Eating Lunch At Your Desk Again? Study Examines Why Workers Don ’t Always Take Breaks

By Emily Reynolds If you work for more than six hours a day in the UK, you’re legally entitled to a rest break of at least twenty minutes per shift. Many workers get more; if you work an eight hour day, it’s likely your employer will give you an hour-long lunch break. Whether or not you actually take that break, however, is a different matter. Despite the fact that breaks can increase motivation and productivity and decrease potentially damaging inactivity, research has indicated a growing trend of workers eating their lunch at their desks or not taking their rest time. Some figures suggest 82% of workers don’t always take their breaks — a significant proportion of the workforce. So why is it that we’re so often eating al desko? A study published in Psychology and Health has some insights. Mike Oliver and colleagues from Staffordshire University conducted five focus groups with 27 employees at a local council. These groups were separated by grade: two focus groups consisted of junior staff, two of middle managers and one of senior managers. Sessions lasted one hour, with a semi-structured interview approach which allowed consistency of questions with the freedom to take conversations in different directions based on individual contributions. Questions explored workers’ current experience of taking breaks — do or don’t they take them, and why? Participants were also asked how their relationship with their manager affects their likelihood of taking breaks, and ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Mental health Occupational Qualitative Source Type: blogs