How do you schedule your lunches?

[Caitlin]

First time poster!

Our office has been "closed for lunch" for about 20 years. I think it's time to change that policy but the other staff members really enjoy the hour lunch break and are concerned about staffing during a split lunch schedule. There are 4 full time employees (1 bookkeeper, office manager/optician (me) and 2 opticians), plus one part time receptionist. I don't know how it would work to have a short staff for two hours so everyone can get their hour lunch break - so I'm looking for real life application, other ideas for how to make lunches work... shorter lunch break, more staggering, etc.

Thanks for your input! ~Caitlin

[Java99]

I've seen it work staggering, starting at 11:30, everyone back by 2ish with hour lunches. But if whoever is supposed to go first is with a patient, no one else wants to go yet, and whining ensues and your whole afternoon can be thrown off unless you make sure someone starts it on time, every time. Also depends on how you have patients scheduled what time to start.

[becc971]

in our office we typically stagger lunch breaks taking into account the schedule. i.e. there is no one scheduled from 12 - 1, so most of our techs and drs go then, and as opticians in this ever crazy retail world we stagger them between 12 and 2, but we only get a half hour and there are about 50 people who work here :) i personally find that an entire hour for lunch is ALOT. our state requires a half hour for lunch, and the option of two more 15 minute breaks throughout the day. this may not be helpful at all. I find that using your patient schedule is the easiest way to figure out when to stagger lunch breaks. that way you can make sure you're appropriately staffed when people are coming in and leaving their exams.

[LENNY]

after work!

[optical24/7]

Scheduled lunch break?

Never take one nor had one in years. Being an optician has given me terrible eating habits. I've been told I eat so fast, it's like someone bigger than me is going to come along and take it away. I eat when I can, that may be 11am or 3:30 pm.

[rbaker]

after work!

Yah . . . Whats this lunch thing. Working 12 hours straight without eating helps fight the war on obesity and builds character. I pay you to work not eat, drink, smoke, text, email or void.

[chip anderson]

I runs out to Wendy's or McDonalds, or Popeyes, or Chic-Filet and gits it for my secretary and myself, and my wife (when she blesses us with her presence) and us eats in the office. No way you can operate as and independent (non-prescriber owned) and close during the lunch hour. Even though we are all diabetic and should eat on schedule, folks what walks in off the street or come in for pick-ups seem to all come in during the lunch hours and just before closing.
The thought of and hour and a half, or even an hour is out of the question.

Chip

[ldyflsh]

I AM the Optical....lunch is usually coffee and a snickers bar on the run ;)

[nicksims]

We have the doc side and the optical side. Sometimes the doc is out for surgery, so they are used to scheduling around such things. But usually the techs break from 12-1. It's been working for them for so many years. As for the optical, we have 3 experienced opticians and an optician who works with us and also works as a tech. We stagger the lunches (11:30,12 and 12:30) and rarely have somebody work solo. It works, we stay open. We're in a downtown location and not open wk-ends so staying open during office lunch hours is critical. We have the occasional timing issue and switch our hours, but normally it works pretty well. Perhaps we've trained our patients?

[J.P.]

The office gets a closed lunch at 1pm for an hour, but the doctors decided to bring me one or 2 for frame selections at 12:55pm while all other staff is running out the back door for lunch, and then the patient(s) don't finish their selections until 1:45. Then we reopen the doors at 1:50, and then I don't get this "lunch". I'm 1 optician for 4 Doctors. I'm lucky if I get to go to the bathroom through out the day, lol

[EyeManFla]

In 36 years of doing this, I've always worked through lunch.

[spectaclegal]

It's been years since I had a designated lunch hour. Keep your old time ways! That's why you're clientele comes to you, because you haven't succumbed to the chain ways. You are a professional! You deserve a real lunch hour if you can make it work without losing a ton of business. You're not just a sales clerk at some mall store who sold shoes last month! Once you lose those old ways, you'll never get them back! Why? To try to compete with the big chains? What next, open until 9pm every night? Open every Sunday? Open the entire Christmas Eve day...? Then maybe we can start seeing our dentist at 8:15pm every night for routine checks & so on. (Aside from emergencies of course). I actually have my cellie on my door, so if I was out on a rare lunch break, they could get me & I'd come right back.


