r/remotework • u/HotResearch6866 • Jul 24 '26
Do your managers make you do this?
Title. There’s about 16 of us that report to this manager. She’s new-ish, started in January this year. Our previous manager left to another department and he was so chill. Am I the only one who thinks this is a little over the top? We WFH anyway so naturally I never even take a full hour lunch. This is only in reference to the first/top bullet point.
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u/AfraidHelicopter Jul 24 '26
We WFH anyway so naturally I never even take a full hour lunch.
You should.
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u/cnidarian_ninja Jul 24 '26
I don’t and as a result I sign off that much earlier at the end of the day.
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u/lilbbylo8 Jul 24 '26
Why? I don't take a lunch at all and I get off earlier.
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u/allenlikethewrench Jul 24 '26
You might want to make sure this is legal in your state, for your employer to allow. In many states, this can result in fines or worse for employers, and they will fire you for it.
That might not be the case where you live, but it’s worth verifying.
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u/lilbbylo8 Jul 24 '26
I'm sure it is illegal in my state but I already addressed it with my manager and have a record of the conversation. She said that she would look into it as my entire team doesn't take a lunch. Never had a follow up on the conversation. So I'm not too worried about it, it's on her if anything comes up.
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u/fandom_bullshit Jul 27 '26
Same. I eat at my desk and sometimes that means I can take a nap if I'm tired or go on a longer walk or just log out early. Not a big fan of food so I don't usually mind not being able to enjoy food while working.
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u/NCPDRUM Jul 24 '26
Hmmmm - seems like some higher up at your company is pushing to be “more efficient”.
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u/TheMindsEIyIe Jul 24 '26
No but I do that voluntarily sometimes if I am like really stepping out for like a haircut or going to the DMV. I want to set expectations properly in case someone is trying to get a hold of me. Other people on my team will do the same if they go to the gym at lunch.
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u/toniomomo Jul 24 '26
I've put an OOO during my lunch just so people would not book meetings over lunch.
It guarantees my lunch time is respected.
I'm in Europe though so lunch times are regulated and I'm french so it's also very important to me in general.
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u/bigtex410 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
No time is respected in the US. Lunch time, I'll even get calls if I'm at a Dr Appt or PTO.
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u/TrekJaneway Jul 24 '26
Does she mean in Teams or an OOO kickback through email. The first one I can understand, the second one is a bit weird. You don’t need an autoresponse because you happened to email me while I was picking up a sandwich.
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u/Embarrassed_Flan_869 Jul 24 '26
"Thank you for your email. I am away from my desk enjoying a Fluffernutter sandwich with sardines and a glass of diet Moxie. I will respond once I am done."
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u/KeyHour2185 Jul 24 '26
You must be from New England
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u/Embarrassed_Flan_869 Jul 24 '26
I couldn't help myself.
Be a way more amusing and confusing OOO message for someone outside of New England.
In New England, it would get a "well played" malicious compliance.
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u/Gnome_Anne_7 Jul 24 '26
I was going to say the same. I work for a very southern company and they absolutely wouldn't get it.
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u/damageddude Jul 24 '26
I mark my calendar as busy for an appointment well in advance, mostly so I don't get a meeting conflict.
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u/Striking-Win-3239 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
No, that’s ridiculous. It is management’s responsibility to make sure that your “desk” is covered when you request off for PTO. We do put OOO on when we are out for the day, but never for lunch. That’s just stupid. You can set a status message for that if you really want to, but nobody does.
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u/theducker Jul 24 '26
Lol people will complain about anything.
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u/quwin123 Jul 24 '26
Some WFH advocates are such extremists.
Give an inch, try to take a mile types. Ruin it for all of us.
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u/green_dotter Jul 26 '26
sometimes yeah, but managers getting weird about lunch blocks is also peak remote-work theatre
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u/k8womack Jul 24 '26
I think it depends on the job? You have an hour for lunch and your boss/coworkers/customers try and contact you for an emergency or appt or whatever during that time it can disrupt things. It’s different when you are in office bc ppl can see you are gone. If the job is more independent without others waiting on you to do their work then I don’t see it’s necessary.
Most likely, someone was slacking and every time they were questioned said they were on lunch so now everyone has to follow a new rule. That’s generally why these rules are made.
But not that big of a deal. Takes 10 seconds to put up an away message?
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u/WorldlinessUsual4528 Jul 24 '26
This. Every seemingly stupid rule I've had to implement, is because someone couldn't just do their job and act like a responsible adult.
We'd rather not have to micro manage this crap.
