How Can We Adjust Our Lunch Break Without Extending the Workday?

Hi Dear All,

I have one question: Our working hours per day are 8 hours (9 am-12 pm, 1 pm-6 pm), and our current lunch break is 1 hour. Now, we want to change the lunch break to 1.5 hours, but if we do that, the working hours will become 7.5 hours. We do not want to add half an hour to work.

Please guide and advise me! Thank you very much!

Sincerely,
Freda

Dear Freda,

I hope one hour itself is a sufficient break for you. May I ask what the reason is for wanting to increase it to 1.5 hours? Please reconsider your idea.

Thanks & Regards,
Amal Shere

Hi Amal,

Thank you for your reply.

Well, all staff and my branch manager think that a one-hour break is too short for us. So we'd like to change it to 1.5 hours.

Amal, do you have any advice? Please!

In any organization, employees should put in a minimum of 8 hours of work per day (not including lunch/tea/coffee breaks). One hour is good enough; I am sure this one hour must be becoming 1 hour 30 minutes every day (I am certain). If you increase this lunch break, there has to be a subsequent increase in the work time made - this goes without saying. In our organization, we believe in having lunch, relaxing for 5 minutes, and then getting back to work. Coming to work on time and leaving on time; that's our principle.

I believe that an increase in lunchtime (which I feel is unnecessary in your case) will have to be complemented with a raise in office hours.

Ambika Kamath

So, you mean that our working hours should change from 9 am-6 pm to 9 am-6.30 pm, right? But dear Amal, the problem is no staff wants to increase working hours instead of increasing the lunch break. So I'm really confused in this case.

Give them two options:

1. Increase lunchtime by 30 minutes, and working hours will end at 6:30 instead of 6.
2. No increase in lunchtime.

You can also carry out a poll for the same, giving options, and make a decision accordingly.

Regards,
Nilendra

Hi there!

You can solve this by arithmetic. You declare that from now onwards an hour will be 50 minutes. Thus, if you begin at 9 in the morning, all your work and lunch will be over by 5:00 pm!

Great and funny!

Seriously speaking, Ambika has told you what you can do. Just go through it again.

- Hiten

Dear Freda,

Freda, ask the staff how they are going to compensate for the 1/2 hour lost. 1 & 1/2 does not justify legally when all the general organization practices a 1/2 hour lunch break. If your staff do not justify the 1/2 hour lost, they have no right to negotiate relaxed hours with hours.

Please keep the proposal that the company is deciding to shrink the lunch break to 1/2 hour while maintaining the office hours the same. The issue will resolve without any need for persuasion regarding the demand.

Thanks,
Amal Shere

Hi,

I would suggest not increasing any break time; instead, make the lunch break 45 minutes and have a 15-minute break in the evening (4-5). This adjustment would help alleviate the feeling of being stressed.

Dear Freda,

Good to hear that there is some organization interested in giving so much time for lunch breaks. One thing I want to know - what will you guys do during a 1.5-hour break? I think 1 hour is more than enough for any type of organization. We start at 8:30 am and finish at 5:30 pm, with a 1-hour lunch break. Employees are supposed to work 8 hours regularly without any breaks. I would suggest that your current working hours are the best; don't change them.

Regards,
Preeti

Hi Dear All,

I have one question: Our working hours per day are 8 hours (9 am - 12 pm, 1 pm - 6 pm), and our current lunch break is 1 hour. Now, we want to change the lunch break to 1.5 hours, but if we do that, the working hours will become 7.5 hours. We do not want to add half an hour to work.

Please guide and advise me! Thank you very much!

Sincerely, Freda

What do you do in a One-Hour Lunch Break? 😳😄☹️😄

Well, as per the law, you can have a 9-hour shift, including a one-hour break (two tea breaks of 15 minutes each and one lunch break of half an hour). For anything extra, you need to increase the working hours.

Dear Friends,

Please review my notes on "TIME MANAGEMENT IN FACTORIES ACT, 1948."

Regards,
PBS KUMAR

I agree with Nilendra. There is no third option in this issue without affecting work.

Amit Kumar Tawar

Hi Freda,

I am surprised that in your organization, a one-hour lunch break is given, as most organizations provide only half an hour or a maximum of 45 minutes for lunch.

I would suggest that you do not need to increase lunch break timings as it may affect organizational performance. A one-hour lunch break can make employees inactive, and most of them will feel sleepy after that period. With a half-hour lunch break, employees will have time to eat and relax during that period, which will keep your employees active throughout the day and ultimately enhance organizational effectiveness.

You can consider providing a 15-minute tea/coffee break in the evening. What do you say?

All the best.

