Out for lunch

Having your lunch ‘al desko’ – again? You are not alone. Most of us don’t take our lunch break, or any breaks during the day for that matter, bar a quick dash to the loo. Here’s why you need to change that.

- LIESL ROBERTSON

THE LONG-LOST LUNCH BREAK

It’s 1pm on a Wednesday – where are you right now? Sitting on a park bench, enjoying the sunshine? Or eating out of Tupperware at your desk again? According to a 2018 survey by job search website CareerJunction, only a third of South Africans take a lunch break – despite the fact that 55% of the people surveyed had 60 minutes a day for lunch. In fact, only 5% use their full hour; the average time SA employees take for lunch is 24,5 minutes.

The vast majority (67%) eat at their desk while they work – or browse the internet for a few minutes. A fifth skip lunch altogether, and 35% felt they were chained to their desks – they only ever get up to go to the bathroom.

Why are we so averse to grabbing a sandwich and eating it outside? It may have something to do with workload: 73% said they have too much work to do, or that something urgent often comes up. Then again, it could also be peer pressure: 19% admitted that they feel pressured not to take a lunch break.

This echoes the findings of a US survey called ‘Take Back the Lunch Break’ – according to their numbers, nearly 20% of US employees don’t take lunch breaks because they’re concerned that their bosses won’t see them as hardworking; 13% feel judged by their colleagues.

‘This probably explains the side-eye I get from colleagues when I shut my laptop at noon,’ writes Man Repeller staffer Jennifer Epperson, who makes a point of taking a lunch break every day. ‘Even if they would like to join me, breaking the social contract of abstaining from selfcare during work hours is perceived as risky.’