Office lunchrooms have disappeared. Am I expected to eat at my desk?

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column Got a Minute? This week: the missing office lunchroom, a rescinded parking promise and unpaid training sessions.

I’ve been working as a temp in several large organisations over the past few years, and I’m shocked by how many workplaces don’t have lunchrooms. Staff sit at small desks in large open rooms and spend their 30-minute lunch break continuing to work. It’s noisy, uncomfortable and hardly healthy. Is this really the norm in corporate workplaces now?

You’re not imagining it. Open-plan offices and a “lunch at your desk” culture have become increasingly common. You can even buy a range of cooking appliances, like desktop soup warmers and self-heating lunch boxes designed to be used at your desk.

The phenomenon didn’t really exist decades ago – offices had tearooms, cafeterias or people simply left the building. Lunch was a clear pause in the day. But today, in many offices, lunch is more like refuelling while continuing to work.

Ironically, research consistently shows the opposite behaviour is better for performance. Studies in occupational psychology show that even a five-minute break will improve concentration, decision-making and creativity.

So the desk-lunch culture is a bit of a paradox. People think they’re being productive, but they’re often making themselves more fatigued and less effective by mid-afternoon.

Good organisations increasingly recognise this. You’ll see progressive workplaces deliberately creating breakout areas, proper lunch spaces or even encouraging walking meetings to counter the “always at your desk” mindset.

You might not be able to control what your colleagues do, but you can still get out and about over lunch. Enjoy the break and your body will thank you for it.

I accepted a role that involves a long drive from home partly because the job advertisement, as well as the interview, confirmed staff parking was available on-site. On my first day, all the parking spots had been relabelled as reserved for senior management. The rest of us now have to park along a busy road and walk over 200 metres. My boss says it was a new “management benefit” approved by the director just before I started and there’s nothing he can do. I feel misled — what should I do?

If on-site parking was clearly advertised and discussed as a feature of the role, then removing it before you even began understandably feels like the goalposts have been moved.

Unfortunately, parking is rarely considered a contractual entitlement unless it’s written into your employment agreement. If it was only mentioned in the job ad or interview, it may be difficult to claim it has been formally breached.

Your best next step is to meet your boss and try to remain calm and constructive. Explain one of the reasons you accepted the role was because parking was available. I would let them know that it feels unsafe having to walk along the busy road and ask whether they might be open to different alternatives, such as rotating who gets to use the car parks. You never know, raising the issue calmly and directly with leadership may prompt a rethink.

At the very least, being able to raise this with your boss will signal that decisions framed as “management perks” can quickly erode trust with the rest of the team.

I work casually for a well-respected training organisation. We’re paid well when we deliver training days, but we’re also expected to attend regular meetings, help develop training content and attend company professional development sessions – all unpaid. Is it unreasonable to expect casual trainers to participate in these requirements without being paid?

If your organisation requires you to do be at these sessions, you should be paid for it. Yes, it is unreasonable to expect casual trainers to attend without being paid.

If attending meetings, contributing to course materials or joining professional development sessions is genuinely optional, then your employer may argue it is reasonable you are not paid. The choice is then yours whether you attend. However, if these activities are required for you to perform your role – which it sounds like they are – then they are very likely considered work.

In Australia, you are entitled to be paid for all hours worked. The Fair Work Ombudsman makes this clear, and employers can face penalties if staff are required to perform unpaid work that benefits the organisation.