Regards,
Simta

How about covering up the deficit by working 3 hours on Saturdays? 😂 Honestly, I don't think that's possible. 1.5 hours of a lunch break is too much.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Dear,

Since you originate from Shanghai, please check your local Working Hour Law. No law internationally can prohibit you from paying a day's salary/wages for a lesser working period. The point is you cannot reduce the salary for the lesser hour/part of the hour.

With Regards,
V. Sounder Rajan
VS Rajan Associates,
Advocates & Notaries,
No. 27, 1st Floor, Singapore Plaza,
No. 164, Linghi Chetty Street,
Chennai, India 600001.
E-mail: rajanassociates@eth.net
Office: 044-42620864, 044-65874684
Mobile: 9840142164.

Most of the organizations provide a one-hour lunch break. In your case, if an employee requests a 1.5-hour break, then the working time should be extended by half an hour.

No matter what about the Lunch Break, in a week, you have to work 48 hours. You can do one thing: From Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with 1.5 hours for lunch. Hence, the net working hours per day are 8 hours.

Sid HR Head CCILL

Dear Freda,

I believe you are already blessed with a one-hour lunch break. In some organizations, the lunch break is solely for eating and not always taken in a structured manner. Extending the lunch hour to 1.5 hours may lead to increased laziness among employees, making them less eager to work, which could ultimately impact productivity.

Therefore, I suggest not considering a 1.5-hour lunch break. Instead, you could reduce it to 45 minutes for one month and then gradually increase it back to one hour.

Regards,
S.PRAKASH

Hi,

I feel increasing the break itself is not appropriate. The more leisure time you give, the more the employees will become inactive. The lunch break should be limited to 1 hour or 45 minutes and a coffee break should be provided.

Deepthi.J

Dear Friend,

We, being at one of the largest organizations in Pakistan, get a 45-minute lunch break with two tea breaks during our working hours, where we can enjoy tea at our own table. I suggest that you divide your break hours into a 45-minute lunch break and 10 minutes each for the two tea breaks. This adjustment will add 5 minutes to the break time, resulting in the day ending fifteen minutes later than the current schedule.

Best,
Munira

Normally, the lunch break is for half an hour, and the tea break is taken twice for 15 minutes each. Now the question is, why do you want to increase it?

1. What type of industry are you in?
2. Do you have any canteen facilities available?
3. I believe employees may need this 1.5 hours to go home for lunch.
4. Consider the types of production; if it is a continuous process, an increased break may impact production efficiency.

Sid
HR Head
CCILL
Siddhartha Guha Thakurta

Dear Freda,

My suggestion is to reduce the lunch break from 1 hour to 30 minutes and allow your employees to leave early in the evening at 5.30 p.m. (from 9 am to 12.30 p.m. and 1.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.). Half an hour is more than enough time to have any kind of lunch. I hope your employees will also accept this change, as they would prefer to go home early instead of resting in the office.

Try it.

Regards,
BASHA MSP

Dear All,

I would like to say that a 1.5-hour lunch break may not be common for IT industries, but for manufacturing setups, lunch breaks can range from 1.5 to 2 hours. When I was working at a manufacturing location of my company, my working hours were from 8 AM to 12 PM and 2 PM to 6 PM. Hence, this type of lunch break and working hours is not surprising for a manufacturing setup.

It's a misconception that the longer the lunch break, the more inactive the employees will be. Please don't assume that employees don't want to work.

Regards,
Nilendra

Dear Fredda,

We are one of the leading scaffolding organizations in Dubai. We have a TWO-hour lunch break...Surprised? Yes.

We have a valid reason for it:

All the office staff stay just 5 KM away from the factory. They have to cover both shifts of factory staff.

However, we have only a one-hour break for workers. We have to be in the office from 8 in the morning to 7 in the evening with a break of 2 hours from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

So, every industry has its reasons.

And you have written that even the branch manager feels that a 1.5-hour lunch is required.

So, after all, he is in charge of the overall operation of the branch and its outcome. First, you may ask him to justify the case, and at the same time, you may also ask your head of HR to provide some insight on this.

Do not reduce the lunch break from 1 hour, because they are used to it.

If they want an extra lunch hour, then let them commit themselves to putting in some more effort.

What type of industry do you have? Do you have targets for the staff? Do you have any canteen facilities? What type of accommodation?

Regards,

Benance

Hi,

I have gone through your query. Kindly note, one-hour lunchtime is sufficient for one to finish lunch and relax for a while. On the contrary, people are observing half-hour lunchtime.

Anyway, if employees want more time for lunch without increasing working hours, this can be done if the management is willing to agree to the staff's request. After all, it is a mutual arrangement.

But I personally feel one-hour lunchtime is sufficient.

