When did we universally stop having lunch ‘hours’?

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Interesting-Day-2472@reddit

I have half an hour it’s unpaid so would rather go home sooner

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ForgiveSomeone@reddit

Still having a lunch hour, as well as a few tea breaks here. I work in higher education.

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DrRuckus74@reddit

For me it’s 7:30-4 with a half hour break, and it’s a physical job too

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I have an hour written in my contract, I either take it and get home later (as for my work I'm pretty much done when the job is done) or I don't take it and add it onto the end of my days time sheet for extra pay. Have had a few jobs that only give me 30mins, but not many.

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wetkittentemptation@reddit

lunch hours are a myth now

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Comfortable-Place237@reddit

I take a full hour, you can fuck off with this half hour bullshit.

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Ki11erc0b@reddit

I get an hour.

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Amazinglassie@reddit

I can take as long as I want as long it's at least half n hour. Flexitime is a great thing.

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MelodicPreparation93@reddit

Your experience isn't universal, my lunch break is an hour (8 - 4:30 work day). It can feel like it drags at times but I'd rather use up every minute to mentally reset!

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setokaiba22@reddit

I think OP’s is more universal than yours tbh

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fickle_tartan@reddit

Probably going to depend on the industry tbh, I've either had 20 minutes (legal minimum) or a full hour.

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Newveeg@reddit

20 is pretty shocking imo. Minimum should be 30.

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Doublebow@reddit

God no. The shorter your lunch, the sooner you home. Id take no lunch if I got home 20 minutes earlier. (Unless you are getting paid for your lunch, then it's a different matter)

I can take between 20 minutes and 2 hours and you can be damn sure I'm never take more than 20 minutes.

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Junior_Custard_4311@reddit

I guess it depends what kind of work you are doing, if it's shift stuff, the longer your break (as long as it's paid) the better

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Junior_Custard_4311@reddit

If you are under 18 min is 30

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TheHornyGoth@reddit

Can’t relate, minimum of an hour paid break here, but we’ve got militant union reps.

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OurSeepyD@reddit

How do you get "more universal"?

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JamJarre@reddit

I'm not sure universal means what you think it means

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dospc@reddit

Well I think their experience is more universal than OP's tbh.

So I guess it's even?

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BuildingControlUK@reddit

Would you not rather finish at 3.30 instead? Or start at 9.

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SpartanS034@reddit

No way. I'd rather have an hour than nothing at all. But ideally I'd get 30 minutes and leave at 4, that's the sweet spot for me.

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altopowder@reddit

Or even better, 9-5, but with 1hr lunch. This 9-5:30 thing does my head in. Some places are 9-6 too. Wtf?

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thehatteryone@reddit

8-6, short lunch break, one whole weekday that you don't have to go in. That's what a good number of folk are trying.

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wildeaboutoscar@reddit

We're 8.30-5 and that extra half hour makes me angry. Thankfully there's an unwritten rule not to book meetings until after 9 though

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TheMSensation@reddit

I've got a mate who works on fraud at Natwest. They've just started doing 8-6 but with a day off in the week + the weekend.

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Mouse2662@reddit

That's what mine is, 8-4 with half hour breaks. 8-5 on Mondays for a 3pm Friday finish too 👌

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therefused@reddit

Personally no, I do get why some people would prefer that but I go for a walk on my lunch and without an hour I probably wouldn’t get many steps in a day at all.

Quite happy with my hour personally

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Sussurator@reddit

Yeah I’m lucky in that I have a bit of latitude here. I like you exercise on days when I take the hour (jog/ swim). The other days I just leave 30mins earlier, though no one really tracks it. I just need to make sure I hit 40hrs a week on average.

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YchYFi@reddit

I have two 15 minute breaks and half hour lunch.

It breaks up the monotony.

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buddha-bing@reddit

I’m in the same boat, 8-4 with one hour lunch break.

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AtensEye@reddit

I get an hour and 30 minutes if I'm working a 12 hour shift, but I'll sometimes not take all of it so I can leave a bit early.

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EducationalFood3059@reddit

Soft twats gym in my day it was the pub

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Prestigious-Net9629@reddit

I've had one job in my whole, long career that had an hour. It seemed like ages and an absolute luxury. Always been 30min (if I'm lucky).

However, I also work in healthcare.

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NuraThorne@reddit

I still get an hour lunch. It’s not paid. I assume your 30 minutes is at least paid?

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Heathy94@reddit

I have 30 mins now but have had an hour at other jobs in the past, sometimes depending where you are based an hour can be too long but I find 30 mins too short, I'd much rather have 45 mins, that gives you time to eat and still chill out for a bit.

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FarmerJohnOSRS@reddit

Don't know why anyone would want an hour over a shorter break. Less time I'm at work the better.

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mjdseo@reddit

I'm still having 'em mate

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donkey-oh-tea@reddit

Same. And i bloody well take it too. None of that "worked through lunch" badge of honour here.

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Bus8082@reddit

Not a chance. Often have a lunch two hours. Gives me time for the gym and I really get a good break.
My work is flexible so I can do the extra hour in the morning or afternoon to compensate.

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iceblnklck@reddit

Exactly the same for me. Gym, appointments, shopping, nice lunch out - it’s all the same with flexi time. Couldn’t imagine not having it now.

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Bus8082@reddit

Absolutely. And when I’m in the zone or really need to get something done I work longer hours because I know I can take them back other time.

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iceblnklck@reddit

Yeah, last week I had an appointment so was out a while but this week I’ll be about four hours extra without even really noticing. Even twenty minutes a day adds up so quick!

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dreamieux@reddit

what do you guys do??

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Odd_Bug_7029@reddit

I worked flexi time when i was civil service, one of the few perks that made up for the shite pay

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MeableFussock@reddit

Guarantee they’re in tech

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MemoryPuzzled2221@reddit

I don't have any kind of lunch break during 12 hours but over 5 weeks I work 14 days.

I can't imagine having to work 5 days a week.

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Odd-Audience-8051@reddit

Perfect length for a nap, imo

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wildeaboutoscar@reddit

I use my lunch hour for a nap when working from home. I have insomnia so often it's the only way I can get through the rest of the day

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monpellierre2805@reddit

10 minute commute home, 35 minute snooze, 5 minutes for a slice of toast and 10 minutes back to work!

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TheShakyHandsMan@reddit

I used to live over the road from my office. It was great popping back as I need to.

Now my commute a couple of times a week is to the next room

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audigex@reddit

I work through lunch because it means I get to go home earlier

But yeah fuck the whole "I work 5 extra unpaid hours a week" attitude

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thehatteryone@reddit

I think that's mostly what killed lunch "hour" - we're not having full meals at lunch (most people aren't bribing enough calories to need it). Eat a sandwich, maybe breathe some fresh air and see some sunlight. Then back to work, because we'd rather have leisure time at the end of the day, not in the office.

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audigex@reddit

That plus childcare and more women working full time/working at all meaning someone has to finish earlier to get the kid

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V65Pilot@reddit

I wish that was an option here. Occasionally I can pull this off, but only when I'm doing special projects for the bosses, who also happen to be the owners.

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Ok-Mama-5933@reddit

Someone said to me some time ago, “no one’s going to build you a statue for reducing your lunch hours voluntarily”.

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thehatteryone@reddit

And that is absolutely true. But even with office hours fixed say from 9-6 many people would rather come in later or go home earlier, so instead of all taking an hour for lunch, it's common, now even the default, to work 9-5:30 or 9:30-6 with a 30 minute lunch break in there.

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zappamorey@reddit

Same! On the odd occasion where I am unable to take it, I'm leaving the office 1 hour early /logging off 1 hour early !

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Mattybmate@reddit

Only reason I work through lunch is to go home an hour earlier, my office is chill like that lol

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

Nope. 1pm-2pm I don't do work unless something's on fire. On my office days I even leave site and go for a walk.

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ls--lah@reddit

It's unpaid in most jobs too, so all you're doing is diluting your salary.

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baggister@reddit

😂

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Anaptyso@reddit

I've always taken an hour. It's really important to have a proper break in the middle of the day to allow yourself a bit of a mental reset before heading back to work.

However, one thing I have noticed changing over time since I started working in the early 00s is pub lunches. When I started working most of the people in the company would go for at least one pub lunch a week, and it was common to have several. Some people would go every day. Then over time it seemed to fade away a bit. In my last job the team I was on would go once a week, but were a bit of an outlier to do that. In my current job nobody seems to want to do it at all.

I imagine this will vary a lot from company to company though.

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Dismal_Fox_22@reddit

It didn’t used to cost three times the hourly rate of minimum wage to pay for a pub lunch either.

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Smiilley@reddit

I'd be surprised if there's any minimum wage jobs which provide a 1 hour lunch break. I'm seeing so many comments from people with 1 hour lunch breaks but nobody gives a hint to what their job is. I've worked in a supermarket, a restaurant, a factory, a warehouse, in IT support, in a care home and for the NHS, not all of these have been minimum wage but I've never had more than a 30 minute lunch break.

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mellonmarshall@reddit

I work min wage and if we rotaed for more then 8 then is actually an hour break that we have to have. And the more usual is after 4 hours we get half an hour

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Consistent-Show1732@reddit

I work 12 hours. We get 15 minutes in the morning 30 minutes for lunch and 15 minutes in the afternoon.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

At my job if you're working a open-close shift you do get an hours worth of break but it's done as two 30 minute breaks

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Smiilley@reddit

If I were rotad more than 8 hours I'd get extra non-lunch break not an extension to the lunch break itself.

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mellonmarshall@reddit

We can do it as 2 half hours but it not always possible so you just get the hour

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YchYFi@reddit

Waitrose would give an hour when my mum worked there.

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Leccy_PW@reddit

£36 for a pub lunch? Where are you eating?

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Disastrous-Month-322@reddit

London?

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Leccy_PW@reddit

Seems a bit steep even for London tbh

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OldEquation@reddit

I recall going for a pub lunch in 1988. The lunch cost £4.95. I can’t remember exactly how much the pint was but I guess around 80p.

My hourly wage was £1.80.

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NetworkHot8469@reddit

But how much was your rent/mortgage and bills?

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OldEquation@reddit

I think at the time I was renting a room for £35 per week, electric included.

There was no minimum wage as such at the time but that £1.80 per hour is probably roughly equivalent to it. It was about what you’d get paid for bottom level work - cleaning, kitchen porter etc.

The only sensible way to make comparisons is to consider how many hours you’d have to work to pay for X and Y then versus now. Some things seem enormously cheaper (most manufactured goods, electronics in particular), other things largely unchanged, such as a meal out (presumably because the cost is dominated by labour costs) and others far more expensive (housing, due to demand far outstripping the supply).

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Daveddozey@reddit

My first place in London in 2003 cost 115 hours of minimum wage per month.

It was a lot worse than this (it had a shared bathroom and no washing machine), which is available for 94 hours

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/172929071

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ice-lollies@reddit

I rented a 2 bed converted basement flat for £800. I think I was on £3.50 ph at the time.

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V65Pilot@reddit

Thrupence.

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CarpetGripperRod@reddit

So about ten years later ('96/'97) I had a job in the university library doing absolutely nothing of importance. I could buy ~10 pints* at the student union with what I made in an hour.

* Tetley's, IIRC.

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TomatoChomper7@reddit

£4.95 seems a lot for 1988. At Wetherspoons now you can get a jacket potato and a drink for £4.99.

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Disastrous-Month-322@reddit

About the going rate in the late 1980s for a pub lunch. A Big Mac from Maccas was less than a quid.

In 2000 Wetherspoons offered a burger, chips and a pint for £2.88.

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OldEquation@reddit

It was an 8oz steak and chips.

I’m trying to recall if that included a beer or not. It’s hard to be certain, it was so long ago. I chose that example because for some reason I have a relatively clear memory of the event. But still, it’s nearly 40 years ago.

I also recall dinner at the Strand Palace Hotel in London costing me £9.99 in 1986. That was for a carvery dinner, all you can eat thing. Wine was extra.

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Daveddozey@reddit

At my local In 2000 a pint was £1.60 with minimum wage at £3.70, about the same ratio.

Same pub today it’s £12.71 an hour and a burger, chips and pint is £10.32.

Not sure the cost of a pint alone, I moved, but the one I go to now (independent country pub) charges £6 a pint which is about the same ratio of 2 pints an hour.

So pub food way cheaper than in your day and beer about the same.

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Boring-Hornet-3146@reddit

That's an expensive lunch!

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

Pubs now are advertising that you can bring your packed lunch in with you as long as you buy a drink

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Danmoz81@reddit

"Okay okay, bring your own drinks too. Just make sure you put 50p in the meter"

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YchYFi@reddit

People go to Wetherspoons or Lounges for lunch now.

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OedipusRe10@reddit

Re the pub thing - it could be the expense?

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Recent-Foundation655@reddit

Same. Not sure what OP is on about. Have always taken my full hour and always will.