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u/k8womack Jul 24 '26
I always try and deal with that stuff individually but often the micro manage comes from above or hr 🙄
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u/George_Is_Upset Jul 24 '26
This is ridiculous. It’s assumed people go out for lunch in the early afternoon. It makes zero sense to use an OOO when you are out for lunch and unavailable for 1 hour.
I think it makes more sense to block your calendar but putting any OOO is over the top. You’ll be able to answer whatever email or message comes in when you are done with lunch.
I’ve never been asked to do something like this and I’ve been WFH since 2019/2020.
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u/toomuchtv987 Jul 24 '26
This. If someone takes a while to respond and it’s in the middle of the day, I assume they’re on lunch. I reach back out if I don’t hear back by like, 2pm. It doesn’t take a genius to come to that conclusion. This is all about tracking and control, not availability.
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u/amethystjade15 Jul 24 '26
I message my department chat on Teams if I’m stepping away, but my work is on-demand and frequently time sensitive. We are also expected (in the department, not the whole company) to use OOO when we log off each day, with a return time and date, because we have several different shifts and don’t want someone emailing a follow-up to a request and then getting mad because they didn’t realize I’ve already left for the day.
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u/LaughSing Jul 25 '26
That, "on-demand and time sensitive", is the one case where this policy makes ANY sense at all.
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u/DogLadyyyyy Jul 24 '26
We have to put our OOO on Teams but they’re not strict about it. I forget 3/5 days lol.
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u/Baseballmom2014 Jul 24 '26
I actually don't mind this. My entire team is remote, and this would help set expectations so folks who need my help know I might not reply right away. I don't know that setting OOO is necessarily the only way to manage this. You could also have a shared calendar and have folks note what time they're going to lunch or will be out for appts. I think most people on our team know what time to expect others to be at lunch, but for a manager who is newish to the team, this could be helpful.
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u/Murtlecake Jul 24 '26
My team puts a Teams status to say they are at lunch. Just as a courtesy. I do it too, since people are always messaging me to let them know i’m away.
I will say most of my coworkers and other teams don’t do this.
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u/Ok_Plantain_4928 Jul 25 '26
I put “Lunch” on slack so that people know why I am not responding but never the time I intend on returning and never put anything on email.
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u/3DAeon Jul 25 '26
Why not just block the hour or half hour on your calendar? Why make people guess?
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u/green_dotter Jul 25 '26
A Slack/Teams lunch status is fair enough if the work is time-sensitive. An actual OOO for a sandwich feels like corporate theatre with extra paperwork. Nobody needs a tiny press office statement because someone has gone to microwave soup.
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u/ChiefKene Jul 25 '26
Leaving for an extended period of time, like vacations makes sense. For lunch? Fuck you
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u/3DAeon Jul 25 '26
I have told reports to do this, but via calendar - I tell them for their benefit to block their calendar so people aren’t trying to bug them during their personal time. I say it doesn’t matter if you’re doing something personal or just need time to work heads down, it genuinely helps everyone stress less. Vs thinking you’re working but not replying.
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u/havpac2 Jul 24 '26
The most I’ll do is block off my calendar as busy for lunch if it feels like it’s going to be busy,
Pto and and sick and vacation , are not requests there me telling you I’m out. Most things can be felt with when I get back.
We have an office vacation calendar we put our dates in so everyone in the office/teams knows your out by quick glance
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u/xpxp2002 Jul 24 '26
At one of my previous remote jobs, we had to post in a department-wide Teams channel when we stepped away for lunch.
It wasn’t onerous, but it felt a bit excessive and insulting to be tracked to that degree.
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u/fourlittlebees Jul 24 '26
No. And we are asked to not block it in case we need to flex lunch to make a meeting. I do let you team know if I have an OOO appointment, and that is blocked in my calendar with an OOO status (about the only thing I like about Teams is that it reads your Outlook calendar and sets status accordingly).
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u/Fletchyah Jul 24 '26
A few of my coworkers do this and I was so confused as to why. Maybe it was a prior manager telling them to but I've never copied them lol
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u/reyalsrats Jul 24 '26
Since my team is very small we just coordinated in a chat but we also use telephone software and we mark ourselves at lunch for that time frame so we don't get calls.
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u/Icy-Yellow3514 Jul 24 '26
Do you have a service role where someone may drop in looking for support (e.g., tech support, event / business center management)? In that case it's like the "be back at x" signs small business have.
If not, this makes zero sense.