Thanks
Regards
UMESH KAPOOR

Most of the companies offer only half an hour as a lunch break. What I feel is the increase in the lunch session would give rise to more politics and gossiping!

Agreed,

The Factories Act stipulates that a minimum 30-day interval of rest must be given. However, if the management has agreed to provide a one and a half-hour rest, that is acceptable. Politics is not confined only to the canteen; therefore, it is not a major area of concern. The decision regarding rest periods is to be made by the management.

Regards,
Nilendra

Hello,

I would just like to know the reason behind increasing the lunch time. According to me, one hour is more than sufficient. If you want employees to be productive, let them have an hour of lunch time only - actually, the whole point of changing lunch time is quite impractical and unfair.

Hi,

In my opinion, the decision to increase the lunch hours is not right as the 1.5-hour break will definitely stretch to 2 - 2.5 hours, which will result in lost hours, hence a loss of productivity, ultimately resulting in a loss of revenue for the organization. Please do not promote any such requests from employees as this will lead to more such future requests.

Hi,

Does your company work 5 days a week or 6 days a week? If it is 5 days a week, then consider adding a half working day on Saturday.

Regards,
Suneel.

Dear,

I think 1 hr is enough for a lunch break. In spite of your management being willing to increase the lunchtime, you have to arrange to extend the lunch break.

You also mentioned that employees are not interested in increasing the working hours. Therefore, for the remaining 7.5 hrs, all employees and staff must give their 100% effort and involvement in the work. Under this condition, an increase in the lunch break could be considered. If they fail to achieve their targets and meet deadlines for production, report submission, manufacturing, etc., it could pose a risk to the development of the company and organization. Additionally, if in the future, management wishes to implement a deduction in lunchtime, it could prove to be very difficult.

All these matters need to be brought to the attention of management.

Silva

Dear All,

No matter what you have to do 48 hrs of work excluding the lunch break in a week. So the main thing isn't what is the reason behind increasing the lunch break? Types of Industry. Beforehand, Jute mills had a 4-hour lunch break. Like 6 am to 10 am then again from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., that's why so many labor laws are in force. So in any company, the lunch break is not vital as per law; after 5 hours of continuous work, you have to give half an hour rest. The term is REST, not lunch. Is it clear?

Sid CCILL HR Head

Hi,

In case they want to take 1.5 hours for lunch, the next option is to work a full day on Saturday (in case you are not already doing so). Otherwise, the alternative is to arrive at work 15 minutes early in the morning and leave the office 15 minutes later in the evening. I am sure many will have their opinions about it and will finally say, "1 hour is good for lunch"! :D (Hope this solves your problem).

Regards,
Chai

Hi,

Probably, you can do one thing: increase your lunch break from 1 to 1.30 hours and ask your employees to work on alternative 1/2 Saturdays to compensate for the same. 😊

Regards,
Padmini Hegde

Hey guys,

I agree with Nilendra. Since the management is in agreement to increase the lunchtime, employees should also agree to increased working hours. 😄

Regards,
Govil Nanda

Hi all,

In my opinion, extending the lunch break time is not a great idea because everyone wants to go home on time. Therefore, it should be kept to 1 hour only without considering the opinions of office members.

Freda,

The best solution I can give you is to let the lunch break remain 1.00 hour and give them a grace period of 15 minutes so that everyone will have a total break time of 1.15 hours, which will help you a lot.

One reason is that even when they come back strictly after one hour, they spend 15 minutes setting up their work. So, when you give a grace period, some employees will take exactly 1.00 hour, and some will take 1.15 hours. When they feel they are running late, they start working immediately without taking a few minutes to set up their work.

Hope this will be useful...

Regards,
Chinnu

Dear All,

My question is: why increase the lunch break? Is it necessary? What are the benefits for the employees, considering they will have to increase their duty hours in any case?

Sid
CCILL
Head HR

Hi,

One hour is really a lot of time in my office; it's just 30 minutes, and we need just that. Therefore, getting one hour is an absolute luxury when I think of it.

Asha

Hi Fredazym!

What is your opinion after viewing the posts by our HR pros? Have you arrived at any conclusions? We would appreciate it if you could let us know the current status or decision you have made.

Regards,
Hiten

Hi Freda,

Nice suggestion already given. There is nothing new to add. Do as follows: if you increase the lunch break, you have to increase the working hours. Likewise, if there is no increase in lunch break, then there should be no increase in working hours. It's not unprofessional; if you want, then you can give, and vice versa. After all, a professional approach is the best to adhere to, with a give-and-take policy.

