Our agreement says that we have to work 7.5 hours between 6am and 6pm, although within those 7.5 hours they have allowances for a couple breaks and a minimum suggested time for lunch.
Most of my coworkers take an hour for lunch, if not more, and I tend to take more time. It depends - I have projects to finish so if I'm behind then I will take a quick lunch. When possible I try to play cards with the Grumpy Old Men so that probably takes 1.5 hours total. I do a good job and everyone is happy with my productivity so nobody cares about the extra time.
I wouldn't survive in a place that didn't have flexible hours. Even now I am temporarily working in a place that is more picky about the schedule, but provided that I show up by 8:30am they don't care what I do with my day - I can go to the gym at 9:30am and they're happy with that.
30 minutes max. But by the time we walk the kids where they need to go, walk back with the ones who forgot their lunch, call angry parent, fill out some form or another for the boss, use the restroom...it's more like 15 minutes.
We get used to it, pretty much every teacher brings those little microwave meals. 3 minutes to heat and another 3 to eat!
i get a 45 minute lunch break...yes, thats right, 45 minute lunch break. because 1 hour is too long for 1 person to cover a teller window alone, but 30 minutes is too short and we cant be kept at work that extra 15 minutes at the end of the day, so we get 45 minute lunches.....retarded as hell.
I agree with Eddie though,if i could get away with it, i wouldnt take a lunch break at all, work straight through and go home after 8 hours. cant do that though, stuck taking a damn 45 minute lunch break....ugh!
Forty five minutes would be perfect! I agree that an hour can be too long - especially if you have no errands to run or no where else to be but half an hour is way too short.
The problem I see with the whole errand thing is that if you work in many areas it just isn't enough time. If you're in Manhattan it's easy to take care of business but if you are in a rural area or some office park then an hour really isn't enough time to do stuff efficiently. Even if you live in a city it's a pain to deal with things if you take public transit.
Like I said before, I'd rather skip lunch entirely and be able to leave at 3-4 pm and be able to do stuff on my time where I don't have to worry about getting back on time to work.
I would work a compressed schedule (or work straight through lunch,) too, but for one thing, I NEED down time in the middle of the day. I also need to eat--I can't just "grab a quick bite," because I have blood sugar issues. Yes, it's true I could snack all day, but I really suck at figuring out how much to take for mini-meals. LOL! (We all have our blind spots.)
Mainly, for me, it's the down time in the middle of the day.
Jen
Eddy, that's true, and good point. I live in the DC area and have the use of a car, so yes. That definitely makes a difference.
If I didn't, I'd probably spend my hour with my personal laptop, trying to get other things done.
I'm just grateful for the setup I have right now.
Jen M.
Voted "other" since I am unemployed.
At my last job, we got an hour for lunch, but most of the time I ate at my desk anyway.
I'm kind of flexible. When I first started, my official hours were 8:00 to 5:00 with 1 hour for lunch. But now I rarely get there for 8:00 (only if I have a meeting) and my lunch hour changes from day to day. If I am busy and it isn't convenient to take a break, I will quickly grab something to eat and have it at my desk while I work. If I need to get something done out of the office, I will go out for an hour to an hour and a half.
I wouldn't like it if I had to have my lunch at a set time for a set period. If I am on a roll with something right at "lunch-time", I don't want to take the break right then. I get my work done and stay late or work at home when needed, so they give me the flexibility to make my own choices on lunch.
Where do you work Crystalfire? and are they hiring? ROFL! i'd think i had died and gone to heaven if i could have that kinda flexibility!