[Alma]

This is an issue I've asked about in the past, and it's popped up in our workplace again. We have sections where the workload far exceeds the personnel, and some supervisors are pushing their employees not to take a lunch break. The last time the issue surfaced, they almost had a riot on their hands. At my boss' request, I researched the issue and told them they were setting themselves up for a major FLRA class-action. You can't work people 50 hours a week and not give them a break. They're still trying to find a loophole, and I think at a minimum they'll lose good people and play hell getting any replacements worth a nickel. 'Y?' participants have provided me excellent feedback in the past; I'd like to hear from management and labor folks on their experiences with this problem.

User Detail :  

Name : Alma, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, City : Kempner, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : contract employee, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Kelly]

I happen to be doing some research on work for a paper I'm writing. All the studies I've come across so far point to a serious loss of efficiency and increase in number of accidents with increases in the number of hours worked. It's a health and safety issue. Point out to them the high likelihood of an increase in workers comp claims, and a consequent increase in their insurance rates, if they keep it up. Email me if you need specific citations.

User Detail :  

Name : Kelly, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Kelly]

First, there are laws about breaks and lunch hours. Second, there are many studies showing that productivity and accuracy go way down if too many hours are worked without a break. Many accidents, including nuclear power plant accidents, are due to people working long shifts without a break. You can find more about this by looking for 'human factors' research.

User Detail :  

Name : Kelly, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[R30351]

I work at a printing plant in Jacksonville, Ill., and our plant recently popped up that question. I believe ours was a proposal that we work through our lunch hour, by eating at our workstations and then at the end of the day we can leave after 8 hours instead of working 9. So basically just cutting out the need to be at work another hour. Which to a lot of people at first sounds like a good deal, but when you stop and think about it, the company actually expects us to work constantly with two small 10 minute breaks. I personally think it's a load of crap because I enjoy getting that hour break in the middle of the day as relaxation time. Maybe society as a whole is just getting lazy. But when we're so used to benefits, why would we want to give them up? It's certainly not because we want the boss's stock to go up.

User Detail :  

Name : R30351, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 26, City : Martin, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : press operator, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Matt]

I work for a big wholesale club, and they always make us skip our breaks and work overtime. It's not uncommon for us to go 4+ hours without a break or lunch, nor for us to work 12+ hours in a day. You'd think they would hire more people to help things out, right? Well, they fire people instead, which creates more work for everyone. Recently in my warehouse, people kept getting hurt (hitting their head on steel beams, forklift accidents, etc.) and now they are cutting hours in half, giving us breaks, and hiring lots of people. There aren't as many injuries now, and people seem to be happier too.

User Detail :  

Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 19, City : Sacramento, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Melody]

Talk to a labor and employment lawyer. There are laws in place to protect you and your colleagues from abuse by managers, and forbidding you to take lunch breaks may very well be illegal.

User Detail :  

Name : Melody, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 40, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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