New job and lunch break

BonandDom

LadyMissA wrote: »

and you have no rights to a 20 min break away from the desk? Whatever anyone says it's law and they are breaking it but I have read a lot of posts like this on here this last few weeks and I can only say that employers are taking the P out of staff as they know they can get away with it if you aren't prepared to say something about it.

Trouble is I'm/we are not prepared (quite literally as we have no money put aside) to say anything about it as one of two things could happen....

1. They say thanks for your time BonandDom, we dont need your services any longer and then I have no comeback and no job

2. They refuse to allow me the time away from my desk and it then becomes an uncomfortable place to work.

Not sure what else could happen but open to all suggestions.

I even offered to come in a bit earlier so I could have that break in the middle of the day to make calls, banking etc and was told she'd ask the MD but.....


No contract as yet but only 2nd day there

LadyMissA

BonandDom wrote: »

Trouble is I'm/we are not prepared (quite literally as we have no money put aside) to say anything about it as one of two things could happen....

1. They say thanks for your time BonandDom, we dont need your services any longer and then I have no comeback and no job

2. They refuse to allow me the time away from my desk and it then becomes an uncomfortable place to work.

Not sure what else could happen but open to all suggestions.

I even offered to come in a bit earlier so I could have that break in the middle of the day to make calls, banking etc and was told she'd ask the MD but.....


No contract as yet but only 2nd day there

And as you are not prepared to say/do anything about it that's why they do it. Dress it up anyway they like they are breaking the law and I know i'd rather be out of work.

Sambucus_Nigra

LadyMissA wrote: »

And as you are not prepared to say/do anything about it that's why they do it. Dress it up anyway they like they are breaking the law and I know i'd rather be out of work.

I'd rather be IN work, better a paid lunch break at my desk than a permanent unpaid lunchbreak for months on end. I suppose that says alot about the difference in people's attitudes.

LadyMissA

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I'd rather be IN work, better a paid lunch break at my desk than a permanent unpaid lunchbreak for months on end. I suppose that says alot about the difference in people's attitudes.

So you would rather the company tell you that you can't leave the building or actually have a break (as you are still going to be answering calls etc)?

BonandDom

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I'd rather be IN work, better a paid lunch break at my desk than a permanent unpaid lunchbreak for months on end. I suppose that says alot about the difference in people's attitudes.

Me too, suppose I feel just a bit peeved that I really have only one choice. Lump it.

I need a job and not that many available up north here, but I'll keep looking.

LadyMissA

BonandDom wrote: »

Me too, suppose I feel just a bit peeved that I really have only one choice. Lump it.

I need a job and not that many available up north here, but I'll keep looking.

then I guess you will never get a lunch break at this job ever

proactive

gotta wonder if there was much point in asking in the first place if you were gonna say nothing to the boss either way

Sambucus_Nigra

LadyMissA wrote: »

So you would rather the company tell you that you can't leave the building or actually have a break (as you are still going to be answering calls etc)?

Absolutely! When I worked construction we not only couldn't take a lunch, there was usually nowhere to take it anyway. So we worked through.

paddedjohn

OP, apart from the lunch break that you mention, do you have any other breaks during the working day?

You dont have any legal rights to a lunch break as such but you must be allowed at least one 20 minute break during your day which you can take away from your work station.

BonandDom

proactive wrote: »

gotta wonder if there was much point in asking in the first place if you were gonna say nothing to the boss either way

Which is why I said in my original post that I wanted to check if my thoughts were right AND that i could not do anything about it.

Thank you to everybody who responded and sorry for wasting anybodies time.