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Morrtyy@reddit

Same, encouraged not to. But that’s what my contract states. It would be remiss to be in breach of contract!

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setokaiba22@reddit

One hour? Our work wouldn’t dare.

It’s 20 mins and we’ll be happy with that apparently.

Other places I did get 45 but everyone came within 30 so they could leave 15 mins earlier every dag

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meltedlenondrop@reddit

In our place you don’t get to go early if you take less lunch. No-one is tracking it so if you leave at 4.30 instead of 5 they assume you’re skiving

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Mac4491@reddit

In our place you don’t get to go early if you take less lunch

To be fair, that is the law.

Your rest break at work should be taken as close to the middle of your work day as possible and cannot be taken at the beginning (arriving late) or the end (leaving early).

I understand that it's beneficial to lots of people to get to go home early by working through lunch but if your company doesn't allow it then that could just be them following government guidance rather than them being pains in the dick.

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Sad-Action-8869@reddit

20 minutes? The legal minimum is 20 minutes uninterrupted in the UK. So unless you drop to the ground immediately and rest where you work your employer is living dangerously

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RecommendationHot42@reddit

I always have mine too. I sit in the kitchen area reading my book after i have eaten because it helps me wind down

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CarpetGripperRod@reddit

Unless it's a reference book, that would wind me up not down. Grrr! Getting engrossed in a good read and then having to stop for anything other than sleep? Grrr again.

GRRRR!, I say.

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SixUK90@reddit

We still have them but we fell victim to the 8am start bullshit. My colleagues keep saying they'd happily take half an hour and leave at 4:30. I may or may not be currently planning ways to cause an industrial accident so I can keep my hour.

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No-Total7070@reddit

Same. 30-40min walk and the rest is for food and watching videos/reading articles. I refuse to eat at my home or work desks

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Minimum-Laugh-8887@reddit

👆 This guy lunches

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Azuras-Becky@reddit

Every last unpaid minute of them.

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DanielDC10@reddit

Work 8 hours and get 1 hour and 2x 10 min breaks

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Spirited_Opposite@reddit

My parents (now in their 70s) were horrified when I started working that my lunch break wasn't paid, they both used to be journalists and got an hour (at least) which on Friday turned into not coming back to the office from the pub

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DangerousSeesaw@reddit

I WFH. Depending how busy it is, sometimes I have a lunch hour, sometimes I eat while I’m working, sometimes I have a lunch afternoon.

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meltymcface@reddit

Sometimes I get roped up in Slay The Spire on my lunch break and it's almost two hours... whoops.

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Graspswasps@reddit

STS 2 surely?

I nearly have them all to Ascension 10, hate the Regent

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RaspberryJammm@reddit

My advice for Regent is ignore forging and go for a strength build

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Graspswasps@reddit

I do always end up trying to force a forge build, will try your advice

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meltymcface@reddit

Only recently discovered STS, and it was £5 on, so early days. Will get to STS2 eventually

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Graspswasps@reddit

You're ok, I'm playing more STS 1 too ATM, less cards and relics = more consistent powerful builds

My runs on 2 always feel so underwhelming

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CometGoat@reddit

If I pause the game here then I’ll forget my synergies and lose the run later… it’s safer if I finish it now

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JustAnotherFEDev@reddit

I WFH, I mostly take an hour as I'll do at til 4pm. Sometimes I'll take 30 mins, but only if I start at 08:30. I've never taken lunch at my desk when WFH, that's my time and it's unpaid. I'm flexible with the time, though. I usually have it at 1pm,but if there's a meeting, I'm happy to move it. If the meeting overruns, my lunch starts at the moment I hang up. 13:08 - 14:08 kinda thing 😅

If I worked in an office, I'd only want to take 30 mins, though, so I could fuck off earlier. I just take an hour as I can actually do stuff in the house, odd bit of cleaning, DIY, general life stuff, etc.

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dwdwdan@reddit

This is similar to what I do, if I’m in the office I normally have 20 minutes, or whatever it takes for me to go downstairs, eat, and come back up again. WFH days though I have anything between 30 mins and 2 hours depending on what I’m doing

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JustAnotherFEDev@reddit

It makes sense to do it that way, for those that can. A little flexibility does us all good, doesn't it?

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zeduk@reddit

Haha exactly, working from home for me can be anywhere from no lunch and working until late, to a leisurely lunch which goes into the afternoon. All workload dependant.

I don’t miss the “pretending to look busy even when I’ve finished my work” aspect to being in the office full time.

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Mikon_Youji@reddit

Same here. It really depends on how busy we are and if anyone can cover me while I have lunch.

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Jeggasyn@reddit

That sounds like you're living your work life on a dangerous seesaw

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MissionLet7301@reddit

To be honest that's just how work goes in some jobs.

You can have some weeks where a bunch of requests have come in from clients and you need to get to them all, and other weeks where you're waiting on responses for your own stuff.

The workplace is hiring enough people that if it's a busy period they can get through it with just a little bit of a crunch, but it means that you have slack in the system when it's not busy - which isn't a bad thing.

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mckjerral@reddit

If your job can be done WFH, then in all likelihood it can be done like a grown up too, working when needed and taking time when it's not because you're getting the job done well.

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AffectionateComb6664@reddit

Quite right. Sometimes I WFGC

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pook2830@reddit

Surely somalians are denser?

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Adorable_Pressure958@reddit

I've recently started a new job with a finance co in Northampton (UK) and have gone back to 1 hour lunch breaks. It's the weirdest thing now and I still don't know what to do with the extra half hour!

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TJayK96@reddit

7-7:30 and get a 30 minute break

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ronyeezy@reddit

I have half an hour if working over 6 hours, this has been my experience since starting work at 16 in 2009!!

BUT When I worked at Apple and Aviva I had an hour and genuinely didn’t know what to do with myself!

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AdorableGeneral_@reddit

I get a lunch hour, and my boss is great about encouraging me to take the full thing 😅

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DarkEther66@reddit

I have a half hour but can take up to 2 hours. As long as I work my contract hours per month my boss doesn't care.

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streborkram@reddit

I get an hour - has to be taken between 12:30-2:30. Often I end up not taking it all because i have too much work to do, but no one stops me pr makes me feel guilty if I do. Sometimes I sneak off for a nap in the car or I watch some Netflix on my laptop at my desk. If it’s sunny I’ll sit outside and watch something on my phone.

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FormalAd604@reddit

I get 30 minutes for lunch and two 15 minute breaks. So an hours break overall. I work 7.5 hours a day.

People getting an hour must be working slightly longer. I know my husband does an 8 hour day and gets an hour.

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HungryAmount6652@reddit

I work in a consultancy and our working day is 8 hours plus 45mins unpaid lunch though there’s a culture especially among senior staff to work straight through as 9 hours is a long ass day.

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Exactly32Penguins@reddit

I've never had an hour, that'd be a dream. I had 20 mins in my first job, 30 mins in my second, and in my current I don't get one at all!

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Brilliant_Ask_82@reddit

I've never had a lunch hour, and my lunch break of 30 mins is more often than not infringed upon

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

I take an hour. Or half an hour. Or 90 mins. Depending on what's going on.

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newdawnfades123@reddit (OP)

Actually I am very lucky in that I manage my own diary and patient appointments so I *could* take an hour but it’s just not heard of. We get a 30 minute unpaid by the book and that’s typically what people take.

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Sounds like a self imposed issue then, friend!

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68_namfloW@reddit

I worked somewhere, briefly, and people talked about going to a pub that was on site opposite the office/workshop. Different world.

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

Same. As long as I get the work done and make up for my hours / work lost , it’s fine. I do plenty of overtime as it is

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Lodahnia@reddit

Yeah our company still has lunch hours. It’s an exception when someone takes shorter lunches..

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TheHornyGoth@reddit

Unless you’re in a time regulated industry….

Paid hour breaks are less profitable than half hour unpaid breaks. Gotta break your back even harder for the capitalist class. Unions went soft and capitalists took advantage of that. Remember, if you’re only on minimum wage or only get a half hour break, that’s because they’d pay you less or give you less time if they could get away with it.

Between that and certain regulatory measures, some industries still get hour long breaks and/or paid breaks. Bus drivers, for example, get at least 45 minutes, and our depot has a union rule of an hour, and some shifts get as much as 3 hours of paid break. That’s union power for you.

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RainbowBurgerx@reddit

Ive worked maybe 5 jobs. First - McDonalds, i think that was 30 mins for 8 hour shift. People could also have ciggerette breaks (i didnt smoke)

Second - overnight in an office, 3 breaks. 2 15mins and 1 30mins.

Third - 9 to 5 office job, 30 min lunch.

Fourth - Sales office - 2 15 min breaks and 1 hour for lunch. Quite long days, 8.30 start to 6pm. Could go home at 5 if we met targets for the day.

5th - 9.30 to 6pm - office job. 1 hour lunch.

Then my current job. I work in a care setting as a support worker. I get paid the full time i am there, dont really have a lunch break at all. But can eat and stuff if we have a little bit of quiet time. Cant really leave the site as it is solo working.

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irish_horse_thief@reddit

Mobile Engineer. We have to book an hour lunch, even if we are eating our bagging while driving between jobs. And as our vans and iPads are on trackers, they want you to go static fir the hour.

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Interesting-Scar-998@reddit

Unemployment offices don't have lunch hours, they take 2 hours for lunch.

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NS1985@reddit

I get 1hr 15 minutes. (Air traffic controller)

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Squirrel_Worth@reddit

One company I used to work for changed from a lunch half an hour to a lunch hour and a half. In line with the increase in minimum wage, so to avoid their wage bill increasing but keeping cover for the same time they increased the unpaid lunch. Otherwise I’ve been on half an hour, but pretty sure I can ask for an hour in my office job but have to adjust the start/finish time then, and I’d rather go home.

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JDohyCloud@reddit

Same with a pint over lunch, not sure when those disappeared but I asked if anyone wanted to join me once and people looked at me like I was a raging alcoholic.

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BabyBelz_@reddit

We're on 15 min break and 45 min lunch (an hour in total but in one stretch)

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Kitchen-Safe7567@reddit

I used to take a full hour in the mid 90s. Now I'm a teacher and I get 25 mins at 11.20 and 35 mins at 12.45. I'd like an hour, or even 45 mins maybe in one hit.

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Ok_Purple766@reddit

Did we? Never stopped having em.

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AlistairBarclay@reddit

Don’t know if the employment laws changed, but it used to be ,if I remember correctly, a 15 minute break then after 3 hours and 1 hour break after a further 3 then 3 hours more then afternoon tea break. Breaks spacing and lengths were set in law but were often adjusted with the employees consent but goodness know now.

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sidneylopsides@reddit

I've worked in various roles since the late 90s and always had an hour, retail, field and now office based.

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luxurysocialism@reddit

I work 9-5 and am paid for an hours lunch too. This isn’t America.

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Emergency_Pea_2232@reddit

I chose a shorter lunch so I could go home earlier.

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SparkleWildfire@reddit

I have a lunch hour. I'm not paid to not have one.

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CrocodileJock@reddit

People used to work 9-5, with an hour for lunch, and, if you worked late, you'd get paid overtime. Time and a half. If you worked a Sunday or Bank Holiday you got double time. We were told the biggest problem we were going to have, in the future, was how we were going to spend our leisure time. What happened?

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WitchesBTrippin@reddit

This is such an interesting question because I've never been given a full hour for lunch in any job I've had, only half an hour, so I assumed that lunch hours weren't that common anymore, but I've definitely been proven wrong by the number of responses saying they still get an hour

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BPTempMonkey@reddit

I did 'til I got made redundant in Sept and now it is only 30 minutes - different companies, different rules

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NurseAbbers@reddit

My husband who works 9-5 gets an hour. I work in a Hospital, 7:30am-20:00, three days a week, and I get 30 minutes if I'm lucky.

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Ancient-Function4738@reddit

I still get an hour on my contract but I’m not monitored, if I’m working from home I take an hour but if I’m in the office I will sometimes take up to two, depends on your job I guess

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Necessary_Money_9757@reddit

A lot of people have unpaid lunch breaks, so they want them as short as possible. If you're going to be unpaid for 30 mins of not working, surely you'd rather that 30 mins was at the beginning or end of the day rather than the middle.

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Feeling-Tank1628@reddit

I have one hour but take 90 mins

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Cute-Economist-4872@reddit

Nurse here we get 30 mins for lunch 30 mins in evening unpaid. We often don’t get the second break but that’s the nature of the job. I think some places would accommodate longer lunch’s as it’s unpaid etc but you are not allowed to leave the ward so no point

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Nobody_epic@reddit

Id take my full entitled hour if I wanted to but if I take 30 minutes I can finish earlier.

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Liquor_D_Spliff@reddit

I have an hour and have done at the 5 jobs ive had in 15 years.

