<p>I have a job that’s on the borderline between professional and clerical. (After two decades of working only part-time while raising kids, I’m lucky to have a full-time job at all.)</p>
<p>Although I’m an exempt employee, I have to keep strict hours at work because our company is a government contractor, so we fill out timesheets. There is some flexibility in scheduling, though. For example, a few people with bad commutes have obtained permission to arrive at work early and leave early to avoid the worst traffic. However, one thing seems inflexible. Everybody gets a half hour for lunch. I’ve been here for three years now, and I have never seen an exception to this rule.</p>
<p>I just learned that the cafeteria in the building where I work is going to be closed. There’s another cafeteria in a different building on our corporate campus, and most of my colleagues plan to use it. But I can’t. I injured my knee 7 years ago, and I can’t walk as fast as most people do. I can’t get to the other building, eat, and get back to my office in 30 minutes.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that I will have to go hungry when the cafeteria in my building closes. We have a refrigerator and microwave on our floor, and we’re allowed to eat in our offices; I could bring my lunch to work every day. But I would love to be able to use the cafeteria in the other building because the food is good and very cheap (the cafeterias are subsidized).</p>
<p>If you were in my situation, would you ask your supervisor for permission to come to work 15 minutes early and take a 45-minute lunch break? Or would you keep your mouth shut and just bring your lunch to work?</p>
<p>I would ask, and if I were the supervisor I would say yes. The reason - it would be nothing off my back and it could create very good will with my employee. The worst could happen is your boss could say no, but he/she could very well say yes.</p>
<p>Unless, of course, the boss is afraid of setting a bad precedent. I work in state government in a glorified clerical job and that’s been my experience. Once in a while I can take a long lunch for a family emergency or something but not as a general rule. But I agree with Oldfort in that the worst your boss could do is say no - good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t need this as an accommodation for a disability. The presence of the refrigerator and microwave, and the fact that we’re allowed to eat in our offices, provide all the accommodation I need.</p>
<p>I suspect that if I ask for what I want, my supervisor will say yes. My concern is that she will resent me for asking because it will set a precedent, as footballmom104 points out. </p>
<p>There are lots of people at my office who would love to take a longer lunch hour at least occasionally and make up the time – for example, if they have a package waiting for them at the post office and don’t want to wait until Saturday to pick it up. I could be creating a situation that would prompt many other people to make requests that until now, have been unthinkable, and that is something my supervisor and other supervisors might not like.</p>
<p>I think you should ask. I think it IS an accommodation…and that’s how you should try to sell it to your boss. You are NOT the judge and jury as to what is a “reasonable” accommodation in this case. I think is is “reasonable.” And if it’s viewed as an accommodation, it won’t set a precedent. “Reasonable” doesn’t equate to “smallest accommodation possible.” </p>
<p>FWIW…I suspect that the closing of the nearby cafeteria may lead to your supervisor changing the underlying rule anyway.</p>
<p>If you really want to eat in the subsidized cafeteria, I would make the request and if it is granted, I would not discuss it with anyone else. Seems you are uncomfortable with asking, and I sense you are fearful that it might create a problem that will affect your employment. I would let your supervisor make that call. If she/he approves it then you should not worry. I am sure the supervisor will think it through and consider the precedent she/he is setting.</p>
<p>Does your job actually require a specific schedule, or merely proper logging of hours worked? If the latter, what would be the harm or cost of allowing you, or anyone else in your building for that matter, to take a longer lunch period, while making up and logging extra time at other times in the day?</p>
<p>Any reasonable person would think that making an employee’s work life better in a cost-free manner would be a desirable thing to do.</p>
<p>Is the schedule something like everyone leaves for lunch at precisely 12:15 and is expected back working at 12:45 – or is it 30 minutes when you want to take your 30 minutes. The first instance, it’s clear that you are getting an accommodation. The second instance people might not actually notice.</p>
<p>If there is a subsidized cafeteria that exists for the benefit of the employees, insisting that you bring your own lunch because you cannot get there and back in the lunch time available would be a clear violation of the spirit, if not the absolute letter of the ADA. </p>
<p>Do you and your supervisor have less than an ideal working relationship? If this is the case, I would probably not ask for any accomodation. On the other hand, if your relationship is on solid ground, then why not ask? As for the ADA issue, you may be winning the battle but losing the war. Bosses can find other ways to make your life miserable without breaking any laws…</p>
<p>It’s the second instance. And we don’t sign out and in when we go to lunch. But I wouldn’t take more than 30 minutes without asking. Partly, this is honesty. Partly, it’s the fact that we have Microsoft Lync, which indicates how long you’ve been offline. I might get caught if someone noticed that the little light next to my name had been yellow instead of green for more than 30 minutes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have an excellent relationship with the person who actually supervises my work. But she’s not my official supervisor; her job classification isn’t high enough for her to be anyone’s official supervisor. My official supervisor is a person I see once a year at review time, who probably wouldn’t recognize me if she saw me on the street. And my official supervisor is the one I would have to ask for permission.</p>
<p>I vote ask. If you sense any hesitation, you may have your answer. But I can see no harm in asking, particularly since you are proposing to come in early to make up the difference. Just don’t ever be late!!! :)</p>
<p>Would it be a problem if you used your 30 minutes to get to/from the cafeteria, but brought the food back to your desk to eat? Perhaps you wouldn’t have it finished within the 30 minute time frame, but you’d be back online.</p>
<p>Yes. Someone raised this question at the orientation session on my first day. We were told that it was an actual policy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was expecting that I would have to do this sometimes even if I had 45 minutes. I sometimes have to do it now, when I have 30 minutes to use the cafeteria in my own building. The time spent in the elevator, food line, and checkout line adds up. Everybody brings food back to their desks. I’ve never seen anyone actually eat in the cafeteria except the janitors, who are employees of an outside service and may have a longer lunch break than we do.</p>
<p>Should you be able to ask? Yes. Would I, especially if I didn’t want to be branded as sub-par or difficult? No. I am taking the ageism and sexism of the workplace into account. Maybe I’m paranoid, but it sounds like painting a target on your back the next time there are layoffs.</p>