lunch breaks

[browndevil]

It just seems weird that anyone would have a problem taking a hour break? I know you want to get home with family etc... but its break and it's required. You can do what ever you want; you can relax, exercise, read a book, watch TV, or call your family. What ever floats your boat. Isn't crazy that people wouldn't want a break. I understand if you have once in a while early event that night you need to go to, but every day. Did they have a hard time with recess in grade school, too?

Probably not because they knew the school bell rang at 3:00pm. BTW I agree with you I have done all the above at lunch. I have some wieghts in my truck so the 20mins I do a quick upper body workout and 100 situps

 

[feederdriver06]

I roll as an 05 most of the time. If I have to wait 2 hours for the sort to go down I take my meal for an hour and am on central sort for an hour. If my loads are ready I don't take my meal and am paid for time worked. I'm at work for 50 hours a week and get paid for 50 hours a week. My paid 10 minute break is taken every day. Free overtime.

 

[outta hours]

If I had a one hour lunch break I would look like a Feeder driver.

You should wear that belly with honor son. I do.

 

[StopCount]

this is what i dont understand.....no matter how long i take for lunch....it is the same in relation to my 9.5, so why if i take 10 or 20 minutes less for lunch should it matter when i enter what i take off for lunch properly.

You are talking about two different issues...

They want you under 9.5. They want you to take an hour lunch break.

Sure, if you go just by the numbers your point makes sense, but that isn't the way the UPS world works.

Using your argument;

Why should you pay attention to your scheduled start time? If you can come in an hour later and still get all the work done then it shouldn't matter, right?

Why should you follow the uniform guidelines? Having a beard doesn't affect your SPORE so why does it matter?

These things matter becuase they are the rules...

You didn't answer my question: Are you getting by with not taking a full hour because it is allowed, or is it just that no one has noticed?

 

[Cementups]

I take my whole hour usually in one shot. Some times I chop it into 45 minutes and 15 minutes. I take the bulk/all of my lunch after 2pm so that I know the place I eat at will be nearly empty and quiet so I can read teh whole paper from front to back and be able to do the Jumble, Sudoku and maybe the NY Times crossword puzzles. In the warmer weather I may take some of my lunch at the driving range to work on my golf game.

 

[soberups]

The only reason lunches are even an issue is that UPS has had a long history of pressuring its people to work off of the clock by rigging its time allowances and dispatching drivers with 10/11 hours of work disguised as an 8.4 hour "planned" day.

The lawsuit in CA was less about being able to pull over and take a full hour, and more about simply being paid for all hours worked. They were challenging the corporate policy of intentionally trying to screw people out of an hour's pay.

99% of the time, I want to pull over at noon, take a break and eat lunch like anyone else. But I am also a human being with a family and a life. Occasionally, my kids have a school function or I have something going on in the evening that I would like to get off work early for. In those instances, I am going to skip most or all of my lunch break. When that happens, I enter whatever amount of time I did take for lunch honestly and accurately and I am then paid for all hours worked as per the contract.

 

[Ms.PacMan]

Our local and center reached an agreement to reduce our lunch to 1/2 hr (20 min lunch, 10 min break). We had always taken (or been docked the 1 hr) and there is no language in our C.S. supplement specifying a time other than what was done in the past.

They just added to everyone's stop count because they had an extra 1/2 hr to get back to the bldg at the same time. So much for getting off earlier by taking a reduced lunch period.

I still take my 1 hr.

 

[wyobill]

Here we take whatever we want as long as we take something. There were days I only took 15 min and other days I took 1 hour. We still get paid the hours
worked.

If you only take 15 and they give you more work
just file a 9.5
I'm always on lunch now..........

 

[rossco]

StopCount, my supervisor has mentioned it to me before that i should be entering in a full lunch, and i told him i am not entering in a full lunch unless i take one, im not gonna work for free. He said "Ya i know"

 

[stevetheupsguy]

The only reason lunches are even an issue is that UPS has had a long history of pressuring its people to work off of the clock by rigging its time allowances and dispatching drivers with 10/11 hours of work disguised as an 8.4 hour "planned" day.

The lawsuit in CA was less about being able to pull over and take a full hour, and more about simply being paid for all hours worked. They were challenging the corporate policy of intentionally trying to screw people out of an hour's pay.

99% of the time, I want to pull over at noon, take a break and eat lunch like anyone else. But I am also a human being with a family and a life. Occasionally, my kids have a school function or I have something going on in the evening that I would like to get off work early for. In those instances, I am going to skip most or all of my lunch break. When that happens, I enter whatever amount of time I did take for lunch honestly and accurately and I am then paid for all hours worked as per the contract.

I agree with you, sober, though at our center we are told to take a full hour of lunch, or be written up. Don't know if they'd actually write someone up, for this. I'll test mgmt one day and let you know what happened.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

We get a 10 minute paid break and a 45 minute unpaid lunch, which we can take all at once or in two breaks. I take my 10 minute at Dunkin Donuts waiting for one of my pickups and my lunch is taken at home before I complete my last 2 pickups on the way back to the bldg. We have to ask if we want to go Code 5 and work through our lunch if we have somewhere we have to be that night.