This is all of course a matter of opinion.

[obxeyeguy]

This just reminded me that my lunch is still in the microwave.

[Java99]

Scheduled lunch break?

Never take one nor had one in years. Being an optician has given me terrible eating habits. I've been told I eat so fast, it's like someone bigger than me is going to come along and take it away. I eat when I can, that may be 11am or 3:30 pm.

Sounds like my days. I had lunch today at 11, yesterday at 4:30. I keep sandwich makings in the little fridge here, or lunch wouldn't happen.

[LENNY]

I came to one of our stores once and saw this picture.
2 people were waiting in the waiting area to be helped and there was a small handwritten sign on the reception desk. LUNCH.

Lets put it this way all 3 people that worked that day including my cousin are on indefinite lunch after that.

[Johns]

Here's the real question: If you take a lunch, do you clock out, or get paid for it. (Please don't ask why I want to know)

[uncut]

First time poster!

Our office has been "closed for lunch" for about 20 years. I think it's time to change that policy but the other staff members really enjoy the hour lunch break and are concerned about staffing during a split lunch schedule. There are 4 full time employees (1 bookkeeper, office manager/optician (me) and 2 opticians), plus one part time receptionist. I don't know how it would work to have a short staff for two hours so everyone can get their hour lunch break - so I'm looking for real life application, other ideas for how to make lunches work... shorter lunch break, more staggering, etc.

Thanks for your input! ~Caitlin

Firstly, I would like to extend a hearty "WELCOME to the Optiboard" to you Caitlin. A fantastic 1st post, I might add.

It sounds like your method is working for you at your particular practice, I would approach a change with trepidation. The consequence of changing to an open policy might mean being less efficient over several hours, in exchange for perceived convenience. In our practice, we do stagger lunch hours with licensed personnel, but all others get an unpaid hour off. In other words, a license is always on duty for the open hours, with assist, and security backup at all times.

[Browneyes1208]

We used to take an hour from 12 -1 and close, but since we moved into a busier section of town, the receptionist and optician (me) goes from 11:30-12:30, the secretary and pre-exam girl goes from 12-1, and the frame girl goes from 12:30-1:30. Our doctors eat from 12-1.

[opty4062]

Our office closes daily from 12 to 1 for lunch. This has been protocol since the office opened 30+yrs ago. At least that is what is supposed to happen. If a customer is still making frame selection or a doc needs additional testing, etc, we just make do. We have a great break room and we are all watching our pennies so most of us eat in house. Our staff is cross trained to the point that if someone has to go late to lunch and needs their whole hour we can easily cover it. Our docs almost always leave the office for the hour if not longer, so this will probably not change any time soon.

[LENNY]

Here's the real question: If you take a lunch, do you clock out, or get paid for it. (Please don't ask why I want to know)

Yes!
If you have certain arranged time slot!

[Browneyes1208]

We get paid for our lunches too. It works out because sometimes we don't get a full lunch if we are really busy

[kat]

Welcome Caitlin!!
I have worked in places that closed for lunch and it seemed that it worked for those practices. However, for the majority of my career, I have always worked through lunch. Now I own my own shop, and lunch is a meal that is eaten when I can. I keep a fridge, micro, toasteroven, and water cooler(heater) in the office.
You really came up with a great first post!!!!

[Johns]

and the frame girl goes from 12:30-1:30. .

I am picturing a "frame girl" with a box of frames, going from table to table, similar to the cigarette girls of the 1920's!

[Fezz]

I am picturing a "frame girl" with a box of frames, going from table to table, similar to the cigarette girls of the 1920's!

I can hear it now......

"Cambridge.......Corsair..............CFG?"

[Johns]

I can hear it now......

"Cambridge.......Corsair..............CFG?"

Yeah..."What'll it be honey?"