 7's coming in to chat and eat their pack lunch .. why cos I enjoy it ... others go to staff room and eat/drink .. .don't make me a mug .. makes me a caring individual who does not take kindly to the assumption that she is a mug based on your disgruntled working atmosphere/relations.
 
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