Take a break or burn out

Taking a lunch break can be a dream in some workplaces as tasks pile up and colleagues work through. But lunch shouldn't be a luxury or something we feel guilty about taking.

Research shows concentrating on the same task for more than 40 minutes leads to deteriorating performance so breaks are essential for effective work, Auckland University organisational psychology lecturer Dr Helena Cooper-Thomas said.

"Taking a break allows you to perform better overall," she said.

People follow the norm at work - if colleagues don't leave their desk, it's more likely you won't either.

"If there is a norm not to take a lunch break, then you have to be strong-willed to go against the trend and take a break, but you will probably be admired for it," Cooper-Thomas said.

"There is some personal choice in it, too, as some people want to plough through the day.

"A lot of office roles are so complex work doesn't have boundaries. People feel that whatever doesn't get done that day rolls over and increases the next day.

"So the longer they take at lunch, the longer they have to stay at the end of the day to get to where they want to be for the next working day," she said.

Some employers make it easy to take a break by providing facilities on site.

Auckland City Council has cafeterias providing hot and cold lunches for staff at its main buildings.

Plus, each floor has a lunch room with a table and chairs, microwave, and tea and coffee making facilities.

"We think it is really important to break away from your workplace for lunch," ACC group manager of human resources Mike Richardson said.

"We discourage people eating at their desk.

"Often it is the only time people get a break in the day. Invariably you meet colleagues and end up talking business anyway."

Time out at lunch was even more essential now considering New Zealanders worked longer hours than their counterparts in Europe and the United States, Richardson said.

"People intellectually understand the need for a lunch break but work pressure in the day and often unfortunately work norms or the unwritten organisational culture may set expectations where people are expected to work through lunch or not have a break or seen to be not working hard if they are not at their desk," he said.

"Ultimately that is quite destructive. People burn out and their performance tapers off later in the day."

At the council people are encouraged to take a break for half an hour and the time can be rostered in areas with public contact.

Morning and afternoon tea breaks are a thing of the past and it's a reality that people tend to grab a bite to eat at their desk these days, Public Service Association organiser Kathy Higgins said.

Higgins and her colleagues at the trade union representing public servants visit hundreds of workplaces regularly around Auckland.

"There's an awful lot of stress for people at work these days and when you look at it you see some people having no breaks and working longer hours," she said.

PSA members are usually entitled to a half hour or hour-long lunch break.

"We are also finding that people are reluctant to take annual leave as their in-basket is so full on their return," she said.

People in customer service roles were particularly affected in small office environments.

They can't leave the front counter or their desk as clients are always awaiting their attention.

It's a capacity issue, too, Higgins said, with employers hiring the minimum staff to do the job.

If people can't take breaks because of the workload, they needed to address staff numbers with their boss.

Getting up from the desk and outside into the fresh air can make a world of difference and Higgins is always encouraging union members to do this as a stress reliever.

Lunch breaks are also about socialising and work can be isolating if people miss that social interaction, Higgins said.

"If you are sitting at your desk you are still working," Higgins said.

"It is not the same as walking out of the building.

"You don't get paid for a lunch break, so you can be working for nothing if you work through it."