Workers out to lunch when it comes to taking a break

More than
half of British workers take less than 30 minutes break for lunch, with one in
five taking no time at all.

A study of
560 workers undertaken on behalf of the Public and Commercial Services Union
(PCS) found that most of those surveyed said they missed lunch or ate food at
their desk at least once a week, with 20 per cent doing this every day.

Mark
Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said working long hours was reachiong epidemic
proportions in the UK.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

"British
workers take shorter lunch breaks, fewer holidays and and work far longer hours
than our European counterparts," he said. "A half-an-hour lunch break
is the legal minimum for an average working day, but shockingly over half the
UK workforce take less than this."

By Michael
Millar