Take your breaks and lunches. We work hard and deserve them. Skip your lunch and you will be rewarded with extra work.

 

[soberups]

I agree with you, sober, though at our center we are told to take a full hour of lunch, or be written up. Don't know if they'd actually write someone up, for this. I'll test mgmt one day and let you know what happened.

Let them write you up.

Warning letters are only good for 9 months.

If you need to skip your lunch on occasion in order to meet family or personal obligations, then do so. Accurately enter whatever amount of time you did take, even if its only 5 or 10 minutes. That way you are being 100% honest, not falsifying anything, and you are fully compensated for all hours worked. If your sup comes up to you the next day and wants to whine about it, too bad. And if they have their panties in such a knot over it that they are going to issue you a warning letter then thats OK too. Its just a piece of paper and all it means is that you will have to wait 9 months and one day before doing it again. For me personally, I would choose to just take the warning letter in exchange for an hours pay and being able to get off work when I need to.

 

[Paid-over-in-Maine]

This is a story thats worth repeating.....Kudos to JustTired
http://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/a-lunch-story.104289/

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

This is a story thats worth repeating.....Kudos to JustTired
http://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/a-lunch-story.104289/

PM, thanks for providing the link which perfectly sums up the lunch/no lunch discussion.

 

[Highwayman]

I was told when I started 20 years ago "you make your own job". That means set a steady pace you can maintain all day,use the methods the company tells you to use,and TAKE YOUR LUNCH! In CPA we only get a paid lunch if it is approved by a supervisor,otherwise we lose the hour of pay.

 

[soberups]

I was told when I started 20 years ago "you make your own job". That means set a steady pace you can maintain all day,use the methods the company tells you to use,and TAKE YOUR LUNCH! In CPA we only get a paid lunch if it is approved by a supervisor,otherwise we lose the hour of pay.

The contract states very clearly that you WILL be paid for all hours in service.

If you skip your lunch, even in violation of instructions to do otherwise, the contract still requires that you be paid for all time worked. You can then theoretically be issued a warning letter for not working as instructed, but this does not change the fact that the company is still obligated to pay you.

I am not advocating the practice of skipping lunch. I am merely recognizing the fact that, in the real word, it is occasionally necessary or desireable to skip your lunch and when that happens the company is obligated to pay you for the time whether your supervisor "approves" it or not.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

The contract states very clearly that you WILL be paid for all hours in service.

If you skip your lunch, even in violation of instructions to do otherwise, the contract still requires that you be paid for all time worked. You can then theoretically be issued a warning letter for not working as instructed, but this does not change the fact that the company is still obligated to pay you.

I am not advocating the practice of skipping lunch. I am merely recognizing the fact that, in the real word, it is occasionally necessary or desireable to skip your lunch and when that happens the company is obligated to pay you for the time whether your supervisor "approves" it or not.

This being the case, why not ask your supe if it's okay if you skip your lunch. He/she just may say it's okay. Better to have the okay than not, besides, it's easier that way.

 

[soberups]

This is a story thats worth repeating.....Kudos to JustTired
http://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/a-lunch-story.104289/

Joes problem isnt that he skipped lunch every once in awhile to see his kid play ball.

Joes problem is that he recorded a lunch that he didnt actually take on his timecard.

If Joe had simply entered "Lunch 1200-1200" in his DIAD on the days he skipped, then his paid day wouldn't be any different and whether or not the company screwed him on the time allowance would be irrelevant to the matter at hand.

If the company then chose to overdispatch him, his solution would be to (A) take his lunch (B) notify management of any impending service failures and (C) file a grievance if he is continously made to work over 9.5 hours as per the contract.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Joes problem isnt that he skipped lunch every once in awhile to see his kid play ball.

Joes problem is that he recorded a lunch that he didnt actually take on his timecard.

If Joe had simply entered "Lunch 1200-1200" in his DIAD on the days he skipped, then his paid day wouldn't be any different and whether or not the company screwed him on the time allowance would be irrelevant to the matter at hand.

If the company then chose to overdispatch him, his solution would be to (A) take his lunch (B) notify management of any impending service failures and (C) file a grievance if he is continously made to work over 9.5 hours as per the contract.

And D: Ask for a 3 point seat belt.

 

[soberups]

This being the case, why not ask your supe if it's okay if you skip your lunch. He/she just may say it's okay. Better to have the okay than not, besides, it's easier that way.

He/she also may just say its NOT okay. I would rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

I'm a big boy. I'm not going to ask my supervisor to "allow" me to attend a school function or have a personal life after work. As long as it doesnt affect service to the customers its none of his damn business. If he is truly that unhappy with my decision to skip my lunch and has nothing more important to do with his time he can go ahead and just write me a warning letter. The only thing that matters to me is that I get paid for the hour.