UK employees do £30,000-worth of work during lunch breaks

The average UK worker does £33,264-worth of work during their lunch breaks over the course of a career, according to a new report by a leading job site.
A massive 68% of people say they are too busy for a lunch break.A massive 68% of people say they are too busy for a lunch break.
A massive 68% of people say they are too busy for a lunch break.

With a massive 68% of people saying they are too busy for a lunch break and 56% of British workers not taking their full allotted time, the average UK employee is doing work worth 1.6 times the average national wage aver the course of their careers.

The Totaljobs Group, who surveyed 7,135 workers across the UK, found that many workers fail to take proper lunch breaks as a result of their mind-set and desire to get ahead on work as opposed to a company policy dictated by senior management.

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"The research highlights the staggering amount of unpaid lunchtime work the average worker will carry out," said David Clift, HR Director at Totaljobs. "We understand workers feel under pressure and are competitive, but it is alarming to see how everyday the culture of working through lunch has become."

With 65% of workers saying they were actively encouraged to take a proper lunch break, 20% of employees said they were not aware of legislation around lunch breaks, suggesting many do not know their rights.

"Taking time to move away from your workstation has many proven benefits and can allow workers to return back to work refreshed and reinvigorated for the second half of the day," David added.

"One encouragement is that this culture is largely coming from employees themselves rather than being enforced by employers. That said, we would call on employers to encourage their staff to take regular breaks away from their workstation and to reap the benefits that come from this."

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Despite such high proportions of employees forgoing their legal break for lunch, 37% of women and 26% of men stated that they felt stressed when they have had to skip lunch in the past, while the older generation is the worse culprit, with only 38% of 55-64 year olds spending an hour away from their workstation.