Thanks,
Tarun

Dear Freda,

It is a practice in the workplace to follow their own convenient timings for breaks. However, it is observed that a lunch break from 30 minutes to one hour is typically followed. Considering the business and functional requirements, a break of one and a half hours would be ideal to implement. Please note that this may vary depending on the nature and needs of the business. Some companies, excelling in their respective areas, ensure that their lunch break does not exceed half an hour.

Personally, I would prefer to have a maximum lunch break of 45 minutes to ensure our work hours are balanced with personal time.

Thanks & Regards,
Rajan

Hi,

I do not find any explicit or implicit logic in extending the lunch hours in any organization. Considering the total man-hours one has to work in the office, it should not be changed. Changes in this line would definitely reflect on the productivity of each individual and would ultimately result in unnecessary wastage of employees' time. A one-hour lunch break is also uncommon in the present competitive world. Therefore, a further increase should be compensated by either adding half an hour in the morning or evening, and there won't be any easy shortcut for that. The best way of avoiding or accepting the change is by presenting the facts to the concerned individuals and detailing the implications in terms of arithmetic. You can ask those who are advocating for the change for specific solutions to address the shortage of man-hours. Since this is a policy matter, enough discussions are required before reaching a conclusion.

Goodbye,
Ajay

Sure, a one-hour lunch break is too long. Most companies typically have either a half-hour or one-hour break only. I guess it's not a good idea to increase it.

I guess you guys work 5 days a week, then make it 6 days a week. The 6th day would be a half-day working (4 hours). If the employees do not agree to this idea, management would surely. Finally, the decision would be up to your management.

Hi,

The reason for asking this question may be that all the staff may be coming late after the lunch hour, and it would have gone beyond the control of your Branch manager. If you accept the 30-minute extension in the break, then after a few days, you will definitely find them coming late. This is basic human nature and can be controlled just by imparting discipline among the staff.

Thanks & Regards,
VR Kadam

I remember a story about a house which didn't have a lift, and the owner would not let the 7th-floor tenant use the stairs. You cannot have it both ways, friend.

Hi,

I would like to know what your organization actually does, its location, and who heads the unit.

Regards,
Shashi Kant Upadhyay
9999551151

Hi Kadam,

This is very much possible in this case. But now it is high time Fredazym lets us help with more facts and the status of the issue in the organization. No response from Fredazym for quite some time now.

- Hiten

Madam Freda,

After seeing so many responses from our side, finally, what have you decided on your part. Please do let us know the final conclusion of the whole discussion.

Regards,
Simta

Dear Freda,

The Shop and Establishment Act states that no employee shall be required or allowed to work for more than 9 hours in a day and 48 hours in a week. The period of rest shall exceed five hours, and such person shall not work for more than 5 hours before having an interval for rest for at least 30 minutes.

If you increase the lunch period, work would definitely be disrupted, and it would be incorrect. Therefore, try to keep it at 30 minutes, not 1 hour and 30 minutes, to comply with the Act.

Additionally, if employees are late after lunch, issue an IOC to all departments mentioning that latecoming after lunch will not be accepted.

Regards,
Priyanka

Hello, Dear All,

First, I have to apologize for being late in my reply because I have been busy these days.

For this case, I have already informed the HR at our headquarters, and she mentioned that she will consult the CEO before replying to me.

We are a freight forwarding company, and we operate from Monday to Friday, with Saturday being a half-day due to it being our Chinese official holiday. As we work on Saturdays to balance this, we are considering extending our working hours until lunchtime.

Thank you all for your assistance. I will update you once I receive a response from our headquarters' HR.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Freda

Consult business heads to find out the lead time in production. The targets achieved by them show that employees are in tune with the organization's growth. Some of the young employees can be motivated for special training to meet the production shortfall. This responsibility should be taken on by the business heads. Incentives must be developed for some employees to work at specific times, thereby giving branch managers and others a greater share of responsibility. This can create a win-win situation for everyone during lunch breaks while simultaneously enjoying the pleasant working hours as decided by them.

HR plays a vital role in this situation for employee growth as well as organizational growth.

This is not advisable to increase the lunch break from 1 hour. One hour is more than enough. We can complete lunch within half an hour. The rest of the time staff can spend on reading newspapers.

I don't think increasing the lunch break time from 1 hour is a good idea.

S.N. Rahaman

BASIX

I have a query. As per Section 52 of the Factories Act, the maximum working hours are 9 per day. Can we add lunch and tea breaks and make it 9 + 40 + 10 + 10 = 10 hours.

Instead of keeping flexible lunch hours of one hour as per the needs of employees, they can adjust their time during 9 AM to 6 PM. This is much better than fixing a specific time. One and a half hours will be applicable for wild animals' lunchtime because they eat too much, such as lions, tigers, etc....