The amount of ‘free work’ you do by not taking a lunch break over your lifetime
Jobs website CareerJunction has released a new report focusing on the cost of taking a lunch break in South Africa.
The report is based on a survey of 3,000 South Africans across a number of job sectors.
More than half (55%) of respondents said they are given a 60-minute lunch break.
By comparison, one in three South Africans are allowed a 30-minute lunch break, while 7% are allowed a 40-minute break.
According to the study, two-thirds of South Africans don’t use their full lunch breaks. This is more than in the UK, where a similar survey revealed an average of 44% of UK workers don’t use their full lunch breaks.
Two thirds (67%) of the local respondents said that they eat at their desks while working. In addition, 71% said they browse the internet if not eating during their lunch breaks.
20% of workers said that they skip their lunch breaks altogether and a further 35% said they never leave their desks until after their workday ends – except to use the bathroom.
The cost
“Considering South Africa’s current economic climate and high unemployment rate, one cannot help but wonder if job security plays a key role in the work culture of South Africans,” CareerJunction said.
“While the fight for employment is an obvious contributor, money, or the lack thereof, also seems to play a part. Even though only 13% of respondents admitted that they can’t afford to take lunch every day, it turns out that, although 100% of respondents have access to lunch amenities within a 10-minute walk from their offices, less than half use these, and only on occasion.
“Instead, nearly 60% bring their own lunch from home and 45% spend less than R100 per week on lunch.”
Using the above data, CareerJunction extrapolated that the average South African works a total of 2.2 years overtime during their lifetime due to unused lunch breaks (assuming that a full-time work life is from 18 to 65 years old, and that there are 260 working days in a year).
That amounts to R512,465 worth of free work and ‘unnecessary’ time spent at their desks instead of having a break.
This figure is based on StatsSA average monthly earnings at R13,621 a month.
What the law says
Under section 14 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), workers must have a meal break of 60 minutes after five hours’ work.
However, a written agreement (between the employer and employee) may reduce meal intervals to 30 minutes and/or eliminate meal intervals for workers who work less than six hours a day.
Provision is also made that an employee may be required to work during his meal break – but only on work that cannot be left unattended or cannot be done by another employee.
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