What do you do about lunch?

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To answer the original question, if we're working in town, we hit a restaurant and have lunch (I buy). If we're in the woods, we pack in a lunch.

Waste of man-hours, perhaps; but I own the place, so who's gonna complain?

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That's pretty much exactly what I do. Some days we skip lunch to get finished early or to press on to another job. But most of the time it's at least an hour for lunch and I buy. If I can't enjoy my work at this age I never will... and I really hate indigestion.

Nobody gets rich in this business, why blow a perfectly nice day trying?
 
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I buy lunch every day for the five of us.

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My ears actually perked up when I read that.


That's terrific for morale. I wish more employers would consider this approach. I'll bet it makes for a family-type atmosphere at work. I commend you for stepping up to that commitment to your guys.

Just now you can't ever stop doing it.


SZ
 
Nobody gets rich in this business, why blow a perfectly nice day trying?

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Good attitude, that's why I do what I do. I try to take my crew to the best resturaunts, I pay, and enjoy the day. And only take 1/2 hour off. So far same staff, and they only get better.
 
Being an owner operator I can't remember the last time I stopped for Lunch. I try to make it through the day on Breakfast. Now when I'm on somebody else's job site I always stop for lunch even if I don't have one because the crew doesn't much like it when I continue to work and their sitting around eating. Folks who work with me on my job are always given the time to consume their lunch. I may not stop to join them.
 
I noticed that you have gone three days without changing your avatar EZ; surely Climber has done something else and you have other pictures. Don't you have any animated shots? Don't loose your touch daddy. I know three hours of sleep is not enough to sustain creative rational thought, but have you tried creative, irrational thought?
 
Quit derailing this thread, Chris!

(see MTCinc? I am trying, oh what the hell, no I am not)


Climber has been back in this dark area in the NICU, and it is impossible to get any good pictures of him. Tomorrow he comes home (my heart is bursting!) and I will have pictures of him giving Familytree the middle finger.



SZ
 
Thanks for everyone's imput. I'm writing an employee handbook right now and I'm trying to spell out our policy on this crucial matter...

Clearly, taking an hour and treating everyone to lunch is not an option.

I can't really tell everyone to eat lunch in between crane picks either....

I think I'll do something like this:

"Employees are entitled to a half-hour lunch break and will be paid during this time if they bring a lunch and consume it on site. As an option where every crew member agrees then the crew leader may elect to eat a hot lunch (in other words, eat fast food/deli/etc. roadside). In this case the entire time spent eating and traveling to eat will be unpaid."

That's just a synopsis but what to you think of that?
 
Not quite on the question of lunch breaks or how/when/where to have them, don't other people find it difficult to even have an apetite when your climbing or the day is solid hard bang-out work? Until afterwards anyway?
 
I am a big proponent of setting crew quotas. we trust the foreman to write down everyone's lunch times (typically half an hour). If the crew makes the quota for the day, I don't care if the crew took an hour lunch and the foreman puts down a half an hour. This is left to the discretion of the foreman and allows him to reward the crew for their hard work. However, if the quota is not met, then we expect the correct times to be documented. Seems to work well here.
 
That's the thing though Chris, with you guys you trust everyone and some places you could trust the guy and they could be screwing your eyes out. But with the group of guys that you have as foreman it's a solid group that you all know well.
 
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That's the thing though Chris, with you guys you trust everyone and some places you could trust the guy and they could be screwing your eyes out. But with the group of guys that you have as foreman it's a solid group that you all know well.

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And THAT, is the difference between a company and a business.
 
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Being an owner operator I can't remember the last time I stopped for Lunch. I try to make it through the day on Breakfast.

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I used to, but diabetes means when I need to eat, I really need to.
 
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That's the thing though Chris, with you guys you trust everyone and some places you could trust the guy and they could be screwing your eyes out. But with the group of guys that you have as foreman it's a solid group that you all know well.

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I appreciate the compliment, Tyler, but I think our system would work well even where you don't know everyone else so well. If the foreman thinks that everyone needs a cup of coffee on the way to the job, so be it. I concern myself with week-end and quarterly numbers and management of foremen. The foremen are responsible to manage the crew.
 
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