But they’ve put up a sign saying they’re on lunch. They’re not just sitting there. Perhaps they need a huge sign that can’t be missed.
Thats the problem with tightly scheduled break times… people feel compelled to not do anything during them. I work 12 hours at a factory, and we get an hours worth of breaks a day, and when eating, we sit in the control room to monitor the equipment. Break times aren’t scheduled though, the supervisor just keeps an eye on everyone to make sure they aren’t taking hours, so ultimately, if things come up during the break, no biggy, I’ll take care of it, and take a bit more later on if i feel like it.
Though people just asking stuff? Meh… Sitting down is the important part of my breaks. Someone can ask me anything they want, so long as they don’t ask me to get up, we’re good.
In none of these cases was it obvious to me. First of all, I’ve never seen an “at lunch” sign at any other workplace. The first time I saw one, I had no idea what it was supposed to mean. Second, in the first two cases, I didn’t see the “at lunch” sign until it was pointed out. Third, I think it’s not out of line to ask a simple question like “can you show me which way to the general counsel’s office?” regardless of what else you might be doing.
In the third case, the office area is a shared office area and it was dark until the motion sensor kicked the lights on – it was only then that I saw that someone was there. It wasn’t like I was bursting in on someone’s private space and turning the lights on to wake her up.
Yeah, in none of these three cases were any of them actually eating.
I still don’t see the issue here. A lot of us here eat at our desks, but we don’t expect that no one will talk to us about work while we’re doing it.
I agree with this. Were there no indication that the employees were not on the clock, the appropriate response would have been “I’m sorry, but I am on my lunch break, I’ll be happy to help after one o’clock.”
But I sincerely doubt that the OP failed to notice the “Lunch” sign or the import of all of the lights being turned off and one’s head on the desk. The simpering standing around while you waited for the staff to hop-to can only have aggravated things further.
Yes, in general, absent evidence to the contrary, one may assume that an employee in the workplace is there to work. But merely being there is not enough. You wouldn’t say an employee who came by to drop off paperwork on a day off should also make this quick photocopy for you, would you?
You may consider this the flip side to your license to sort of come and go as you please, a perquisite not often extended to support staff. In an earlier age, scrupulously respecting a subordinate’s break would have been known as noblesse oblige.
Well, you’re simply wrong about that. Period.
The import to me was that this area of the office must be vacant, not that someone’s turned the lights off to sleep.
I noticed that only after the lights came on.
Today, we’re all peons.
For realz? You saw that she was playing solitaire on her computer but you didn’t notice the sign on the desk?
Which word confused you?
Sorry, couldn’t resist. More seriously, I can see the point about people preferring their workstations for break time, but ultimately, it’s not your own space, it’s the company’s. I think you have to choose between undisturbed, off-site, and potentially disturbed, on-site. I do think the “at lunch” sign is a good compromise and should be respected, but if someone doesn’t see it or ignores it, you just have to suck it up.
The actual rule according to company policy, or the actual rule according to acsenray?
ETA: If it’s the former, perhaps you take “at work” to mean on the premises, but company policy defines “at work” to mean on the clock, and specifically not on a break.
Well you did say that everyone there is hourly, so I suppose if you’re all in the same boat timewise, maybe people aren’t as touchy. I, who am hourly and therefore don’t get to come and go as I please, take two hour lunches, etc. (not to mention I make a lower salary)am not about to give up the one perk I have, which is a guaranteed hour for lunch. And for the record, I won’t try to engage someone who appears to be taking a “break” at their desk either.
Yes. I was looking for the person, not inspecting the items she keeps on her desk. Solitaire on a computer screen was big and colorful and at eye level and right next to her head. The lunch sign wasn’t.
The third case was bizarre additionally because of the “Why can’t you people do these things before lunch?” As if (1) I’m supposed to know when people in other departments have scheduled their lunches and (2) I’m supposed to know that inquiries can be made only before lunch – funny, I thought we were here all day for a reason.
Not every job place has a sick room or a lactation room, Oakleaf Waste certainly didnt, State Farm didnt, US Foodservice didnt, Wells Fargo/ADT didnt. Actually, the only place I can think of that had a lactation room or sick room was a nursing home I temped at. A few places had a single specialty handicapped bathroom that one could sit on the toilet and nurse upon … but no place to lie down and be ill.
You have never had to deal with a migraine when the only break room is the general break room where people clatter utensils, dishes, microwaves ding, and there are all sorts of food smells [one of my nausea triggers is the smell of certain foods]
If someone has a private office, or a ‘general office’ where the lights are off, indicating to me that the person is not there [and if they are, and say they have a headache, I bow out and apologize for disturbing them, and generally offer them ibuprofin as I tend to carry it around in job lots.]
