Anana

[anannaa]

The company I work for has suddenly discovered their handbook,so now they are requiring that the employee take a 30 min., lunch break.This does not concur with my personnel habits, therefore I will be made to clock out for a lunch that I will not take.I come in early in the am 6-7am and leave around 2pm, or as soon as I finish my work.
I do not eat lunch at my desk, and IF I do have to leave for lunch I do clock out/in.I am 55 y/o and I am a responsible adult, I do not cheat my employeer out of anything, maybe myself out of pay for extra work , but that is another story.
On another site the statement was "you can not be made to take a lunch break , if you work 6hrs or less" ? So can I be made to take out 30 minutes of work time for a lunch I do not take? My hours are generally 36/wk.

[Pattymd]

Doesn't fit with your personal habits? Doesn't matter. The employer controls your hours, not you. If they want you to take a lunch, you take a lunch. Period. Although, assuming you are a nonexempt employee, you must be paid if you work during that lunch period, they can discipline you up to and including termination, for not following the work rules. And a statement on the company website is not cast in stone; it can be changed at any time. And if you are working 36 hours/week, if those hours are evenly divided, that is at least 6 hours per day, even assuming you work 6 days a week.

You have no legal recourse here. If they want you to take the lunch break, you take the lunch break.