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Marc Giauque ReportingWhat are your lunch plans today? If you're like a growing number of Americans, you won't have a lot of time away from work. Studies show our traditional lunch-hours are shrinking.
In many places downtown, a quick bite is as close as a trip down the elevator to, say a street vendor. That's where Gary Lee recently picked up his lunch.
"People are too busy, I do lunch with my wife if I get a chance, but I very seldom get a chance."
Too busy? He isn't alone. Studies claim nearly two-thirds of Americans view the lunch hour as a myth, more than half take less than a half-hour. Lee's been around long enough to remember a different time.
"I remember years ago when we'd take long lunch hours. An hour and a half. We weren't really monitored that well. We'd go out and have a couple of drinks."
Now working for himself, Lee says those days are gone. Monica Whalen, President of the Employer's Council, says so also are the people who used to take them.
But from two-hours, to less than a half hour?
"It is a little surprising until I look at my own experience and find that as opposed to five years ago I find myself working through lunch."
In fact, Whalen says it's often the employees themselves, not the employers, who cut the time at the lunch-table.
"We have employees choosing to leave early to attend school events, to go to medical appointments during the traditional work day, so there emerges a need to adjust your work hours."
When it's work that cuts into the hour, Whalen has a warning. She says employers need to know who's working through, unless they're salaried employees. By law, she says, they may be owed overtime. That's something Pam Silverman doesn't have to worry about. She may be among the rare few who take an hour for lunch.
"I have a policy that I will not eat at my desk. Because I think it is really not healthy, ya know, you just never get a break from your work."
Besides, you've probably heard all those other studies, that talk about how many germs there are on your desk.
