Boss Tells Hardworking Employee To Come Back ‘Now’ From His Lunch Break Because They Are Too Busy At Work
It's not just ridiculous … it's also illegal.
Pressmaster / Shutterstock When the chaos of work responsibilities starts to get to you, that’s when you know you need to take a break. These days, many people are working 40-60 hours a week just to get by, barely having time to themselves to recharge and take care of their personal needs.
It’s one thing if your boss asks if you can work overtime, which you get paid for, but it’s a completely different issue when your boss demands you to come back to work from your lunch break because there’s just too much work to be done.
A Boss tried to cut a hardworking employee's lunch short and requested he return to work ‘now.'
Ben Askins, a man who frequently shares anonymous stories about bad bosses on TikTok, read a message exchange between the employee and his boss.
The messages began with the boss texting the employee to ask where he was. He said he was taking a lunch break and asked if everything was OK. The boss responded by saying things were not okay, they were swamped with work, and he needed the employee to return to work immediately.
The employee answered back with confusion, saying “You what? As in we are not allowed a lunch break?”
The boss then explained that the employee was no longer able to take lunch breaks because of their busy workload, but he would alternatively add an extra half hour to his pay at the end of the day.
Askins paused from reading the messages in shock by the boss’ logic regarding lunch breaks. “Let’s be very clear, he doesn’t get to decide that … By law, you have to have a break,” Askins said.
He resumed reading the messages, and the employee made the same point, saying he was entitled to a lunch break by law.
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It’s unknown where this employee and boss were located, but most states in the U.S. require employers to give their employees breaks throughout the workday.
Employers should want to give employees a break for their well-being and for the benefit of increased productivity.
The boss negated his employee’s claim that he was legally allowed to take a break, stating it wasn't true, but was ultimately irrelevant because of how much work they had to do.
“He’s saying it’s not the law, which it is,” Askins expressed. “But also even if it was the law, it doesn’t matter because we’re busy, therefore I can just what? Override it? Like come on, you’ve got to be better than this.”
The boss either clearly had no knowledge of the labor laws in their state, or he simply didn’t care and would rather manipulate his employees to follow his orders. Whether their state requires it or not, it’s unethical and immoral to overwork your employees and prohibit them from taking a rest or meal break.
In fact, forcing employees to work long hours with no breaks has been shown to decrease their productivity.
The employee then explained how he understood the workload they were dealing with and was working all morning, but he felt "shattered" and needed to take a break.
The boss simply replied, “I am telling you that you need to come back now, this isn’t up for debate.”
The employee decided to quit right then and there.
Fed up with his boss’ insistent demands to come back to work, the employee quit.
Askins expressed how it was the employer’s responsibility to hire more staff if there was an overload of work to be done. To take away your employees’ lunch breaks and offer an extra half hour to their pay to compensate for it was pitiful and disrespectful to the employees’ needs.
While many workplaces, unfortunately, put the needs of the company before those of their employees, it is never the employee’s fault if the company is understaffed, and they should not have to pick up the slack as a result.
Good companies care about their employees' well-being and overall job satisfaction.
Disregarding employee happiness might look good on paper in the short term, but the long-term effects are far more significant. It can cause companies to lose more employees than they would have otherwise and turnover is never good for productivity and morale.
“The companies that try and squeeze the pennies end up losing a … ton of pounds because they’re making really poor management decisions, like this,” Askins claimed. “They’re going to cost themselves a lot more because now they’re understaffed for the afternoon. It sounds like they’re already understaffed. They’re now even more understaffed. I hate the sort of short-term squeeze because it really, really does damage long-term growth.”
No matter what your state requires, if you are feeling burned out from work and you need to take a break, but you’re dealing with a boss who refuses to spare you 10-30 minutes of rest, then you deserve a better job that will value your position and your needs.
Francesca Duarte is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, and spirituality topics.