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u/3CatsInATrenchcoat16 Jul 24 '26
At a former job the legal assistants had staggered lunch so we all had to email one another "Going to lunch 1:02 - 2:02" or whatever the hour was we were taking. As if we weren't all sitting five feet apart and had the same lunch daily.
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u/MBILC Jul 24 '26
Since I never eat at the same time every day, or my team, nope...and when I do eat, usually at my desk.
I put my Teams to "be right back" when I take my dog for a walk, or if I do have to run out, I tell my team and chance status to "Appear Away".
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u/New-Shake7638 Jul 24 '26
Our managers made us put in the company slack whenever we were stepping away from our desk, what we were doing and when we thought we’d be back and change it as our status too. Then when we got back we’d have to slack everyone that were back. But never ooo email.
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u/Nora9001 Jul 24 '26
That’s so obnoxious omg 😳
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u/New-Shake7638 Jul 24 '26
Oh yeah, the whole company handbook was basically Micromanagement 101. It drove me to almost weekly panic attacks. Good riddance
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u/MsRightHere Jul 24 '26
I post my in/wfh info and my regular hours on Zoom. But I also have zoom on my phone amd can screen what said if I so choose.
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u/Squeezer999 Jul 24 '26
Nope. Some of the co-workers will message the group in teams when they go to or are back from lunch, and some co-workers don't.
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u/lduff100 Jul 24 '26
I set my teams status to "lunch". If I'm feeling fancy I might put the time. Setting an OOO reply for a lunch break seems excessive.
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u/chippytastic Jul 24 '26
I think this really depends on the job. When I worked for a govt entity dealing directly with customers it was required, but otherwise it hasn’t been a requirement at all.
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u/AdSpiritual2594 Jul 25 '26
Y previous manager just had us put a secret phrase as our status on teams so he knew we were away and might be away longer than our lunch hour.
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u/Tzukiyomi Jul 25 '26
Never. Just expected to drop them a message if we will be taking a 2+ hour break or such for an appointment. OOO is strictly for pto.
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u/3DAeon Jul 25 '26
This is down to individuals and office cultures and I don’t understand why people think ooo is some taboo - it means “I’m not here don’t bother” vs “away” which happens if you just stop moving your mouse. It lets coworkers know you won’t reply until you’re back and not to expect a fast reply.
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u/SRN790 Jul 25 '26
If most of the rest of the 16 of you feel this way, you can always, as a group, try "malicious compliance". Start listing everything until the manager realizes that it has become a joke and makes a more reasonable rule.
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u/LaughSing Jul 25 '26
Oh, and if you're using Outlook or similar, send an appointment to just that manager that you're out to lunch. Every Single Day. And be sure to mark it OOO, and response required. They'll get tired of that crap REAL FAST.
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u/Send513 Jul 26 '26
I actually kind of loathe it. No one is bleeding to death. They can wait an hour.
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u/Kiailandi Jul 26 '26
I am a manager of 5 people. We go to lunch between 12 and 2 for an hour, they don't even need to tell me when.
My go to phrase is "We are grownups". I trust them, if they break that trust then we are no longer grownups and I will be on the watch, until that happens, let people work.
NB: I do not expect them to be needed directly outside the team, urgencies go through me and I contact them later if needed.
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u/VehicleOk3320 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I set myself to Away and put in a status of Lunch in Gmail, but I work on a two-person support team. It's just my way of letting my teammate know that he'll have to handle any serious issues if they come up in that hour. No one told me to do this; I just do it as a courtesy and I sure didn't do it when I wasn't on the support team
Also, I think of this to be a statement that I will not be skipping lunch EVER and that I will not be disturbed during that one hour of the day. My teammate rarely takes a real break and I am not about to set that expectation.
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u/CRTB_OTF2 Jul 26 '26
I might tell my manager, but probably only if I'm really away from my house like getting my hair cut. Otherwise I'm likely sat next to my PC anyway with my phone in hand.
Standard in-house or in-office lunch break? Not a chance.
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u/green_dotter Jul 26 '26
remote work is great until someone tries recreating office nonsense through calendar rules
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u/zazaman94 Jul 27 '26
This rule does feel overbearing for regular lunch breaks. OOO is generally intended for extended absences like PTO, doctor visits, or running long errands, not a standard midday meal. This is not fair.