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maybeforalittlebit@reddit

I'm in retail and get 30mins... wish I could have an hour

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pomegranate-moon@reddit

Wild to see how many people here say that lunch hours are still normal when I have never had one in 20 years of employment and none of my close friends or family across a wide spread of industries have either... I'm wondering what the divide here is?

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AuroraDF@reddit

I work in a school and the children have an hour. Teachers do lunch duty 3 times a week so on those days they have half an hour but they have an hour on duty days. Of course, most of them work through that doing classroom admin.

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welshlondoner@reddit

I hope you're paid for your lunch duty. You cannot be directed on your lunch break which is unpaid. You can volunteer to work it but you must be paid. If they fadangled it they must include it in your directed time calendar.

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AuroraDF@reddit

I work in an independent school.

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welshlondoner@reddit

Still it's a legal issue that you can't be required to work through an unpaid break or a legally mandated paid break.

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AuroraDF@reddit

It's a salaried position. You're only 'entitled' to the legal minimum.

[-]

welshlondoner@reddit

You're entitled to the legally mandated breaks plus what is in your contract.

[-]

Oh_wise_one_123@reddit

Unpaid for teaching assistants. I've previously had to eat while working through my lunch break, then had 5 mins to myself to relax after the work was finished.

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welshlondoner@reddit

Ok so TAs don't have directed time but your lunch is unpaid and you cannot be required to work through it. That's just basic employment law. Please speak to your regional Union rep.

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AuroraDF@reddit

Yes, our TAs can put in a time sheet for any hours outside their norm, including at lunchtime, although more often, if they do help at lunch, they can leave early. Depends on their hours.

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Physical_Heart2766@reddit

Mine is an hour.

The laws have specific breaks, so some companies cut it to the minimum.

[-]

Stavrosian@reddit

The minimum is almost certainly a single 20 minute break (can vary with age and some other factors) so if you get more than that in a 6 hour plus shift you are probably getting more than the bare minimum.

[-]

LostWall1389@reddit

Ya it’s crazy. If you work 12 hours the minimum is still only 20 minutes.

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mr-ajax-helios@reddit

Once worked in a nightclub where the manager insisted on keeping the same person on glass collection for a twelve hour shift with only 20 minute break, and that we had to wear smart black shoes even when on glass collection. Everyone there had bar experience, he could have rotated who's doing what to help people manage what was already grueling, or given us all slightly more break. But apparently I was the one not cut out for it despite having done lots of bartending before.

[-]

thehatteryone@reddit

How long did it take for you to get the hint ?

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mr-ajax-helios@reddit

It was me and a couple of lasses he did it to. I quit after two weeks.

[-]

blither86@reddit

I can take an hour and have to take 30 mins. If I take an hour I have to make the 30 mins back by starting earlier or finishing later.

[-]

Eskimojudi123@reddit

What are normal working hours and a lunch break? Asking as someone working remotely for an American corporation.

[-]

MultipleScoregasm@reddit

Always one hour for lunch where I work?

[-]

loveswimmingpools@reddit

The Dr's surgery seems to always manage one.

[-]

Weaubleau@reddit

Yeah this sucks !

[-]

Frosty_Leg4438@reddit

I feel there’s a similar thread on a French Reddit channel bemoaning when they lost the 3 hour lunch break! (I effing love France 🥰🇫🇷)

[-]

littleboo2theboo@reddit

What on earth are you on about

[-]

6thMist@reddit

Reposo

[-]

Acrobatic-Ad584@reddit

I don't know about France but in Italy if they go home for Mamas lunch then go back in the evening for a few hours!

[-]

vrekais@reddit

I could have an hour but I take 45 minutes to leave at 16:45 instead.

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Express_Jicama_656@reddit

I always gotten 30 minutes, I am 74

[-]

MerrieEnglandCartoon@reddit

Office work usually comes with an hour for lunch. Other work can be very different. I worked in an office all my life and it was always one hour.

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DeadBallDescendant@reddit

I get an hour. Bog standard office job.

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faa19@reddit

It used to be an hour lunch break at my last job, but I took 45 minutes and left 15 minutes early because of the train times. Even when I was WFH and on a slacking day, I still took the full hour.

At a previous job, the contract stated "up to half an hour for lunch". We all took the full half an hour because fuck that.

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Previous_Kale_4508@reddit

In the early 80s I worked 8-5 with an hour for lunch, but half day on Fridays.

If we came back 5 minutes early nobody would thank you, but if you were 5 minutes late you would be roasted.

During the last week of July and first week of August the whole place used to closedown for a fortnight. A very traditional Lancashire factory setup.

I left there in the 90s, but I wouldn't mind getting they're still working the same system now. 🤣

[-]

Legitimate-Leg-4720@reddit

Rat race innit. If I'm not working my lunch break, the rat next to me is and he's going to be the one getting ahead at the company

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We_Are_Dust_@reddit

Fat chance in my company/job 😆

[-]

Pizzagoessplat@reddit

In the early 2000s when I worked in a pub it was a thing. We had customers from offices

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TheEpee@reddit

It was never universal, even back then, I had jobs where lunch was 30 minutes. Especially in factories away from the town centre. It meant you could get home earlier, instead of spending that 30 mins kicking your feet in the canteen or break room.

[-]

Ugglug@reddit

Mines 30 mins unpaid and 20 mins paid (if I’m lucky) on 11 and 12 hour shifts

[-]

Narrow_Maximum7@reddit

Thats offices, my family always worked, just checked back through all the way to the old dears that stopped working 30y ago and the only one that had an hour was the one that worked it's in an accountants.

[-]

ricky251294@reddit

That joys of shift work and 0 hour contracts splitting the load so the companies don't need to provide 1hr.

Office work you generally have flexibility to go from 1hr mandated to however long you need, as long as the work is done

[-]

OldLondon@reddit

I have an hour and always have done. If your contract says an hour take an hour

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Kitchen_Direction_35@reddit

I get a full hour at my current place, but all other jobs I’ve had has been half an hour. I love having this hour, I always leave the office and do errands or go for a walk it’s great

[-]

notemark@reddit

At our place it's 45 minutes but as a result we finish 75 minutes early on a Friday compared to the rest of the week.

[-]

MemoryPuzzled2221@reddit

I've worked at the same place since 1994 and never had a lunch break... Fullstop

[-]

taflad@reddit

Our company gives us 30 mins, but we work 1/2 hour less per day and an early finish on Friday

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Logical_Buffalo7156@reddit

I get a lunch hour but it’s unpaid so I don’t bother using it and just go home early if I can. This is actually to do with the law (at least in Britain) and money grubbing companies. If you’re working 8 hours or more by law you have to have a break of at least 30 mins, companies have basically taken that to mean the break has to be 30 mins and no longer but they’re almost always unpaid

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730463628@reddit

I've had an hour for my entire working life. Then again, I can just choose how long to take. As long as I do my daily hours, who cares?

[-]

Anglo-Euro-0891@reddit

Same here. The time away from the desk is actually essential to make the afternoon even bearable.

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MissionLet7301@reddit

Yeah, at my work it's 30 minutes mandatory break, but you're entitled to 1 hour, you just have to do your hours, and nobody minds if you take a longer 'lunch' to go to an appointment or something like that, as long as you do your hours and don't do something dumb like skip a meeting because your lunch overran.

[-]

vipros42@reddit

This has been my experience for the last 20 years

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InTheBack86@reddit

Still an hour where I work, and it's always taken in full

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vilpto@reddit

I used to get 20 minutes lunch at Subway between 5 and 7 years ago. And that's if I was lucky. If it was busy, I'd be called back onto the line or get verbal abuse and a shitty attitude for the rest of the shift from the duty manager. And this was at three different franchises (so three different duty managers completely unrelated to each other ) in Subway over the course of 2 years. Very illegal but they don't care

[-]

hepheastus_87@reddit

I still get an hour for lunch.

[-]

FryOneFatManic@reddit

I don't always take an hour, but then I often go swimming before work, so I'm starting a little later.

[-]

uncle_jaysus@reddit

Why are you watching old episodes of Crimewatch?

Not accusing you of anything… just curious. 🧐

[-]

duvagin@reddit

you guys get lunch breaks?

/s

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Mariner-on@reddit

Some companies still have them, my current job, on an 8 hour shift I get a 15 minute break and a 30 break. With my last job, also 8 hours, I would get a 15 minute break in the morning, 1 hour for lunch and a 15 break in the afternoon.

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Wild_Region_7853@reddit

What do you do?? I’ve always had office jobs and have always had an hour for lunch. Most people don’t take the full hour but you bet your ass I’m getting every last second of non-working time I can. Even now, I’ve had a wfh job for the last 5 years and I still take the full hour.

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Johnny_Vernacular@reddit

You could probably plot a graph depicting the decline of the Unions and the decline of the lunch hour. And the tea break etc etc.

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kartoffeln44752@reddit

How much of that though is because we’ve moved more to a services based economy than industry work? More salary than by the hour too that goes in hand with that.

No-one looks in on how long my lunch is, I’m trusted to do it as long as I get my stuff done.

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Rendogog@reddit

Same, but being a hypocrit, I do look at my team's lunches and if I notice people are taking short lunches too often I'll push them to get away from the screen and get a mental reset. It was much easier in the office to try and push people away from work at lunch times, it's one of the things I do miss.

[-]

Dapper-Lab-9285@reddit

I work for a large multi national with no unions and we get hour breaks. My brother works in a unionised transport company and gets 30 minutes if he's lucky.

[-]

Clit_Master69420@reddit

100%

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Hythy@reddit

I do blame MBAs for a lot of the enshittification we see today. A generation of people who went to business schools fucking things up. Also Milton Friedman's insistence that a company's primary duty is to always increase shareholder value.

[-]

TonyBlairsDildo@reddit

How did bean counting work for Boeing's "shareholder value"?

Friedman is right on the purpose of publicly traded companies; it's not right that beancounting is the route to that.

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Clit_Master69420@reddit

100%

[-]

Hythy@reddit

Thank you, /u/Clit_Master69420.

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Sublime99@reddit

During filming for FMJ , Stanley Kubrick (a yank) complaining about union mandated tea breaks seems to be a foreshadowing for how the humble teabreak has been cut down.

I remember when I started work at 16 at Argos ppl got fag breaks if you were a smoker. As a lifelong abstainer that got me bit by the time I was 25 (a few years ago) even tea breaks at the surgery I worked at were non existent. Although we did have a closed for lunch period.

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

James Cameron experienced the same when he made Aliens.

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Weirfish@reddit

Kubrick's attitude towards working practices should probably not be assumed to be typical of damn near anything.

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therealhairykrishna@reddit

We often work through lunch, but morning and afternoon tea breaks are sacrosanct.

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Odd_Championship7286@reddit

Yeah we had to sign a waiver giving up our extra 15 min break or stay 15 mins late every day after having the break. Obvs we all signed it to go home on time but that must’ve been when they changed it from a paid part of the day to an unpaid optional extra.

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fluentindothraki@reddit

Paid lunch hour. I remember those but that's close to 20 years ago

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Great-Activity-5420@reddit

The law says you get 20 mins if you work for 6 hours. That's it. If you work less you get nothing. And it's then down to the business. I get an hour if I work 8+ hours but not entitled to anything if I work five hours despite not eating since breakfast 🤷 Money. Money. Money

[-]

Spaghetti3000@reddit

On average I'll take an hour but it varies depending on workload (usually wfh or in office - my hours are reasonably flexible). I'm committed to going for a walk and having a proper lunch during my lunch break!

Though occasionally I'm on site and often the lunch 'break' attitude is just tanning a sandwich on the go due to tight schedules.

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Intelligent-Link8462@reddit

Nobody here who says they have them are saying they are paid for them. I have team members who work an 8 hour shift with 30 minutes unpaid, and some who work 8.5 with one hour unpaid.

I think since most places lunch is unpaid, people would prefer to take 30 minutes and leave earlier. 1 hour is just dragging out the work day unnecessarily.

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Meat2480@reddit

Probably when the arseholes in charge decided Sunday trading was a good thing, and working bank holidays

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Excellent_Property34@reddit

In the job I did working flexi time i could take upto 2hrs.

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tidderphil@reddit

I still take my lunch hour, I work in an office if that makes a difference. Damned if I'm ever giving it up.

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OffensiveOcelot@reddit

When they brought in the law change in 1998 & made a minimum 20 minute break for 6 hours worked (30 mins under 18 for 4.5hrs work) then companies began to remove towards giving workers their obligations rather than the traditional longer breaks.

[-]

MrTubek@reddit

1h in one go is way too long for me. Used to have it few years back and after eating and smoking you just didn't know what to do with yourself. If there is nice weather just go outside have a nap or something. But we are in the UK, nice weather is like 20 days during a year.

Now, in current company we have 10min brew, 30min lunch, 10 brew. It is better

[-]

britilix@reddit

I'm on my lunch hour now to be fair, but in my line of work we can start and finish when we like within reason, so long as we get our daily hours in.

