Excessive Long Lunch Breaks

It’s factual that employees are assets of an organization, and when they work hard and capably they ought to be appreciated and rewarded. However, when it comes to employees’ stance, they need to adhere to company’s rules and regulations.

Well, what would one say if employees come on time and leave on time? That’s simple punctuality, isn’t it? But, on the contrary, if employees take more than approved time for lunch hiatus, it openly affects their productivity and co-workers in diverse ways. On the whole, it signals a company’s culture that's deficient of discipline and employees without decorum.

Okay, in rare cases, an extended lunch break, with valid reasons and permission, should be acceptable. But, when employees regularly steal extra time, besides their rightful lunch break period, then that’s totally objectionable.

How comes a refined, progressive corporate culture when there’s a culture of ‘unpunctuality’ during lunch breaks? For those who are habituated to long lunch breaks, they have specific schedules. Besides having comfortable lunch at homes or in restaurants, they manage a slot for short snooze, run domestic duties, and report to work with recharged attitude. That’s nice, but who questions the irrational lateness to workplace?

Frankly, it’s the responsibility of a company’s management to audit its culture and resolve unusual issues.

In some companies, it’s weird when being late in the morning and walking out early at the end of the day leads to salary cuts, but there’s no practical observation, punitive notice or just pay cut when some employees return to work after unnecessary long lunch break. Either it’s management at lenience, with no corrective actions or there could be little hindrances that are influencing management to become unmindful.

Well, if employees desire to be late or have workplace flexibility, after their stipulated lunch period on daily basis, then they should stay late and balance the gap.On the contrary, it’s unreasonable when some employees take prolonged lunch breaks, and greedily look out for overtime after working hours.

For some of them who stay at workplaces and take their lunch in office cubicles or canteens have no recourse to be late. For them, it’s like well-timed lunch break and back to their work promptly.

In some cases, it’s absurd when an employee clocks in fifteen minutes early, there’s no extra pay, but leaving, in advance, by few minutes gets counted for deduction. And, there’s no check at all for the uniformity of lunch period for employees. Who’s punctual and who’s stretching the allotted time? In truth, there’s no record at all.

In fact, there’s mayhem of system where some follow prescribed lunch schedules by the rules, and some are bold enough to break the rules.

Lunch break, for some, is like leeway and escape from lawful work.

And then, besides taking legitimate lunch breaks, some employees who are addicted to habitual gossips and smoking cigarettes frequently, saunter around or gather in groups for sheer pastime during working hours. Isn’t that squandering away time and lowering workplace morale?

At the end, it’s a simple, yet prized precept: ‘Let’s be devoted, diligent and dynamic at our workplaces!’