If you are one of those chronic “lunch at my desk” people, this message might be for you: taking a break while you’re at work is good for you. According to research, the potential benefits are immense. It relieves stress and boosts your productivity. Walking away from your desk also creates socializing opportunities, which help build connections in the workplace. This can lead to increased feelings of team spirit or cooperation.

The thing is that many know these benefits. They know that if they pop into the break room and have a chat or get out of the office and take a quick walk around the block, they will feel better. However, many still choose not to do so.

The protagonist in this story was also prone to eating in a rush and cutting their lunch break short. That is until one email from HR changed it all. Scroll down to read what happened and what malicious compliance has to do with it.

Taking a lunch break at work is good for you. Unfortunately, toxic workplace culture often deters people from doing so

Image credits: No Revisions (not the actual photo)

In this story, an employee that’s been pushing himself way too much finally decides to take back control of his time

Image credits: engin akyurt (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Adrian Swancar (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Curtismcg7392

As many in the comment section pointed out, what the man is doing in this situation should not even be called malicious compliance. Taking his full break is literally what he legally is supposed to do, and the employer is not allowed to ask for more of his time.

We contacted the author of the story to elaborate on how the situation progressed. He told Bored Panda that this was pretty much the end of it, and the only thing that came out of the whole ordeal was that his boss got off his back. “Most people still cut their breaks short every now and then, but, overall, people took their full breaks going forward.”

The author has left the job since the incident and is relieved to have done so. And no surprise, because while he was working there, he must have felt a lot of pressure.

He mentioned that he was in the habit of taking short breaks because he didn’t want his co-workers to feel swamped, which suggests the employer might have been under-staffed.  This, together with the fact that the company didn’t seem to care that their employees were sick, allows one to make an assumption that they were demanding way too much from their workers.

Workplace culture has a great impact on whether or not people take breaks

Image credits: Shangyou Shi (not the actual photo)

Research shows that people with a lot on their plate are the ones that are mostly drawn to taking a break but are the least likely to do so. That is because they feel like their lunch break will negatively affect their productivity, even though it usually works in the opposite way.

The same research also found that managers are often the ones that influence people’s decisions regarding breaks. If they show their disdain for them and the people that use them, employees are less likely to take them, which seems to be the case in this story.

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It’s also important to note that managers that encourage taking breaks but don’t do so themselves also often negatively impact their employees’ desire to take them. Unsurprisingly, the person in charge has to be the example of how to behave in the workplace.

To sum it all up: take your break. You deserve it. And, if your manager is not so keen on it, maybe it’s time to call it quits?

People in the comments agreed taking the full 30 minutes is only right

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