I remember in retail I only got 30-45 minutes, only an hour on a 10+ hour shift or something like that!

[-]

cryo_coreo@reddit

I can’t remember the last time I took a lunch, eat at my desk and work through it every single time 😅

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herebymistake2@reddit

Place I worked had a 45 minute lunch break and a 38 hour working week (yup, 7.6 hours per day). Completely barmy.

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ConsiderationMoney67@reddit

Depends what you do. Customer service only seems to get 30 mins unless they’re working 12 hour shifts.

Corporate gets an hour regardless, unpaid.

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chronicbint@reddit

I have a lunch hour. 🤷

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dy1anb@reddit

Early 90s and Friday was pub lunch hour or 3. Followed by a few hazy hours then back to the pub

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chieb_sol@reddit

It’s still an hour. Nothings changed. You set the rules. You want to dine Al-desko because others before have normalised it, then you’ll just burn out and hate working in an office. Power to the people. Lunch remains an hour.

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cosmicharmander@reddit

I work in an office and have done for the last 10ish years but I used to work in retail, both generally 9-5 and I’ve always had an hour for lunch.

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No_Waltz7567@reddit

i work 9-17.30 with a lunch hour any time after midday.

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Additional-Switch912@reddit

My previous PAYE jobs were always 1 hour but that was back the late 1990’s early 2000’s. Been self employed since then and don’t know what a lunch break is some days lol

[-]

Hardtack_dev@reddit

What does your union rep say?

[-]

V8boyo@reddit

The last actual lunch hour that I had was in 1993

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CicadaSlight7603@reddit

In 2003 in my first proper job we had an hour. It was 30 mins in the canteen and then everyone did sport or a walk etc. Everyone hung out and talked and it was great for team cohesion and sharing of info. From my next job a few years later, civil service, there was no defined lunch and it was mostly sandwich at desk while working. Aside from working lunches (eg meetings with a plate of sarnies) and formal events it’s been about 20’years since I had a proper lunch in the working week.

[-]

ls--lah@reddit

"working lunches" are the world's biggest con

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CicadaSlight7603@reddit

Totally. Not even good sarnies and then you have to time your mouthfuls so you can still speak.

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SnooHabits8484@reddit

When I was in the civil service in the early 2010s, it was like an alarm bell rang at 1230 and there was a mass migration of the wildebeest to the subsidised canteen. One of the few things I quite miss about that job. I still have a subsidised canteen, but this one doesn’t deep-fry things because the nosy bastards want us to watch our cholesterol.

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CicadaSlight7603@reddit

Wow I’ve been working in the wrong departments 😢 The first job was also public sector so sounds like it’s very location/ministry dependent.

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TooLittleGravitas@reddit

We had a 45 minute break assumed in our working hours (office based). Many people worked through with a sandwich though.

We may have had an hour when I first started decades ago, but we had a canteen on site then.

No-one ever gave any grief if you did take it, lots of people went for a walk etc.

Working in France for a couple of years was a revelation!

[-]

muppsyton@reddit

I also think that sadly British people don't value time to eat food. Given the choice a depressing % of people would choose to work through lunch and go home an hour early.

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abracablab@reddit

I used to work retail 2008-2015. I always had an hour lunch break (unpaid) for 8hr+ shifts. Then I had a baby, studied for a while and rejoined the work force in 2020. Suddenly work breaks were only 30 mins. My husband always had hour lunch breaks until he started a new role around 2023 and then it was only 30 mins so it feels like a relatively new thing. Half an hour doesn't feel like enough time! 45mins seems like the absolute minimum it should be.

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helenaut@reddit

In my one-before-last job I got an hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks, which was somewhat generous- it was minimum wage shop work, but it was a shop that sold a mix of DIY products, camping stuff and also furniture so it was a fairly physical job compared to eg a clothes store- so on a day of unloading a ton of pallets and moving stuff round the warehouse etc, you really did need those breaks. Next job was at the same business but in administration/cash office, and with the much less physical work we’d often end up just having a coffee at our desks instead, because so much break time sort of just ended up eating into the day when you have a ton to do.

I think you’re more likely to get a longer break on jobs which are more physically demanding and lower paid because then the longer breaks are the only “perk” they can offer you. In a lot of office jobs you really need a mental break, but because they’re not physically demanding you’re more likely to have your hour’s break in the form of two 15 minutes and one half hour.

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Violet351@reddit

At my old job I got 45m but here I get an hour and I did at my temp job too

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Dense_Ad7115@reddit

Did we? Lunch is an hour for me, and a 15min mid work break. WFH most of the time so I do what I want (within reason).

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Gaylaeonerd@reddit

Ngl I much prefer the 30 minutes, I don't want to be in work for a minute longer than I have to, especially unpaid

Actually in my last job my manager said that he was able to give us a lunch hour but he didn't for that same reason, would get us all home faster

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HugeSydneyFan@reddit

Why would I want an hour? I'd rather not take my 30 mins and finish earlier but apparently I'm not allowed.

[-]

Leucurus@reddit

🎶 Join a union 🎶

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Yermawsyerdaisntit@reddit

I used to get an hour but i found i couldn’t be bothered going back to work after that long. Now i work a job where we dont really get set breaks but have plenty of downtime to eat etc which suits me fine.

[-]

jaanku@reddit

I still have one.

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Tough_Path9129@reddit

My contracted hours are 9-5 but i managed to get it changed to 08:30-16:30 because everyone would go home and i stay alone for a whole hour doing nothing. I used to come early but my boss had a go at me about it saying "if you start early you still need to finish your contracted hours". I have been late ever since and not gaf. Everyone quit btw, im alone in the office. Still expected to work whilst i have my pathetic 30min unpaid lunch.

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grimtalos@reddit

Never worked anywhere that didn't have a full hour for lunch.

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Several_Zombie7330@reddit

The decline of the lunch hour really does track with the erosion of workplace protections—once unions had less power, companies saw that extra 30 minutes as easy profit.

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TheRealJetlag@reddit

I was a contractor (software) for most of my career. My final job in the industry was permanent and they had a 30 minute lunch break. I was there for 3 years before finally jacking it in to change careers and I always took 60 minutes. To avoid traffic, I got in at 7:30, stayed till 16:30. I’m taking an hour for lunch. I never left the building, I was always available if anyone needed me. Fuck 30 minute lunch breaks.

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MisterD90x@reddit

I work in a bookies and anything over 6 hours we get 30mins..

Sometimes people do open till close which is 9-2215, which is over 6 so still only get 30mins.

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Pocktio@reddit

Just like it was 9 to 5, now its 830 to 6

Slowly taking more and giving less, is it not wonderful 🫤

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london_10ten@reddit

I work flextime. 20 mins minimum, but basically as long as I want. I'd still need to balance my working hours hour though.

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Hunzas@reddit

I've never had a lunch hour. I've had a lunch half hour, but never an hour and I've been working for over 40 years.

[-]

Leifang666@reddit

Every job I've had has a lunch hour. One I had 30 minutes to go home early, but an hour was standard.

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TallEmberline@reddit

I've always had a hour working in an office. 6 different employers in different industries.

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Tattycakes@reddit

I’ve only ever had a half hour. I’d rather have that and go home half an hour earlier tbh

[-]

daco_star@reddit

8 hour working day with 1 hour for lunch, and 2 x 15 minute tea breaks. In at 9 and out at 5.

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marvellcg@reddit

Taking an hour for lunch just means finishing later or starting earlier. There's the same amount of work needs doing so Taking 15 minutes means a lie in and missing the traffic, or leaving early to go do something I'll enjoy.

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MR_OOPERS@reddit

I work from home and get a lunch hour.

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ExultentPisces@reddit

They’re much less common than they used to be. But they are still a thing.

[-]

Direct_Taste_3844@reddit

Honestly the idea of taking a full hour for lunch is awful to me. Once I have eaten what else am I supposed to do with that time? I can either sit in the staff room making awkward small talk with colleagues who I have little in common with other than where we work or I can aimlessly wonder around the shops and maybe waste some money.

I would much rather just take a shorter lunch break and go home earlier.

[-]

tasi671@reddit

I used to have a lunch hour and I'm so glad I don't anymore tbh. It means I work a shorter day. So many of the companies I've worked at before did an unpaid unch hour to make sure they had coverage from 8 to 5. Now I work from 730 to 330 with a half hour lunch break and all that extra time to myself at the end of the day has drastically improved my life.

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SpectreSingh89@reddit

No they probably worked 11-12 hours. A 12 hour shift you are entitled to 1 hour split up 2x30 or 3x20.

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kitknit81@reddit

I get an hour but whether I take the full hour or not is another question. If I take a shorter lunch I can finish work earlier which is what I usually do.

[-]

SmokyBarnable01@reddit

I work 10 hr days and there's no stipulated lunch break. We are allowed 20 mins because we are expected to be in 10 mins before opening and stay 10 mins after closing for cashing up.

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Meatball-Magnus@reddit

They used to be paid that’s the biggest difference

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Stratix@reddit

It's unpaid, but I get one!

[-]

Ruadhan2300@reddit

I work 8:30 - 17:00, and get an hour long lunch.

I believe it's based on the 9-5 thing. Half an hour in an eight-hour shift, but start an extra half-hour early (or finish later) to get a full hour.

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Rhesus-Positive@reddit

I'm on flexible hours, so my minimum 30 minute lunch break can be increased if I want; however, if I'm eating alone, I'll just take the 30 minutes so I can go home earlier.

[-]

boothy4545@reddit

I have a lunch hour but take 30 minutes to eat and 30 minutes before I'm due to finish work effectively leaving as soon as my work hours are done. If I eat at my desk I still take my 30 minute break to take a break from people

[-]

FluteGunner@reddit

I get an hour. Only 30 mins of it is unpaid.

My boss is a good bloke and knows it’s little perks like that that keep people happy. I also leave 30 mins early every day so technically I get a paid hour for free daily.

[-]

Titanious_@reddit

Lots of places 30 mins only for lunch with 15 min break in morning

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Flagrant_Unicorn@reddit

Nurse here. We get two half hours paid and a half hour unpaid break in a twelve and a half hour shift.

In practice, the last break ends up getting skipped due to the workload, so most wards in my hospital take either two forty fives or a half, a forty five and a fifteen.

[-]

Pedantichrist@reddit

I have an hour.

It was always 9-5 with a paid hour for lunch, now it is 9-5:30 with an unpaid hour for lunch though.

[-]

tradandtea123@reddit

I worked somewhere and they announced that we would now get paid for lunch as if it was a big positive. They didn't put up our overall wage but just reduced our pay per hour so if we did overtime we then got paid less.

[-]

Vanilli12@reddit

Well now that takes the biscuit!

[-]

Vanilli12@reddit

When I started working it was 9-5 with paid lunch hour. I now work for a council and I’m only allowed half an hour and it’s unpaid. Also, we are being asked to take it only around the middle of the day, and if you’re busy then you can’t take it and you also can’t finish earlier. You have to do some weird shit like let someone know blah blah blah. Weird levels of control really. Just trust people to manage their time and let them get better results I say. The team are already worked to the bone so it takes the piss I think.

[-]

InvestigatorSoft3606@reddit

I started working life in 2003, and I didnt have to take any specific amount of lunch time.

Was on flexi time and had to clock on/off. Lunch break had to be a minimum of half an hour and maximum of 3 hours.

Almost everyone took half an hour to get the working day done and dusted asap!

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Silly_Hurry_2795@reddit

I apparently do 8-4 with a 30 minute break (unpaid) Reality I roughly do 8-4 and work to what's in front of me, some days like today I will probably only get away around 5:30 (started at 7:30) but during the day I'll have around 2 hours of breaks (training I've got to keep the people fresh😂) and seeing as I'll be doing this tomorrow (as well as yesterday) I will probably go fishing on friday.

I'm not technically in flexible role but I pretty much decide when I want to work hours wise to do what the company needs.

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Clothes_Chair_Ghost@reddit

I still get a full hour. I normally only take 45-50 minutes to add to my flexi time, but I can take the full hour if I want.

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Radiant_Sir5160@reddit

8-5 with a 1hr lunch(sadly unpaid) and 2 15 min paid breaks here

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BarNo3385@reddit

I started a bit later than you, around 2007, but I've always had an hour for lunch.

Obviously some days just end up so busy you don't get to take it, but its an exception not the norm.

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burp420_420@reddit

I get offered an hour for lunch but don’t take it bc I get to leave an hour early if so

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Catmom-101@reddit

I only have 30 mins and do 12.5hr shifts but I work for the NHS so that tells you all you need to know, same with retail jobs I had in the past.

Basically depends on the industry, people with jobs that treat them like human beings tend to still have an hour.

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Quick_Creme_6515@reddit

I've worked places where I had a lunch hour and it fucking dragged!

I also worked at a place where we didn't have a lunch break. It was in manufacturing and we ate whilst working and finished early.

