Re: Lunch Break: How Long Is Enough? - Break Time

What do you think about lunch break time? Please share your opinions and practices at your company in the comment below.

30 minutes is sufficient if there is an in-house cafeteria and there is no rush. Otherwise, 45-60 minutes is fine. I personally feel 45 minutes is a good enough time to have a relaxed lunch.

It should not be so short that the time is out by the time the employee swallows the first morsel of food, and at the same time, not long enough to make him go for a sleep and wake up. In many factories, the lunch canteen will be half a kilometer away from other buildings. I have seen it and experienced it. In such cases, the management should take into account various factors, including the size of the canteen, the number of employees working, and how many rush in during peak hours. In many places, to avoid overcrowding, they have staggered lunch breaks. Further, if the organization is strict about using personal mobile phones, email, etc., management should provide a genuine break along with the lunch break for catching up with phone calls. As our friend has opined above, 45 minutes is neither too short nor too long!

Best wishes

Recommendation for a 45-Minute Lunch Break

I suggest keeping a 45-minute lunchtime irrespective of whether you have a cafeteria or not. You can inform your employees that they can take a 45-minute break for lunch at their convenience. Set a start time for the lunch break, for example, 12:30 pm. If a person leaves for the cafeteria (if available) to have lunch precisely at 12:30, they can comfortably enjoy their meal for 45 minutes. In other cases, if a person is busy with work, not hungry, or waiting due to a full cafeteria, they can have lunch at their comfort but for a duration of 45 minutes.

The choice of 45 minutes is based on the idea that 30 minutes are generally sufficient for food consumption, and an additional 15 minutes can be utilized for a walk or attending personal calls, etc.

Regards

Yes, I totally agree with my seniors. I am working in an IT company where generally employees go to their home, so here we have a 1-hour lunch break. It is not always certain that employees leave their desks exactly on time; they need 5 to 10 minutes to check the current work. If the work requires 5 to 10 minutes more to complete, employees generally prefer to finish it before leaving their desks rather than leaving their work unfinished.

Hello Ms. Thu Ngo,

Further to the suggestions of the other members, I think in your case, your country's general practices will also need to be taken into account. What's okay in India may be atrocious in Vietnam, and vice versa. Also, you haven't mentioned the sector - IT, manufacturing, or something else. This too would have a bearing on the final decision. Since you are into Manpower, it looks like you are asking this query on behalf of some client.

Regards,
TS

What the learned member Tajsateesh says about labor practices is relevant. A 45-minute break is adequate for lunch under normal circumstances.

Thank you for your all opinions and sorry for the inconvenience. I'm not sure if my original post was edited by Mr./Ms. Moderator or something went wrong because my original post looks like below + the question at the end of the article. Hope that you can find something helpful there.

Understanding Lunch Break Durations

Normally, a lunch break is between 30 to 45 minutes. In fact, company policy must specify the duration of the lunch break. This way, during induction, new joiners will know what the lunch break time is. Moreover, it depends on the organization as well. For example, in a manufacturing company where workers are involved in heavy work like loading, unloading, and welding, the lunch break may extend to one hour. This allows workers to take their lunch, relax, and re-energize so that their efficiency can increase.

Regards