I have no problem with calling out those who take the proverbial piss, professionally (and personally, for that matter).No issue with the full lunch break either. But if you make and then eat breakfast at work then that’s an hour and a half. My point was we have those who never stop. And those that take the piss.
Personally I (weather permitting) always get out for a walk at lunchtime. Good for the mind and the body. Plus I then spend a good amount of time talking to Mrs AFB.
Some days I don’t get a break. Usually when people schedule meetings around lunch. But mostly I do.
However, I have an enormous problem with work seeping into areas - such as breaks, including lunch breaks, week-ends - which used to be the preserve of the "private, or personal space", assuming that this is a right of employers - and expecting this to occur without consequence or pushback.
Yes, I get emergencies: Deadlines are a sort of specialty of mine, and I used to be something of a deadline junkie. In any case, I've done them, - emergencies - day, night, - all night, at times - sacrificing breakfast, lunch, dinner - no problem; these include international election observation missions, - full of deadlines of all sorts.
Moreover, I've worked in places where colleagues of mine (including one individual who worked in an adjoining office, though that is not where she died) were killed, which meant dealing with, addressing, attending to, the fallout.
For me, that meant writing the press statements (I offered to do this, as I was/am a native English speaker, whereas those who staffed the Press section were German), the mission reports (to Brussels), the obits, the speeches to be made by our senior staff.
However, management (managements) need to accept that not every crisis is an emergency, and what may be deemed a crisis does not necessarily justify eating into the (scheduled and legally protected) non-working time of a given day.
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