Take and enjoy the 30 minutes. After 12 years of manufacturing, I'm now self employed and work through my lunch break becasue I'm programmed to not stop, and it's making me ill 😅

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tacticall0tion@reddit

I know plenty of people who get an hour lunch. Personally not interested in that long a gap in my work day, doesn't take 60min to eat, and I'm someone who'd rather have a few min to pop out for a smoke, over a fixed period in the middle of the day

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minipinny@reddit

I work 9-5 and have an hour lunch break. All of my jobs have been the same (other than a couple being 9-5:30), and have all been at London-based entertainment brands. Maybe it depends on the industry you’re in as to what is normal? I think everyone should get an hour though, it’s important to have time to actually unwind/socialise if you want to, not just eat lunch

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

I mustn't have got the memo.

Just enough time to shove a Ginster's down your gullet isn't an adequate lunch break. It should be time to eat at a normal pace and decompress for a while.

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Alternative-Emu9189@reddit

30 minutes is quite often not enough time even if you live quite close to shops, quite easy to lose 15-20 minutes before you know it.

I let the team I manage take an hour even though we are only allowed 30 minutes, I just tell them not to make it obvious.

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skewiffcorn@reddit

Since going into salaried roles I’ve always had an hour lunch though you work outside a 9-5 for it and they do inform you you’re only paid for 30 mins of it, but it’s salary so you don’t exactly notice. My current work is 8-5 with an hour lunch

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busstop63@reddit

When the employers started eroding workers rights and being greedy.

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Forsaken-Broccoli921@reddit

I still have mine!

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VastList8926@reddit

Still take my hour. In not on the telly shouting about it though.

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lungbong@reddit

I can have whatever I want as a lunch break. Quick 20 minutes fine, 2 hour trip into town to run errands also fine. I tend to choose 20-30 minutes because I don't get paid for the lunch break so the longer it is the later I'm working.

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Edgelord420691337@reddit

I kinda always assumed that “lunch hour” meant taking 20 minutes to eat before getting back to work, but recently I’ve learned that it means whatever you want it to mean. My lunch hour ranges from 10 minutes to 2 hours now, depending on workload and how I feel.

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trionamcc@reddit

Wow this thread is eye opening. I have worked in healthcare and hospitality for 20 years and have always had the statutory 20 minute break per 6 hours worked. To answer your question the law which determines the legal minimal requirement is 'Working time regulations 1998'.

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V65Pilot@reddit

We get an hour for lunch, 10 hour shifts, but only one 20 minute tea break in the morning. That said, if you take a few minutes to have a drink, no one says anything, we get plenty of time to chill, most days.

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r_keel_esq@reddit

It varies

I work 36hrs a week - atandard hours are 7.5hrs a day M-Th, with a shorter Friday and we all get an hour for lunch (varies in practice as some folk have negotiated varied/flexible hours but this is the basic template).

This is broadly true for most office staff, but different elsewhere where people work 12hr Shifts - these depts vary a bit on a vase by case basis, but they'll have some set short-breaks through the day in addition to a lunch which will typically be less than an hour

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Yakumo_Smith@reddit

At my work we work 7 hour days. We can take 30m or 1h unpaid lunch with the difference being when you finish. Most of us take 30m as it means we can leave before traffic gets bad at the standard finish time.

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PrometheusZero@reddit

I'm on flexible time so I usually take an hour so I can finish half an hour earlier.

Sometimes if it's a nice day I'll take a walk and touch some grass, so my lunch break takes as long as it takes, be that 37mins or 52mins or whatever.

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420BUNIT@reddit

I recently got a new job with hour lunches and I don't really enjoy it. If anything I end up back 10-15 mins early because I'm bored and have things to do.

It's nice in the summer I guess, but pointless in the winter. I'd rather just get home half hour quicker and be able to arrange an hour if I ever needed it.

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CoffeeandaTwix@reddit

I mostly work alone and manage my own schedule but I rarely take an hour at dinner because I just don't need that long a break. I would rather take two (or even three) shorter breaks and get everything done and finish earlier.

Occasionally, when it's a beautiful day out it can be nice to have a walk about and make the most of it.

In any case, I'm 40 so have been in the workplace for about 25 years. I always remembered it as being that office jobs tended to have a full dinner hour and most other jobs had less. Now, the nature of office jobs has changed considerably. I did office work for a spell 20 odd years ago and they had what was considered a new innovation at the time of Flexi time. So you did your 37.5 hours and were meant to arrive between 8-10am and leave between 4-6pm. There was a divide in that the older people religiously did 9am-5pm with an hour's dinner break (half an hour was paid) but the younger people tended to do 8.30am-4pm with a half hour dinner. There was a 15min smoke break for free too (and some none smokers came on it too for the fresh air) so it was a good system.

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en70uk@reddit

Started a new job last week and we get an hour

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andy0506@reddit

I do 12 hour shifts and my place only give 40 mins break.

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WrongExplanation1065@reddit

I have an unpaid lunch hour every work day, and I make sure I use every minute of it not working.

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Easy_Culture_3422@reddit

I’ve never had less than an hour for lunch, except when I worked for the NHS.

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Amazing_Incident_967@reddit

Yup nhs 30 mins for a 10 hour shift with full patient contact…

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zwifter11@reddit

I find it very sad when I see someone who has sold his or her soul to the corporate establishment.

When I see them constantly sat at their desk with their depressing Tupperware box.

I’d rather get some fresh air and a change of scenery for a while.

My most memorable experienced was my Manager saying I can only have 20 or 30 minutes for lunch. So I had to rush … Only to get back and find there’s no work on. Absolutely nothing to do. The Manager was just being a dick.

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Klakson_95@reddit

My workplace treats me like an adult so sometimes I take 30 mins, sometimes I take an hour depending on how much I have to do. I've been known not to take one, and I've been known to nip off 2 hours early

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BuncleCar@reddit

I started work in the Civil Service in 1974 and we had an hour for lunch, but within a year Flexitime was introduced and you had to take a minimum of a half hour, no less.

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Bubble-Master96@reddit

I have a lunch hour, work from home so sometimes I take an 1hr 30 if I’m not too busy

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AmazingRedDog@reddit

Yes it was commonly an hour taken, but usually unpaid. Office hours were often 0900-1730.

Now hours are often 0900-1700 with a 30 min unpaid lunch.

Legally workers are entitled to a 20 min break per 6 hours worked, but again that’s not paid.

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TomfromLondon@reddit

47 and work in office roles and I've always had an hour

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BritsinFrance@reddit

As someone who works in France and officially gets a very long lunch break (the classic two hours), it sucks. It just pushes back the working day. Typical office hours here are 8am-6pm instead of the typical Anglophone 9-5

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Geepandjagger@reddit

We didn't

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weatherwaxs_broom@reddit

Confession- I don't take my break. If I did, I simply wouldn't get my work done.

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JeffTheGoliath@reddit

I worked for some companies that only did 30 mins and it was bullshit. 1 hour gives me enough time for a lil nap (I work from home)

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audigex@reddit

Most companies still do some variant of 8-4:30, 8:30-5, or 9-5:30 with an hour lunch, for a 7.5 hour work day

Some predatory companies make it an 8 hour day with a 30 minute lunch

Many companies allow you to take a 30 minute lunch and start/finish 30 minutes later/earlier, but that's different and just a mild form of flexible working

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EvilRobotSteve@reddit

Yeah it’s an interesting one. It’s been getting smaller and smaller. I am one of 3 people in my company who still gets 45 mins, everyone else is on 30. They keep trying to make me change the contract. I suppose one day I’ll have no choice, but until that day…

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Buddy-Matt@reddit

8.5 hours between starting work and finishing. 1 of those hours isnt paid.

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Locksmithbloke@reddit

Used to get 0.7 of an hour at aerospace. I've been self employed for 20 years now, so I rarely get a lunch at all!

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leej23@reddit

I work 6am to 3.30 get one 30min break at 12

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steveinstow@reddit

Im ex NHS and it was an hour there.

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ckellyedits@reddit

Still exists, you just work a shit job. Start a union

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CowRaptorCatLady@reddit

This is one of the reasons I like my job I only work 7am till 3.30pm and I have 15 min tea break and lunch which is flexible so I can take 1 hour and leave at 3.30 or 30 mins and leave at 3. Pay could be better but love the actual job.

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WhiteDiamondK@reddit

I still have an hour.

Although I work from home so normally work through and eat at my desk, but contractually have an hour.

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belody@reddit

Everyone in the comments is saying g yhey have an hour but I wanna say I get to go on either a 15 or 30 minute break at a time

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clipclopping@reddit

My lunch break is 23 minutes.

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ConduciveMammal@reddit

My last job was half an hour, was barely enough time to make the meal let alone eat it and switch off. My current place is 45 which is just a bit too little

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IdioticMutterings@reddit

When employers wanted more work out of you, in the working day. They then shortened the "hour" to 20 minutes.

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dr_wtf@reddit

Most places it's still an hour (or flexible), but the legal minimum is 30 minutes. So in places like call centres they often stick to whatever they can legally get away with, because everyone is extremely replaceable and they get hundreds of applications for every job opening, regardless of how shit the conditions are.

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Serious_Badger_4145@reddit

Yeah this sounds like a problem with your sector/ employer. Lunch hours are 100% still the norm. They're usually unpaid so often people want half hour instead so they can get paid for that half hour/ leave earlier. Sometimes it becomes regular in a certain workplace as 'everyone wants it like this'

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Mysterious-Mountains@reddit

I was offered it. When I asked about finish time, they said 5 if you take 30 minute lunch, 5:30 if you take an hour. I’ll let you guess which option I chose

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nycarachnid@reddit

I still have a lunch hour. Every job I’ve had has had a lunch hour. I work 9-6 instead of 9-5 because of the hour for lunch, but you bullet I’m taking every single second of that lunch hour.

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-Chris-peaduck-@reddit

When I started work, you got an hour for lunch. We also had the choice of taking 30 mins for lunch, then leaving early on a Friday. It was also generally a 40 hour week back then, it's more likely 37.5 nowadays.

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decentlyfair@reddit

My last job I had an hour for lunch but as I wfh I negotiated starting half an hour later and only taking 1/2 hour for lunch.

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CharlieCatBloke@reddit

My boss has given us two options - work straight through & finish an hour early or have a break then finish an hour later.

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Jumpy_Locksmith_5115@reddit

During covid my office went with flexible lunch times where you can take your lunchbreak whenever you want between 11am and 1pm, apart from the receptionist that is

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BambiiDextrous@reddit

I get an hour but I do 10-12 shifts, in line with your post. They are unpaid though, so if I could shorten them to 30 minutes and go home earlier I would.

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kenhutson@reddit

European working time directive set a minimum, so of course all employers changed the standard to that.

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PigHillJimster@reddit

In the 1990s it became popular to have a half hour lunch rather than a full hour, so you could have a half-day on Friday, finishing at 12pm instead of 5pm.

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pudforbrains@reddit

For my workplace it was the return after COVID. Before you would work 9-5:30 with a 1hr break. Now I work 9-5 with a 30 minute break. I was given the option to return to how it had been, but I'd rather go home earlier tbf

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Blind_rat_rivers@reddit

It's always been an hour for me in UK unless doing part time work/ shift work.. because employment laws

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MisterIndecisive@reddit

I've always taken an hour even when at one place it was 30 mims 😂

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TheNotSpecialOne@reddit

Mine is an hour, been in my current role nearly 7 years now working 8:30am to 5pm.

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andercode@reddit

I work 7 hour days, and still get a lunch hour... I have for the last 15 years...

Other than retail or mainfacturing, where 30 minute breaks are normal, most places still have the lunch hour.

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ATF888@reddit

I still have an hour.

And I work in an office as a graphic designer.

And I get it all to myself in a nice, quiet room on a leather sofa.

Mind you, it helps there are only two employees. I finish up and then he goes for his hour and a half lunch.

For... reasons.

I do 30 hours a week, in case you're wondering.

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Alternative-Bad-3752@reddit

We are completely closed for the whole hour, everyone gets an hours lunch.

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EnvironmentalCrow266@reddit

There used to be a time where I would skip them or have 20 minutes. Now I take a leisurely hour, slightly more than 1..

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Icy-Mode-3191@reddit

As a business owner, staff have no interest in hour lunch. Our standard hours include it and all eventually move to the half hour lunch and finish half hour early- hour is extremely long time if not running errands and too short if going to gym or out for lunch

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SnooSketches5636@reddit

30 mins in the NHS always

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moogle2468@reddit

I’m in eduction. Leadership so not a class teaching role. I get twenty minutes on a good day 🙄

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Honey-Badger@reddit

Always been an hour for me. But i've never had a 9-5, always been 9-6

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hughesyg@reddit

I have basically a whole lunch day 😂

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PARFT@reddit

just block book your calendar - what the hell.

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f8rter@reddit

1994

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Zephinism@reddit

My work hours are 09:00 - 17:30 Mon-Thurs, 09:00 -17:00 Friday.

