We were on a break!!! Knock it off, already!
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Yeah!
What?
wtf? 
Is that you Ross? 
Shaddup and get your ass back to work.
I’ve always thought that, break or no break, the customer’s needs come first. Any employee who makes a customer, or any other urgent work, wait until break time is over deserves to be fired. Good thing I’ve never been a boss.
Um, not quite. If you’re punched out, no, you do NOT have to help anyone.
It’s called a “break” for a reason. I’ve had customers follow me into the breakroom and then get pissed because I wouldn’t help them AND told them they weren’t supposed to be there.
Oh! Oh! I wanna take a guess!
You and your woman were on a “break” when you shagged another broad, and now woman #1 is pissed?
Do I win?
Depends on the situation, really. For example, if you’re off the clock and a customer wants you to, say, operate a cash register to ring up his purchase, then they’re out of luck. Operating equipment while not on the clock is usually against store policy, and could cost the employee their job.
You may be right. In a retail setting, at least. But in that context, wouldn’t breaks be staggared so that the register was always covered?
I worked in an engineering department, salaried – not on a punch card, so breaks, if I took them at all, were not mandated (by the company) or set for any specific time. They were only available according to state law. I was just thinking that if, as a boss, I saw an employee blow off a customer or other work that needed to be done immediately so as not to miss a breaK, I would scrutinize that employee’s work carefully. Conscientiousness counts for a lot with me.
No!
Joey? Is that you?
<shrugs> We were on a break.
Hey, JT, Long time no see.
How’s Delphi suiting you this time around?
You’d think so, but I sometimes wonder. I mean, the next time you’re in a retail establishment, try finding an employee to help you somewhere other than the front registers. You’ll probably have to wander around the aisles for quite a bit before finding someone.
[quote]
I worked in an engineering department, salaried – not on a punch card, so breaks, if I took them at all, were not mandated (by the company) or set for any specific time.
[quote]
Yes, in that case the customer definitely comes first. Since breaks aren’t scheduled, you can always relax for a few minutes once you’re done helping the customer.
I definitely agree. If we’re not talking about a retail setting where the individual employee has no control over his/her breaks, then an employee who blows off something important because they want to leisurely drink their cup of coffee has some serious issues with their work ethic.
When I was a supervisor at a computer help desk, we got slammed with calls due a network outtage and I asked a guy to come in from his break and help out. He grudgingly complied. Later I get this email from him telling me that he thinks it was unfair that I asked him to curtail his break. I emailed back and told him that if he’d like we could meet with the department manager in the the morning and he could air his grievance. He wisely dropped it.
Wow zwaldd, you’re kind of a dick. The guy had a legit beef and you threatened him when he complained about it. Way to step up as a manager and take responsibility for an action you took which was probably in violation of company policy and depending on the laws in your jurisdiction possibly illegal.
Yeah, breaks are federally mandated. Go read that poster detaling federal labor laws that your workplace is required to post where employees can easily read it.
I don’t see how he’s being a dick, or how this employee had a legit beef.
I could see if he wasn’t allowing the employee a break at all, but that ain’t what he’s talking about. There was an emergency. In an emergency, break time is over and all hands on deck! When the emergency is over, then the employee can take a break. Yes, breaks are federally mandated. But are the times of those breaks mandated?
What did I threaten him with?
Unless something has changed recently, breaks are not federally mandated.