Work Breaks Are Crucial to Health, but Your Boss (and the Government) Doesn’t Give a Shit

Employee happiness recently hit a four-year low, and it’s not at all shocking.

It isn’t just the U.S. that is facing these work-life woes. New data found that almost half of Aussie workers report feeling unhappy at work. 

One of the main points reported in this research was that four out of five Aussies don’t take a lunch break. On a related note, 59% of North American workers believe taking a lunch break would be looked at negatively by their employers.

Well, don’t complain when there are crumbs on the company keyboard.

Of course, this habit is not sustainable or healthy for employees. In fact, taking breaks is crucial to positive performance and cognitive function.

According to psychologist and workplace consultant Anoushka Dowling, working for long periods without a break can negatively impact our emotional, mental, and physical well-being. 

“Sometimes we think that not taking breaks is making us more productive, but what is more likely happening is that we are not giving our brains a chance to rest, increasing stress, and in fact decreasing productivity,” she told News.com.au.

“Similarly, sitting for a long period of time can increase musculoskeletal problems, and impact cardiovascular health,” she continued. “Less visible and less obvious however are the risks to our emotional wellbeing.”

A simple solution is to set a reminder to take a much-needed workday break, as recommended by Dowling; but if employers are discouraging this healthy habit, there’s an even deeper problem.

Ideally, managers should be the ones setting the example and supporting these breaks. 

“The most important component is a workplace that prioritizes breaks, and supports and encourages workers to take them,” Dowling told News.com.au.

But that’s often not the case. I mean, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks”—in which case, I guess employers will have to deal with our cognitive decline and decreased productivity. Shrugs.