1 hour lunch break per day.

Or I can take 4 30 minute lunch breaks Mon-Thurs and knock-off at 14:00 on Friday with no lunch break on the Friday.

It's flexible as well.

The flexibility is nice, for every 30 mins extra I take during the week I add 30 mins on Friday so I finish at 14:30 or 15:00 sometimes.

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SleepShowz@reddit

My entitlement has shifted depending on how many hours the company/organisation has considered ‘full time’.

Basically any job that’s been 37.5 hours per week or fewer, 30 minute lunch break, but usually with the flexibility to extend by working an extra half hour somewhere.

Any job where full time has been more than that, I’ve tended to have an hour, and very little flexibility to reduce or extend, mainly due to the type of work it’s been.

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OkAdvisor6680@reddit

I've always had an hour

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Justboy__@reddit

It’s always been an hour for me. Might depend what sector you work in.

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First_Folly@reddit

Still got mine. My last job you could never be certain if you'd manage to escape to get your lunch hour, but now I get my hour guaranteed. Sometimes I get half an hour breakfast, and some evenings you end up wandering about for around an hour on standby.

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LittleHouse82@reddit

As standard where I work it’s an hour for lunch. But no one clock watches. So sometimes folk will take 20-30 mins. Other times they will take 1.5 hours. We can also start or finish early or late at times too. It’s give and take essentially.

We are treated like grown ups to manage our time and resources as we see fit. As long as we get the work done, reach or exceed targets etc then we are fine.

Companies who look after their staff and treat them well tend to have less attrition and have staff willing to go the extra mile when needed. Attrition where I work is really good. We have several people in top senior positions that started out as graduates and our longest serving staff member has been with us over 50 years!

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Potential-Living-676@reddit

I have always had a 1 hour lunch at work. It is the standard in any white collar role.

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EmperorsGalaxy@reddit

It's been 50/50 with my previous jobs as a lunch hour vs a half hour. I have rule that I will never work 8.5 hours for a 30 minute lunch job. If I get 30 minutes lunch, I will only work 8 hours maximum.

I've just recently changed job and I was lucky enough to get a few offers at the same time and I was able to play them against eachother to get better terms. I was basically between two roles which I liked equally, both had half an hour lunch. One accomodated my request for an hour lunch with no increased work time, not sure how that will impact team dynamic when I start, but that's not really my problem.

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Massive_Resource2887@reddit

My current and last 2 jobs are/were an hour. Current job though I rarely take it and I finish earlier. It’s not a 9-5 type role so I start early or take shorter lunch I can finish early.

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Aggressive-Jello7314@reddit

I actually get 1.5hrs for lunch

I do work 12hr shift though.Generally can’t take it all at once but I take an hour for my dinner and usually have a 15min break in a morning and another 15min in an afternoon

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Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit

My last job was an hour lunch. I had to fight for a 30 minute lunch so I could go home at 4.30 instead of 5. I didn't see the point of mooching around for time I wasn't eating when I could go home earlier!

Plus I'd eaten my lunch by 10 anyway 😂

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srm79@reddit

Always been an hour for me, although flexibility has meant I can do a half hour lunch and leave early if I want. I do miss a pub lunch now and again though

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Humble_Squirrel_4089@reddit

I work in community social care & we don't get a break at all so a 30min lunch break sounds like nirvana... Never mind an actual full hour!

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thecheesycheeselover@reddit

I started working in around 2008 and have always had an hour…

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West-Season-2713@reddit

I’m grateful to work in an environment where we mostly just muck around all day until shit hits the fan. It’s great, except when shit hits the fan.

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Top-Rope6148@reddit

You take as long as you want as long as work your full hours and get everything done.

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No-Skin-1486@reddit

When I work in the office, I usually take 30 minutes so I know I have time to add some flex for school club pick up. Then I take an hour for my WFH days. My new boss is far more human than the last so I will usually end up doing a little more in the evenings. Previous boss was more militant so it was very much 9-5 with a full hour lunch.

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linkheroz@reddit

I still have an hour 🤷‍♀️ only 1 place I worked had 45 minutes.

Iirc, legally, it should be an hour if you're at the workplace for enough hours.

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Nicktrains22@reddit

I have a full hour lunch, never lost them

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You_moron04@reddit

Reading this is making me hurt. My current job is 20 mins minimum unpaid, and my new one is 30 mins unpaid, where’s this paid hour coming from??

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Tumeni1959@reddit

I worked for a large financial co. from 1976 onwards, and by the time I'd joined, the company was on flexitime.

Could arrive anytime between 8am and 9.30, leave anytime between 4pm and 5.30, and lunch could be any time between 11.45 and 14.30. Minimum of 30 minutes, max 2h45m.

Just had to complete, on average, the required hours per day. As long as the month balanced out to within a couple of hours of the required time, you could carry the balance forward to next month.

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bardeh@reddit

I work for myself and I give myself a full hour.

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Dazz316@reddit

I had it at my last few jobs. This job is the first I have had where I haven't had a full hour.

I do miss it, especially working from home as I could nip out on errands and stuff. Go to the chemist, pick up stuff, quick run to shops or do stuff for my kids school 9sports day etc). Now it's a half hour and sucks.,

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Yamosu@reddit

First job was half hour, 20 minutes on sundays. Second was half an hour again. Took two more job changes to get to an hour!

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SAustin87@reddit

I’ve had an hour in every job I’ve had…

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HuckleberryFinal5706@reddit

I've never had an hour in any job, in education it's impossible but in admin roles I had before there was no excuse but it was timed to the minute in every one

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EcstaticAstronaut984@reddit

we're all having 60 mins breaks in the office (one of the businesses from the FTSE250)

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winebookscats@reddit

Depends where you are in the world (side-eyeing the USA here 👀) but am guessing UK from the 'Only Fools...' reference. Practically every contract specifies how many hours each day you're expected to work. If your hours are, for example, 9.00am-5.30pm, you have an hour for lunch.

You are not being paid for that hour. You're off the clock. You can do whatever the hell you want to do with that hour.

Do not spend it working for free.

I'm 55, have been working for nearly 40 years, and I've only just learned this lesson. Do. Not. Work. For. Free.

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Roland-Belmont@reddit

I work 9am-5pm most days and am aloted an hour of break time. It's usually up to me when I use it and it includes other breaks I can take during the day i.e. 15 minutes in the morning, half hour for lunch, 15 minutes mid afternoon.

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stowgood@reddit

I take an hour.

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wogger22@reddit

Never existed in my job. There's work to be done and it all needs to be done before I go home. Sometimes I leave early which is nice. But I'll be dammed if I'm staying 1 minute longer at work than I have to because I took a leisurely lunch in the middle of the day.

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BewareTheMoonLads@reddit

When we wanted to finish early on Fridays plus a lot of people I know hate a lunch hour when 30 minutes is enough and you can go home earlier

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Additional-Nobody352@reddit

My current job i have 30 mins lunch but i have x2 15 min breaks over an 8 hour shift.

Previous jobs i have have had an hour and no other breaks.

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HealthyWall@reddit

I run a small business and absolutely it's an hour. Some people don't take the full hour and leave earlier. Some take the hour. Some don't clock watch and if they have the odd 90 minute lunch hour I don't care.

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Tiny-Sandwich@reddit

At my last company we had 30 minutes. We were the only subsidiary out of 6 under the same parent company that didn't get an hour. We also started half an hour earlier at 08:30, and finished 15 minutes earlier, and at 16:00 on a Friday.

We had employees from our parent company who had positions in our building, they still got their full hour and also turned up for work at 09:00, but all still seemed to leave at the same time as us... Funny how that goes.

My current company is 09:00 start, hour for lunch and finish at 16:00 on Fridays. And is fully remote. Can't complain.

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RoverTheMoob@reddit

I technically only get half an hour lunch but everyone takes an hour most of the time so I make sure I take the full 75 minutes as well.

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ayeayefitlike@reddit

I’ve always had an hour for lunch in each job I’ve worked - although some allowed you to leave or arrive half an hour earlier if you only took half an hour.

Right now I am expected to work a 7 hour day but my actual hours are quite flexible, so some days I take an hour and others I don’t.

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scarydan365@reddit

No idea what you’re talking about, not universal at all. I’m in my mid-40’s. I always have a lunch hour.

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Rude_Rhubarb1880@reddit

Everyone has an hour for lunch

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MarmiteX1@reddit

Since working in an office job since 2008, always had 1 hour lunch break, it was stipulated in the contract.
But in recent years especially since pandemic the roles I've been in are hybrid roles so whenever I take a longer break I make up for it.

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SeahorseQueen1985@reddit

I suspect it's because many people don't have lunches paid for anymore. Instead because people don't get paid for the time on their lunch, they take less time so they can finish earlier. If someone said to me, you can work 9-5 with an hour unpaid lunch, or 9-4.30 with a 30 min unpaid lunch, I'm taking the 30 min lunch to leave earlier.

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mammyquatro@reddit

I work an eight and a half hours shift and I get a 30 minute break. No tea breaks either...brutal...

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JohnCasey3306@reddit

Universally? ... I take a lunch hour.

Has your employer specifically told you you're no longer allowed an hour (contractually) or is this a self-imposed thing?

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Calm-Bus7555@reddit

I have a lunch hour working in publishing

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Dependent_One6034@reddit

I witnessed this happen. It was over Covid. During Covid those who were working in the workshop were flat out, as only a few were in, 1/4 of the staff. To get everything done, they were staying half an hour later every day, so they (the employees) decided to reduce their hour break, stopped taking morning and afternoon 15min breaks and ate on the go.

This hung around after Covid too, because people got used to a 30min lunch and no morning/afternoon breaks. The bosses said nothing. Of course, why would they? I left the company for just after Covid, but went back a few years later, and found they were still on the same routine. It's now back to hour lunches and 5-15minute morning and afternoon breaks.

My point being - Some people will genuinely just give up their rights to a break, and then if questioned by management why they are taking 5 minutes feel bad about it.

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SnowflakeBaube22@reddit

I have a lunch hour every day. I usually take it between 1-2pm.

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Supes1975@reddit

It's 30 minutes in my retail job.

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DEADB33F@reddit

Used to get 15 min morning break at 11, 45 mins lunch break, 5 min smoke/tea break every hour.

...this was working at a sawmill.

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shakesfistatmoon@reddit

I still have a lunch hour.

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Greedy-Ad-3779@reddit

UK employment law does not entitle you to an hour for lunch. Despite popular opinion, you're only entitled to a 20 minute break every 6 hours. Which is bullshit in my view.

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MapOfIllHealth@reddit

I used to get an hour in my office jobs, but customer service roles were only ever half an hour.

Depending on where your work is located, an hour can be way too long. In the town centre then great, you can get stuff done. An industrial area half an hours drive from the nearest shops? Those lost five hours every week drove me crazy.

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HighRiseCat@reddit

I worked in a shop on Saturdays as a teenager, lunch hour and tea breaks..

Seems bizarre to me now

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Trinity_McDuff@reddit

Always take my lunch break, it's unpaid and I'm sure as heck not working for free!

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ClintonLewinsky@reddit

Be the change you want in the world.

I changed jobs recently from.a very stressful one, and now take an hour no matter what when im in the office. I just walk.aroind the city centre with my music on. It takes me 5 mins to actually eat so this means I take a break.

On the odd occasion I work through, I leave early

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Illustrious-Log-3142@reddit

Most of my jobs have an hour and I've asked to cut it in half so I can finish early

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Acrobatic-Ad584@reddit

People started having shorter lunch breaks so they could get off early or start late. EU rules are ten minutes break every four hours worked and at least 20 mins break after the for hours often taken at the desk. Since we aren't obliged to follow those rules anymore I suppose they have gone bye the bye. Also there was a long lunch culture in some places and drinks at lunch time too. I think this is frowned upon now. Working for big organisations often comes with longer working hours so I suppose people work through so they can have some form of life.

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Superb_Copy1644@reddit

Every single job I’ve held since 2010 has been an hour for lunch????

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Odd_Championship7286@reddit

Mines an hour still. I go home on my break, walk the dog and make some food. It’s unpaid but I think that’s normal for an 8 hour shift (9 if you include lunch)

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beeurd@reddit

I have a lunch hour.

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PiesPiesAndPies@reddit

I never gave up. In fact, I often used to have lunch two-hours and go for a long run.

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Vequihellin@reddit

Typically if you work 7.5hrs you'll get a 30m unpaid break. So you'll be in work for 8 hours but paid only 7.5. E.g. 9-5. I believe the law says if you work over 4 hours, you have to have a minimum of 30m break. If you wanted to work, say, 9-5.30 and take an unpaid hour you could negotiate that. When I worked in retail, we had to be at work from 9 to 5.30 when the shop closed, so we'd have an unpaid hour lunch. We couldn't shorten it and finish at 5 because we had to be there for close. So a lot of it will depend on the type of job and the hours you need to be there.