If someone is officially on break or on lunch, then for the love of god dont fucking disturb them. Sometimes sitting quietly at ones desk is so much more peaceful than the break room, see above. I detest the whole What are you reading, is it any good, how far are you, what is it about… SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME READ. Not everybody wants to chat when at lunch or on break. Especially if they do a lot of phone or ‘face’ work. Give them some peace and quiet.
I’m with you. When people are at their desks, unless there is a tray of mini sandwiches prominently displayed before them, I believe it’s pretty fair to assume that they’re working. If they aren’t, there’s a non-ass way to explain that they are currently unavailable. No one should be rude or surprised that colleagues make work-related requests of them while they’re sitting at their desks.
I’m with the OP on this one. I don’t anymore, but I used to work in cubicle-ville, and I often took lunch at my desk for one reason or another…and people would very often come to me with questions. Sometimes there would be a “oh, are you on lunch?” moment, but I always listened to what they had to say. Sometimes I would make a note and tell them I’d get to it after lunch. If getting my 60-minutes free time was important to me, I’d simply realize I could “come back” from lunch at 1:05 instead of 1:00.
Or if people are playing solitaire Vegas-style and timed, they should realize that minimizing the game pauses the count-down timer. Same with Minesweeper, or you can just click on the smiley face and hold down. Just don’t release the mouse while the cursor is still on the face, or else you’ll reset the game.
That’s good info right there, and free of charge.
In two of these cases, a simple, “I’m sorry, can I get back to you in 30 minutes?” would have solved the problem without any rudeness or unprofessional behavior.
In case No. 2, she could have just waited to see what I would say and then point me in the right direction. There’s a special irony about taking one’s inviolable lunch break while sitting at the centrally located, prominent polished marble reception desk leading to the executive suite – it’s exactly where anyone would expect a simple question to be answered.
acsenray gets some credit for not barging* into the lactation room to inquire about subway passes and nameplates.
I almost said “busting” but thought better of it.
I agree, but there are too many people like Acsenray out there for taking your break at your desk in peace to work out. One of the reasons I take walks during breaks is because of people I supervise who think that breaks are a wonderful time to bring up whatever stupid/petty things they feel like I should waste my break addressing. Most of management wishes that these folks would realize that we’re entitled to breaks too.
It’s not a rule, it’s common sense. You see someone at their desk and you think “work”. You see someone in the lunchroom, you think “lunch”.
If someone’s on the shitter during a conference call I guess there might be some confusion but at least you know they’re engaged in some kind of business.
It’s a real estate thing… location, location, location.
If they have a lunch sign with a lunch-ending-time posted, I don’t see a problem - respect their break time and come back later. It shouldn’t matter where they actually do their lunch.
I think it’s pretty rude to suggest where someone should take their lunch. If there’s no company rule that lunches must be taken away from the workplace, then there’s absolutely no problem with Jane sitting at her desk doing what she wants for an hour. At my last job, I’d stay at my desk and check my email in between smoke breaks during lunch. Had nowhere else to be, really – not uncommon for me to skip the midday meal, and none of my co-worker friends had similarly timed lunches. It’s rude to suggest that I should have to leave my desk to take my hour break.
On the other hand, it’s rude for people to be snappy when someone assumes they’re not on lunch. I see nothing wrong with a polite “I’m on my lunch break, I’ll be working again at 1” – regardless of the task, question, or what have you. It would be nice to get a quick “oh, his office is down the hall,” but her lunch break is her time, and she may not want to chat with you on her time. A response is certainly not required, and the mere lack of one isn’t rude in and of itself. A snappy “screw off, I’m on my lunch” would be rude.
I guess the rules of etiquette aren’t black and white. Suffice it to say, though, you’re now aware of a few things:
(1) Some people choose to take their lunch break at their desk.
(2) Just because someone’s taking their lunch at their desk doesn’t mean they’re on company time and obligated to help you
and (3) Some of those people use signs to indicate that they are “At Lunch.” (I’m honestly not sure how you could’ve been unaware as to the meaning of this sign…)
My advice would be to look around for a second and see if there’s a sign. If not, start the conversation with “Hey Jane, are you busy?” rather than “Hey Jane, can I get my subway pass?” The former is likely to get a pleasant “Oh, sorry, I’m on my lunch until 1!” whereas the latter may cause her to think “Christ, another idiot who can’t read the damn sign.”