Mandatory lunch breaks?

Does the future of work include mandatory (or strongly encouraged) lunch breaks?

A new People Management article by Dr Preethi Daniel discusses the impact of eating lunch at your desk on productivity. I've included a few quotes below:

'By skipping lunch or not getting the right lunch, you starve your brain and muscles of the key nutrients needed to function at peak level.'

'Lack of hydration and glucose as fuel means irritability, poor concentration and ultimately poor performance.'

'Providing access to fresh fruit or nuts to snack on instead is more likely to lead to a happy workforce.'

'Employers should encourage night workers to snack less and eat a balanced meal of lean protein and vegetables.'

'Neurones in the brain get tired and eating at the desk is not considered to be a good way to replenish cognitive stock.'

Parents
  • I don't think mandatory lunch breaks is the right answer, because people should have some choice over how they use their time at work. While I don't think it's healthy to regularly skip a lunch break, sometimes it's necessary to grab something on-the-go or eat at your desk if you want to, and it can actually help you feel more in control of your day. Employers should focus on enabling people to be healthy at work by providing advice and support, rather than enforcing rules. It can be a problem if people don't feel they have enough time to take a lunch break due to work load or meetings, or because their team has a culture of skipping lunch breaks. Training line managers to recognise these issues is really important.
Reply
  • I don't think mandatory lunch breaks is the right answer, because people should have some choice over how they use their time at work. While I don't think it's healthy to regularly skip a lunch break, sometimes it's necessary to grab something on-the-go or eat at your desk if you want to, and it can actually help you feel more in control of your day. Employers should focus on enabling people to be healthy at work by providing advice and support, rather than enforcing rules. It can be a problem if people don't feel they have enough time to take a lunch break due to work load or meetings, or because their team has a culture of skipping lunch breaks. Training line managers to recognise these issues is really important.
Children
No Data