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Simpy158@reddit

Office jobs in the UK, normally give you an hour.

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Firthy2002@reddit

I've had a job where I could have (and did) take a full hour for lunch, as long as I worked my contracted hours for the week.

The rest have all been 30 minutes. I don't mind as it forces me to bring a lunch to eat even with plenty of shops within a few minutes walk. With an hour I'd probably waste my money on expensive lunches out and/or impulse buys.

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FornyHucker22@reddit

I don’t have any set breaks but there is plenty of time to eat and browse Reddit. paid full hours so suits me

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MFingAmpharos@reddit

I've been working for two decades in various jobs and it's always been 1 hour for lunch.

So your question might be flawed.

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SCWeak@reddit

My first ‘real’ job was 45mins, but it would usually end up being 1.5 hours.

Next job was 45 mins.

Job after that was an hour, but working for a Thai company.

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MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit

My lunch is an hour between 12 and 2 and not only am I taking an hour, but it will be at the time of my choosing

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polkadot_eyes@reddit

In my current and previous job it’s an hour. Most people I know also have an hour. Seems still standard.

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FilmFanatic1066@reddit

I’ve only ever had an hour for lunch

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sc00022@reddit

I’ve never had a job that hadn’t been an hour for lunch and I’ve worked in a whole different range of industries across multiple different companies.

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PotentialEgg0@reddit

I have never had a job that wasn't an hour lunch break

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Jimi-K-101@reddit

When I worked at WHSmiths in the 2000s there were staff on old contracts who got a full hour for lunch, while newer staff like me only got 30 mins. I think the older staff got longer mid morning breaks too.

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rkr87@reddit

I've been working since 2003 and never had less than an hour for lunch.

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Expensive-Concept-93@reddit

I had an hour up til 2020 depending on where I worked. It's half an hour and I'm apparently a lazy civil servant haha

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National-Pay-8911@reddit

An hours too long for lunch. 30 minutes is long enough. That being said, I’m paid by the hour so if I had an hours break I’d be at work longer

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Depends! If you have to leave, walk to shops, to buy food, get back/make food - that can be 30 mins before even eating. Depends where you work 😰😵‍💫

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Flat_News_2000@reddit

Yep if you don't want to eat at your desk a half hour is barely long enough to go out, eat, and come back.

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FerretChrist@reddit

Half an hour is barely long enough to get the first couple of pints in.

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Legitimate_Corgi_981@reddit

An hour when I worked in city centres was fine as I could actually go out shopping and have a bit of a browse or even go to a gym if one was right next to the office. An hour lunch when I worked in the middle of the wilderness with only my companies cafeteria and the smoking shelter was interminable.

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Theallseer97@reddit

Used to get an hour when I worked at Toby carvery but actually getting the break never happened. I worked there for 3 months and had 1 break the entire time. Always too busy for anyone, managers includeded admittedly, to have a break at all.

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Ok_Egg_4585@reddit

I’m still taking them…….sometimes even longer.

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Cha_r_ley@reddit

I’ve been working in office-based jobs since 2008 and I’ve always had a full hour. In my current job, quite a few of my colleagues choose just to take half an hour but we all have the option of an hour.

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kartoffeln44752@reddit

How much of that though is because we’ve moved more to a services based economy than industry work? More salary than by the hour too that goes in hand with that.

No-one looks in on how long my lunch is, I’m trusted to do it as long as I get my stuff done.

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Brocc013@reddit

As soon as I started high school (1993) we never had a full hour for lunch. Admittedly high school was close at 50 mins same again in VIth Form. But at uni it was 30 mins, and the same for every paid job since both clinical in the NHS and now in retail.

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HMS_Hexapuma@reddit

I imagine the shorter lunch hours are either corporate greed or high-intensity professions like nursing. I still get an hour.

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Iwant2beebetter@reddit

I mean - I record 30 minutes on my weekly planner

it's usually more like 2 hours

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AnxiousAppointment70@reddit

I get exactly one hour for lunch

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Alpha2Omega1982@reddit

Every job I've had in the last 22 years has been an hour, though the flexibility has increased as time has gone on, or I've become more senior, probably a bit of both, so these days I take 30 minutes or maybe less to finish earlier. It probably does depend on industry. I'm in IT, service industries seem like the sort that would try and cut them to 30 minutes

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Rozzles-@reddit

I get an hour, so don’t know what to tell you

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littleboo2theboo@reddit

I have a whole hour in my current job. In some ways I would rather half and hour and leave half an hour earlier

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Substantial_Prize_73@reddit

Never had a job that didn’t have an hour lunch break. 9-5 corporate roles for 20 odd years.

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Novaportia@reddit

I get an hour :)

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Wooden_Permit1284@reddit

I’ve always had lunch hours since I started working full time at 18

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ClosetWeebMiku@reddit

American here, you get a break? XD

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EasyPriority8724@reddit

Don't y'all get one?

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ClosetWeebMiku@reddit

We do. But I never heard of a hour break. I have heard of 30 minute breaks. But in my state, they are not required to give their employees breaks. Most times breaks are done either out of some policy the company has or out of the manager being ethical.

I do not get breaks unless I worked a long time. (Like 7 hours) Even so, it’s not guaranteed and is out of luck.

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EasyPriority8724@reddit

I'm old enough to remember working in the 70s and I've always had an hour, its mandated in law about breaks here, I've worked offshore wildcatting with yanks and they took 29mins and out that door.

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ClosetWeebMiku@reddit

That must be very nice actually. A lot of companies here have policies but if there is not policy they don’t have to give you a break. I believe its state dependent too

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EasyPriority8724@reddit

That's why they don't like Unions there, divide and conquer!

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EyeAware3519@reddit

I've always had an hour for lunch, started working in 1997 and worked for 8 different companies. Some of my friends who do more manual jobs have a 30 min lunch but also two 15 minute breaks.

In my current role I just work when I need to and can pretty much take a break whenever I want.

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rebelallianxe@reddit

I get an hour (work in a uni) but it's unpaid. You can bet I take the whole hour.

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guareber@reddit

I have always taken a full hour. It's always been office jobs, but I absolutely need that hour to recharge mental energy.

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devandroid99@reddit

I frequently spend 30 minutes eating lunch then have a nap for an hour or two.

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Suspicious_Banana255@reddit

Wouldn't you rather have a shorter lunch and finish earlier?

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FraggleGoddess@reddit

I work in education and our hours are set by class times so we have an hour. I'm no longer teaching so plan to ask for half hour lunches and an earlier finish.

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Lloytron@reddit

Make time to take a lunch hour.

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Sad-Wrap6555@reddit

still get the hour for lunch with no morning or afternoon breaks

Its down to some of the places we work - where we have to deal with 'count everything out, count everything in' policies with nothing to be left unattended

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Mireillka@reddit

I've had an hour as a dental nurse. Otherwise I wouldn't have a break at all, cos we would usually be running late more than 30 minutes. But after I changed jobs, it's 2x30min in a 12h shift, but I suspect things will be getting worse, cos by law companies are only required to give us 20 minutes per 6h.

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Narrow_Second1005@reddit

Depends on how big the team when I’ve worked in businesses with bigger teams it’s been an hour now I’m in a place where it’s only one or two and myself then it’s 1/2 hr for needing everyone available

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CrowApprehensive204@reddit

My lunch isn't paid so thirty minutes suits me better tbh. I'm 56, have never had an hour lunch break, I'd just be twiddling my thumbs, there's nowhere to go anyway

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Chocolategirl1234@reddit

It’s unpaid. I’d rather have 30 minutes than the hour and then have to work longer.

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kiradax@reddit

I've always only ever had the minimum allowed 20 minutes in all my jobs (often working 12 hr days). I started a new job recently with a whole hour (unpaid) and it's so so good. Absolutely fantastic

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GooseyDuckDuck@reddit

We didn’t stop, I have one 5 days a week. It’s you that’s not.

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f1boogie@reddit

As with most things like this, after the legislation came in that set the minimum. So after 1998.

Now I am making up the figures for this example.

But, lets say 2% of jobs give no breaks in an 7 hour day. The government sets a minimum to help that 2%.

Now that sets a precedent for how short your breaks can be, so 40% of employers reduce their break times to either meet it, or slightly exceed it.

Its the same with minimum wage, and the real living wage. While it certainly helps the lowest paid workers, other companies no longer feel the need to pay above it.

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meltedlenondrop@reddit

I get an hour … officially anyway. Unofficially no-one really takes it.

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sweetxinsanityx@reddit

My job lets us choose between an hour lunch or leaving 30 minutes early. We're all going home early.

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scooches66@reddit

At my last job, we had an hour unpaid. We had to clock in and out. Now I get 30 mins paid lunch break.

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pusopdiro@reddit

We get 30 mins unpaid for lunch but then also two paid 15 minute breaks throughout the day. We can take these whenever we want throughout the day so I just take it as an hour.

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Bacon4Lyf@reddit

Ours is technically an hour, but we take 45 so we can use the accumulated 15 minutes to leave an hour early on Friday

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Active_Definition_57@reddit

I think the one hour lunch break was very much the norm when the vast majority of office and factory jobs had fixed hours. With many more jobs nowadays having flexible hours people will often take a shorter break so that they can finish the day earlier.

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yellowsubmarine45@reddit

I still have a lunch hour in theory, but often only take 30 minutes and then knock off early

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jonathing@reddit

Somehow I've ended up with a 37 and a half minute lunch break.

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chez2202@reddit

I’m 51. I’ve had one job where lunch was half an hour. My other jobs, including my current one of almost a decade have all been an hour. I work 9-5.30.

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Chemical-Demand-5741@reddit

I've been working in the print industry for twenty six years. Not once have I ever had an hour's lunch.

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_Daftest_@reddit

Mate your employer is screwing you over. It's meant to be an hour.

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skatemoose@reddit

We have a choice of 30 or 60 min lunch. I mostly take 30mins but its nice to know I have an extra 30 to take if I want.

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Creative_Can470@reddit

I've always been supposed to have a lunch hour. However, as a journalist on salary who is tied to deadlines, I very rarely take it. I'm always at work until at least 7-7:30pm (gone midnight on deadline week), without taking my lunch hour, and I do like to get home occasionally!

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Substantial_Age_1284@reddit

I have 0 lunch break. Working for a charity so basically just work through it so I can leave after 8 hours

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Rich_27-@reddit

I take 30 minutes and finished 30 minutes early.

Or I take the full hour and go to the pub

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tsdesigns@reddit

Mine is an hour, although it specifies in my contract 30 minutes of that is company time, and 30 minutes is unpaid personal time. I usually choose not to take the personal time, and finish half an hour earlier.

Maybe my job is more flexible than most though.

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LJ161@reddit

I get an hour and two 15 min breaks. The only place ive ever worked in 20 years with a 30 min lunch break was a shop when I had 6 hour shifts.

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Jack_In_Black89@reddit

I have a lunch hour, but its split into two 30-minute breaks.

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horoscopical@reddit

I still have a lunch hour.

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Whoosholliander@reddit

UK law is that it's 20 minutes for every 6 hours you do. Some companies are generous, others are not.

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JBH-JustBeingHonest@reddit

I work at a bank and can choose between hour lunch and work the extra 30 minutes or a reduced 30 minute lunch and finish earlier. Since I like my family more than coworkers. I choose the 30 minute lunch

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Various-Moment-6774@reddit

Contractually I get 30’ but my company unofficially allows us to go for 1 hour. My partner works in similar industry with me and over the years only 1 of his 5 employers gave him half an hour. Everyone else was lunch hour. So between us we have worked majority of the top 10 in the industry and so far and based on my knowledge only 2 of the top 10 in the field give 30’. And are both knows to be crap employers

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badger906@reddit

I get an hour and 15 minutes lol

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BoringTruckDriver@reddit

I think people would rather push through the day to get done quicker, if that's an option.

I'm a truck driver and have legally required breaks. I can be frustrating because sometimes, I just want to get on with it and get the day done with.

I'm also lucky to have management whose attitude is "if you're hungry, have a break and eat. If you're tired, have a break and a little sleep. It's better if customers' goods arrives a little late rather than killing a family because you drifted off behind the wheel"

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Warngumer@reddit

I used to get 1 hour total, but that'd be broken up into a 20 min morning group tea break and 40 min for lunch. Then Covid hit and we stopped the group tea break so some of us started taking the full hour. Obviously we'd reduce things if we had a lot on but management were insistent on us taking at least 20 min for lunch regardless.

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mjstokes85@reddit

I get an hour, 7:45-4:00 working and 12-1 lunch, although I’d prefer 30 mins and to finish 30 mins earlier.

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OkGrapefruit7174@reddit

I have it at my current company, makes it easier for them to have me cover the full opening hours (8-17)

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CreativeAdeptness477@reddit

I last had a lunch hour in 1999.

