Hello everyone.
So I am writting this in concern of my office.
The head of the company, the CEO, is a big fan of me but I am well aware of the fact that the person who watches over me in Accoutanting, does not like me at all.
I am the receptionist here. Everyone in the office recieves a ten minute break at the beginning of the day, a thirty minute lunch and a ten minute break at the end of the day. If they don’t take their breaks they can add them onto their lunch… for a fifty minute lunch break.
Assuming I had the same treatment, I took a fifty minute lunch break one day but I came back and she yelled at me. “Thirty minute lunch! Thirty minute lunch!”
I asked her about the breaks and she said she’d ask around.
Are they allowed to do that?
Oh ya, I am located in California.
When you got yelled at, had you told anyone that you were taking a 50 minute lunch? Because if they only scheduled coverage for the 30 minutes they knew about, it certainly makes sense that they might be peeved.
In addition to the CA rules outlined by KneadToKnow, do you have a contract that you signed when you took the job? Some other form of workplace agreement that laid out what your duties and responsibilities are? That would be a place to start.
Things are obviously tough in the Accoutanting department.
I did have a contract that I signed when taking the job but I do not recall anything about breaks being on it. I made a copy, I will have to read it over once again! Good thinking.
Well, because a receptionist’s job is, by definition, to receive visitors and incoming calls, it is often a position that needs to be attended for the whole day. So, when a receptionist goes on a break, most businesses use another employee to cover the reception desk to ensure that calls are taken, etc.
Many other jobs in your department, however, might not require this sort of cover. For example, if an accountant goes to lunch, his or her work can probably just sit on the computer (or whatever) and wait until he or she gets back. No-one has to cover for them while they’re at lunch.
So, if an accountant takes an extra 20 minutes for lunch, it doesn’t affect the whole running of the business, but if a receptionist takes an extra 20 minutes, and no-one has been arranged to cover the reception desk, this can be a problem.
Oh yes yes. We have another woman in Accouting that actually was the receptionist before me, so whenever I need to use the restroom and do take my lunch she just sits over here and does her work at my computer, while answering the phone.
Right, so your boss knows that she needs to have someone cover your desk from 1.00 until 1.30. If you don’t return until 1.50, that leaves her with a problem, if you haven’t told her beforehand about your plans for an extended lunch.
So, my original point was, if that woman is only planning to be at your computer answering the phone for 30 minutes, and you’re gone for 50 minutes, that could engender yelling.
Go to your boss, and say to her something like this:
I’m sorry that i was away for 50 minutes during my lunch break. I was obviously confused about the way that breaks are supposed to work. It seems that everyone else in this office gets two 10-minute breaks, plus 30 minutes for lunch. California law also requires that i get a 10-minute rest break for each 4 hours of work. I was wondering whether we could work out a schedule so that i get the breaks that i’m entitled to, without extending my lunch break or disrupting the running of the office.
Great advice from both of you. Thank you very much for it. This is my first job at an office like this and I didn’t want that to be taken advantage of.
