1 minute late from lunch means 1 hour of extended unpaid work hours? Viral memo leaves employees shocked

A post on X have sparked conversations about the lunch break in workplaces. An alleged workplace notice asking employees to ‘eat faster’ is going viral online. A user posted with the caption “If your management writes policies like this, don't be surprised when your best employees write resignation emails.”

The unverified memo imposed a 30-minute lunch limit, stating, "For every minute your lunch break exceeds 30 minutes, you will owe the company 60 minutes of unpaid 'focus time' after 6 pm."



The circular further explained that even a 31-minute break would mean employees couldn’t leave at 6:00 pm and would instead have to stay until 7:00 pm. It concluded with a blunt directive: "Eat faster".

Social media reactions

"Employees should write for every minute worked extra; the company owes a salary of 1 hour. Eg- worked till 18:01, means company pays extra salary of 1 hour," one user wrote in the comment section. "Let us leave early."

Another user commented “this must be a Prank Notice! Who would put the name with the designation as management?”

“I worked for a company where being just 1 minute late would result in a 30 minute salary deduction”, third user commented.

A fourth user commented “There is no point working in such a company, everyone should resign.’

Disclaimer: This article is based on a user-generated post on X. ET.com has not independently verified the claims made in the post and does not vouch for their accuracy. The views expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET.com. Reader discretion is advised.