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john92w@reddit

I can take the hour in one go or split it up through the day how I want. I normally have multiple 5 minutes (smoker) and about 30 min for lunch.

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EasyCheesecake1@reddit

It was a mixed blessing, if you had something to do, like going out to eat or to the post office, an hour was handy but just sitting at work.. people would rather have a 30 min lunch and go home 30 mins earlier.

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gt4bro@reddit

Everyone here is talking about having always had an hour - I’ve never had an hour in my full 20 years of working, 30mins max in every single job :(

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Oh_wise_one_123@reddit

I've worked in places where you are not entitled a break, unless it's to use the toilet, if you work less than 6 hrs per day. Regardless of how stressful it was.

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Cat-Cuddler1@reddit

We used to have them and then our employer took our rest area away. So that's fun.

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jesuseatsbees@reddit

I currently get an hour but realistically I can’t take the full hour. I make sure take around 30 minutes before cracking on.

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TheBlakeOfUs@reddit

You should watch Capitalism:A Love Story

They took more than that from you and they were always going to

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onionsofwar@reddit

I decided to start taking an hour when my company stopped respecting my time. It forces me to get time back. So does starting later because finishing earlier isn't always possible.

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SkipsH@reddit

Worked for a mechanic and we usually got an hour, a bit longer on Fridays depending on when we got back from the pub.

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LowAnimator8770@reddit

I take it when I can but a lot of days it’s work through lunch or stay late at end of day. So I’m always going to opt for the getting home over lunchtime.

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NoodleDoodlesocks@reddit

Always had an hour if I was working full day.

Though I know my current employer would love to reduce it to 30 minutes but because we used to close for an hour at lunch, they're stuck with my contract.

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Lysadora@reddit

I don't know anybody who gets less than an hour if they are working full-time. I get two half hour breaks.

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ThreeDawgs@reddit

I get an hour lunch break, but I’m also expected to work 8:00-18:00 (often more like 07:00-19:00)

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iwannabeinnyc@reddit

I still get an hour!

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not2daythankyou@reddit

I have an hour and have done since I started with the company I’m with now. Just over 25 years now. So that’s 6500 hours just for my lunch break.

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QueefInMyKisser@reddit

I have an hour for lunch if the weather is nice enough to go for a walk after eating, otherwise I only have half an hour

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yoy78@reddit

I’m on an hour now and not actually a fan. Would prefer 30 minutes and get away earlier. I’ve only been there 5 weeks and I’m already bored of the walk I do was at my last job 17 years and never got bored of the walks as there was more variety

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likeyournamebutworse@reddit

Mine is an hour and always has been.

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bopeepsheep@reddit

It's an hour for me, has always been apart from a week in 2020 where someone insisted it was 40 mins but agreed that nothing was stopping us taking 60 and leaving 20 mins later. And two days after that we all got sent home and lunch break ceased to be a meaningful concept.

I get an hour now but almost never remain undisturbed (nature of role) so I just use it as flexitime.

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West_Technology7573@reddit

? I still get a lunch hour at work. They also usually don’t notice or care if you take slightly over if it’s quiet

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StonedOnYou@reddit

Same here, I work 8am-5pm and get 1hr for lunch, no one cares if Its slightly over on quiet days either

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thebrowncanary@reddit

Mine is an hour. Gives plenty of flexibility to run an strand, go pub, etc

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Icy-Belt-8519@reddit

My other half has 2 hours! Jammy git, while I'm lucky if I even get a loo break 😂

(his is part of reasonable adjustments so he can have a nap in the middle of the day, but not the point! 2 hours?!)

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SemtaCert@reddit

2 hours would be awful, much better to have less and finish eadloe.

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Icy-Belt-8519@reddit

Like i say its for reasonable adjustments, without that he wouldn't be able to work, even with the 2 hours his work day is shorter than mine! 😂

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FigureSubstantial970@reddit

Most companies don’t offer as long breaks now, for a 10 hour shift I get one 30min and one 15min break and the 15min one is absolutely pointless, by the time you’ve swiped and got to your locker it’s over. Also most people work outside of town centres now, ie factories, construction sites, random buildings in the middle of nowhere. I’ve worked full time since I was 15 and I’ve NEVER seen a workplace what has an hour break. That’s like something out of movies for me.

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Madamemercury1993@reddit

9-5, 1 hour unpaid.

We all make tea for each other too.

It’s not a great job and sometimes I work through my lunch when I’m on my own, or very busy periods but I’m not expected to. I just claim the hours back when I need a half day for whatever reason.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

We have a lunch hour. During a twelve hour shift…

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Decard_Pain@reddit

I can take 20 minutes, I can take an hour, I can take 2 hours. So long as my hours are done now one cares.

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PieceofPuzzle@reddit

You get 20 mins in retail, if you’re lucky and you don’t get interrupted because it’s busy

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nsfgod@reddit

First full time job 2001. 7:30 to 16:30 with half an hour unpaid lunch.

Now I'm in management, so it's kind of up to me to manage my time.

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Vixrotre@reddit

We get 30 min if working for 5.5h, 1h break for shifts over 6h. You can take it in chunks if you want to, but most take the full hour.

Previous job we got 2x15min and 1x30min, but it was remote so we had to take more frequent breaks from the screen.

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LegendaryTJC@reddit

I don't know anyone on 30 minute lunch breaks personally. Always been 1 hour. My first job began in 2011.

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thetechguyv@reddit

Every company Ive worked for has been an hour for lunch, I'm in my mid forties.

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EmFan1999@reddit

I’ve never worked anywhere without a lunch hour in 20 odd years of jobs

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cardiffman100@reddit

It's not "universally", it's dependent on the workplace and the worker.

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frontroomhog@reddit

I’ve worked in manufacturing since 1994. Always had 30 mins for lunch except when I transitioned to an office based job in the same company where I started getting an hour. After a few months that dropped to 45 mins so we could go early on a Friday. I think really it depends on the industry and if you are hourly or salaried.

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Kid_Kimura@reddit

The only time I ever had a 30 min lunch break was a sales job where we did that to finish early on a Friday. Other than that, every job I've ever had for over 20 years has been an hour lunch.

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Reallyboringname2@reddit

My lunch hour is 12-2 every day.

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suki10@reddit

Were you watching the OFAH ep on the weekend where Del gets Trigger and Denzel to dig in his allotment, and they said they're going on their lunch hour?

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EasyPriority8724@reddit

Got the box set Dave!

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Soar_Fingers@reddit

When Maggie Thatcher crushed the unions.

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Antdunn1@reddit

I used to have an agreement with whoever was covering my break that I’d cover them for an hour if they did the same, was great until the boss found out.

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fbbb21@reddit

Lots of people in here get the hour it seems. I work 8-6 and get half an hour, in theory, but I hardly ever get to actually take the whole break. I used to work half seven to 8pm and technically got an hour, but really the longest I ever got to actually take was 30 mins.

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Danwd40@reddit

I was thinking this the other day as I've never had an hour. I'm surprised so many people still have them!

I always think of Neil in the Inbetweeners.

"How long is my lunch hour?"

"An hour?!"

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Chance-Bread-315@reddit

Every office job I've had it's been a full hour lunch and you can pop out for a breather/go to make a cuppa as needed.

When I worked front of house in museums (multiple different places) it was 1x30 min lunch break and 2x15 min toilet & tea breaks to make up a full hour of break time.

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blondererer@reddit

Most of the companies I’ve worked for have had them. However, most had hours set at 9:00-5:30 to cover it.

Many years ago I worked in a contact centre and lunch was then 30 mins.

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uncertain_expert@reddit

Yes, I get an hour but work 8:30-5:00. The Classic 9:00-5:00 gives only 30min for lunch for a 37.5hr week.

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blondererer@reddit

My current role is a true 9-5 with an hour for lunch. I understand why people like it.

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Front_Pepper_360@reddit

It changed when work time went from 39 hours a week to 37. We used to have to be at work until 5.15. We had to be in at at a set time and have an hour off. Then it went to 30 Mina and we finished at 4.30.

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Shmeckless@reddit

I'm supposed to have 30 but you best believe my lunch is an hour for the working from home days baby

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Embot87@reddit

I have to take a minimum of 25mins. I’d rather just take 25mins lunch and finish work 35mins earlier, than take an hour lunch.

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LUNATIC_LEMMING@reddit

I always thought the divide was, 37.5 hours, 30 min lunch, 40 hours, hour lunch

In my experience over the past 20 years 37.5 hours has become more common. So much so my dumbass didn't check the last time I changed jobs. B ut as it's unpaid I take 30 mins anyway to get home early.

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Ok-Health-3898@reddit

Get a your but if you work a corporate job where they trust you to do the work you have to do then you might as well just take what you need and finish a bit earlier. The work is the work 🤷‍♂️

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ramona1987@reddit

I didn't have any official breaks in my last job, we could go for small breaks throughout the day, but always had to eat at our desks.

In my current job, I have 45 minutes for lunch. When I first started, the time would drag because I wouldn't know what to do with myself once I'd eaten, now it's over way too quickly.

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Fluid-Let3373@reddit

Early 90's we was offered a choice keep the 1 hour lunch break or reduce to 30 mins but finish work at lunch time Friday reducing the working week to 38.5 hrs but still getting paid for 40.

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Mikeytee1000@reddit

We never did take them in my 35 year working experience (construction professional)

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Emergency-Answer8360@reddit

I get an unpaid lunch hour in the hospital but often I was made to feel guilty for taking the full hour. I hate this.

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Nobody can make you feel anything - let them have their thoughts/feelings and take your hour!

[-]

CorpusCalossum@reddit

It's despicable

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RadiantTown9154@reddit

Always varied by job when I worked in retail years ago you could either take an hour at 12 or 1 pm or 30 mins and 2 15 mins spread out (if you worked 8+ hours)

Work in healthcare now, 12.5 hour shifts and it’s 20 mins am (paid) 45 mins lunch unpaid and 15 mins pm unpaid

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Nervous_Yard7034@reddit

I have a white-collar, salaried job and I get to take an hour (give or take the odd meeting overrunning).

I think it depends on your work. When I worked in call centres and factories it was normally 30 minutes

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FreeBogwoppits@reddit

For me it was 1993. I was 20, and had been working full time since age 16. Everyone had an hour for lunch wherever they worked, then suddenly didn't.

I worked in a city with lots of offices for different companies all near each other and workers would always meet up for lunch, you even could use each other's office canteens. Then suddenly no-one had time to go to the canteens anymore or pop into the nearby High Street. I changed job, and the job I went to was a strict 36 minute lunch break.

The office canteens closed down about 18 months later, and the High Street shops closest to the offices all closed and re-opened as tat shops.

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Pantomimehorse1981@reddit

I get a unpaid hour for lunch you better believe I take it

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TrueWordsSaidInJest@reddit

I've always had an hour

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delpigeon@reddit

I just carry on working and fit lunch in around that. Part of my job is that I've got a phone that goes off all the time so I don't really have a choice to take XYZ amount of time.

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SamAtHomeForNow@reddit

I take 30 mins like you OP, but I then claim the other 30mins back. With that and starting slightly earlier and having one late work day, I compress my hours to a 4 day work week. Everyone else in my company takes an hour

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Ok-Middle8656@reddit

Mines only an hour if I’m especially busy

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ndzl@reddit

Mine is still an hour. If I could do 30 mins and leave 30 mins early I would do that though.

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JoeBagadonut@reddit

I get a full hour and try to spend the entirety of it away from my desk so people don't take the piss and try to get me to do things while I'm on break.

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LUNATIC_LEMMING@reddit

I tried that once and someone grabbed me in the tesco and tried to log a ticket

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KobiDnB@reddit

We have 2x 30-40 minute breaks (7:30 - 16:00 site sparkies).

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rachaelg666@reddit

I’ve had an hour in every office job I’ve had for the last 15 years! These days I don’t always take it, though – would rather work through and leave a bit early.

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

Lots of places calculator based off the hours you do daily. I could’ve had one hour but asked to do half an hour lunch so I can go home earlier

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Westsidepipeway@reddit

I have always had an hour. I never take it and always am flexible with start and finish times instead.

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RedRamblerUK@reddit

The law says 20 minutes, so some shitty companies offer this only. I have an hour, I choose to split this three ways as do many other staff. It's much better having shorter bursts.

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lavieenr0see@reddit

I’m lucky in that I can take anything I want between 20 minutes and 2 hours (flexi time) but unless I’ve got specific plans I never take longer than 20 minutes, I’d rather finish as early as possible

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WarmCat_UK@reddit

Offshore my lunch hour lasted until about 2:30 when on nightshift, unless something was broken.
Office job though, half an hour and finish the day earlier.

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lildogeggs@reddit

I’ve always had an hour.

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Bumbaguette@reddit

I take a full hour for mine.

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Kind-Photograph2359@reddit

I have an hour. A different team have 30 minutes but they also finish 30 minutes earlier.

I'd much rather have 30 and spend less time at work.

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