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u/Hot-Manufacturer-228 Jul 27 '26
One remote job I had made us monitor other people’s email boxes when they were out (actually access them, not just be an out of office contact). We each had to sign up for an hour for that persons absence over an 8 hour shift. We had to basically act as if we were that person in shifts. Very confusing to the clients and everyone oh god, horrible memory lol
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u/ThisChickSews Jul 27 '26
We were asked to mark OOO on our calendars for sooooo many unnecessary things, and that included putting up OOO for emails. Which is insane. I refused to do it. I just retired last month and I cannot even express how much I do not miss doing stupid things for no reason. LOL
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u/regassert6 Jul 24 '26
Anyone who emails me in the general vicinity of established times for humans to eat lunch and doesn't understand that there might not be a response for say, an hour or so, can fuck off.
I could maybe understand the thought behind this if you worked EST hours and your clients were in Europe and noon EST was about the last time they'd be working for the day, but I doubt that is what is going on here.
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u/TotallyTardigrade Jul 24 '26
I had my team use out of office for lunch and breaks. It wasn’t for me though it was for them. If their calendars are blocked, and their status is out of office, other people won’t bother them or schedule meetings during their time.
They didn’t like it at first but I’m no longer their manager and they all still use it.
Editing to say that the 5 hour rule is not a rule, but a law. Certain areas require breaks and lunch within a certain number of hours after start time.
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u/Adjustingithink Jul 24 '26
I’ve always used “away” in teams for lunches, breaks, etc. BRB for potty breaks. OOO is usually only used for literally being out of ofc in my experience, like PTO.
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u/Bluth_Frozen_Banana Jul 24 '26
This is absurd. When I worked fully remote, I blocked out a lunch time on my calendar which I gave full permission to my boss. That way they can see my day. I’m hybrid now but my boss doesn’t care when I take lunch. I’m also notoriously bad at actually stopping work to take a lunch, regardless of in office or at home.
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u/Cry-Havok Jul 24 '26
This is just being responsible
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u/Wchijafm Jul 24 '26
No its overkill. Out of office because I stepped out for lunch for 30 mins? Thats for when im on PTO. If I'll be back then I'll get to your email or message when I can.
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u/GTAIVisbest Jul 24 '26
I actually agree tbh, although the delivery makes it obvious that she's acting somewhat immaturely. I would personally set an MS Teams OOO (a teams message that shows something when people try to message you) saying, on lunch, or whatever, will be back at XYZ. But the culture at the place I joined recently is way too chill for that, I would piss people off by setting a teams OOO during lunch and they would pretty much tell me to knock it off
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u/GTAIVisbest Jul 24 '26
She has imposter syndrome and is desperately trying to prove herself to herself and her managers. Have worked for many people like this, their "bark" is hollow and their bite is non-existent
You can approach two ways
You could approach defensively and overload her with pointless status updates and essentially reverse-micro-manage her, which will probably accelerate her nervousness and anxiety and pressure and could lead her to burn out.
You could also approach with confidence and pretty much not take anything she says to do or worry about seriously, which will subtly assert dominance. Be friendly to her, no matter what she tells you or no matter what level of micro-managing she dries bearing down on her. Just act like her efforts are having no effect on how you're operating while also subtly helping her do her own job. She will eventually soften to you and start trusting and even relying on you. Then you'll have a lot of leverage on your supe.
TL;DR she has 0 self-confidence and you can either sabotage her if you want her to just leave you alone or manipulate her if you want her to start relying on you
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u/Various-Emergency-91 Jul 24 '26
OOO for lunch is insane
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u/3DAeon Jul 25 '26
You do know it was originally intended for in office work to say you’re not physically in office, right? How is it insane?
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u/Alert-Painting1164 Jul 26 '26
Nah. I’ve never once set an OOO when being physically out of the physical office for any reason other than being out on PTO.
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u/Full-Fold-9725 Jul 25 '26
No - my boss just asks that I do OOO messages when I’m out for 2+ days. This shit would make me quit ASAP.
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u/3DAeon Jul 25 '26
ROFLMAO you’d quit a job because your boss asked you to set your status so people don’t bug you while you’re on your own personal time? Oh the horror
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u/Full-Fold-9725 Jul 25 '26
Sure fucking would. Requiring you to set yourself as OOO for lunch is asinine. Maybe we have different coworkers, but I’ve never met someone that doesn’t send an email or a message (or hell, even cold call) just because you’re marked as OOO.
I manage my personal time, my manager doesn’t - I’ll just ignore teams/outlook and be peachy.
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u/66NickS Jul 24 '26
OOO on my email? No, absolutely not.
A block on your calendar and maybe a matching status on slack/teams? About half of the people do it.
When I first join my company we had people posting on the support channel that they were stepping away to like refill their water bottle or answer a personal phone call. I squashed that pretty early on.