It’s rude, annoying and, evidently, controversial. But we all do it: eat lunch at our desks.
I had no idea how heated the topic of workplace leftovers could get. I was oblivious to the biting remarks people have when it comes to chip crumbs on computer keyboards. People really hate co-workers eating lunch at their desks.
“I can’t concentrate when the pigs are eating their slop. Honestly, it’s disgusting,” a guy named Jess said in a voice-mail message.
“Did no one’s mother teach them the value of savoring food, not shoving it down your throat? And how rude to the people around you,” Rita Gibbons wrote.
So today, I ask: Is it OK to eat lunch at your desk? Seventy-five percent of office workers do it two to three times a week, according to the American Dietetic Association.
But is it right?
A quick recap on how the lunch-eating battle arose. Recently, I wrote about an employee who runs errands on her lunch break and then, when she returns to her desk, eats a bag of chips.
Her employer told her she needed to use her lunch break to eat a good meal. Readers were much less concerned with the micromanaging boss than with bashing Carol and her chip-eating-at-the-desk habit.
“There should be an office policy about this, but crunching on chips can irritate co-workers and the dropped crumbs may attract insects and rodents,” L. Curry wrote.
“I can understand an employer who believes that he does not pay employees to eat potato chips — he pays them to work,” Donna B. said.
I went to the experts for an answer and got this: If you can avoid eating at the desk, do so.
Expert Advice
“Your co-workers should not be exposed to your dining habits – particularly if they are not good ones – if they don’t want to be,” said Mary L. Starvaggi with The Etiquette Advantage. She says odors and noises that go along with eating should be reserved for the lunchroom.
Plus, when an employer gives you a lunch break, it’s for a reason. Probably best to use it for that.
“When we choose to eat at our desks, when we choose not to socialize or get out of the office, we lose something,” said President Krista Skidmore of FlashPoint, a human resource consulting firm. “We miss that mental break.”
Lunch away is a release of tension. Many think it’s a waste of time and will mean longer hours at the end of the day, but it’s just the opposite.
“Taking a break will make us more productive,” Skidmore said.
The issue of image also arises.
“You may appear less professional if you have a lunch sprawled out over your desk,” Starvaggi said.
And germs. Studies have shown an office desk has more bacteria than the inside of the office toilet. If you don’t care, your employer does.
“From an HR standpoint, when we are sort of eating in a bacteria buffet, we have concerns about increases in illness and absenteeism,” Skidmore said.
Of course we have to be realistic. We have deadlines and times when desk eating cannot be avoided. On those days, for the sake of co-workers, opt for a bland peanut butter sandwich rather than reheated, pungent stir-fry from the night before.
