Surrey Expat

Only after completing 5 hours of work must employees take a 30 minute unpaid break. Any other break is discretionary, at at the goodwill of the employer.

windward

Hey, you've made it now right? You need a handle-change
From what I know I'm not sure I'd be any good to you anyway, except maybe as a chauffeur for a few weeks. I think I'd make a good Jeeves.

But yeah, OT... I think it's a company thing rather than a national or provincial thing. Bazz shows they can be relaxed about it.

steve666

Just like the rest of us, EH!

dbd33

I'm drinking, but anyway...

I've never taken a lunch break in Canada. In our business any sort of break is a sign of weakness. Presentism is everything. For example, I used to live near the office and would arrive at around 7:30 in the morning, now I commute from far away and avoid the traffic by getting in just before 7. It use to be that most people arrived around 7:15 but, because I moved earlier, they all now arrive a bit before 7, no one goes home in time for their kids' sports or school plays or whatnot as to admit to a life outside work would be letting the firm down. I think people here are as driven as people in London or NYC but, for what I dunno, they're not living in London or NYC; they're just people working a lot and living nowhere in particular. I hope people in other cities like Toronto, Omaha or Tulsa for example, have a bit more balance about their lives.

windward

I hope it is a beer of good provenance DBD.

Your post doesn't exactly fill me with hope about a future working life in Toronto.. I was going to ask if that attitude hadn't provoked some kind of backlash - surely the french influence from the north makes people realise there is such a thing as work-life balance, or is it the same in Quebec? - but I found some links. I encourage you to try the 1st one, set an example DBD.

http://www.utoronto.ca/hrhome/hwb/ev...kthelunch.html

http://www.asiapacificresearch.ca/ca...bury_final.PDF

Steve_P

You may think you deserve more breaks and who knows maybe you do, but one thirty minute break is all you are entitled to by law.

Here is a link to the Alberta Employment Standards Code.

Pay particular attention to Part 2, Division 3, 18 "Rest Periods".

Mr Lee

My last office job in the UK only gave a half hour lunch. Mind you, I was sat on my arse for the other 7 hours, so it was a chance to stretch my legs and get away from the pc for a bit.

I completely sympathise with the OP. I work in retail now and Saturdays do an 8 hour shift (8.5 including lunch break) and we are not allowed to sit down at all, even when it's quiet. You sit down and get caught, you get "written up".
Don't forget that many retail employees are on minimum wage, working that job because there's nothing else, so is an hour too much to let them take the weight off their feet? Sadly, the Dickensian views of many employers deem it not to be. I think a change in the law would be helpful, but this is Canada and who complains? (Apart from us lot).

Naryamente

Nope. People here are work driven too.
And so many people are so miserable - I wonder if maybe they can make the connection?

Either my wife or I take our son to school in the mornings - you wanna see some of the downright miserable people, their contempt for others thinly masked.

When we lived in Montreal, people liked to compare themselves in contrast to Torontonians. The attitude was: in Quebec, people worked to live and in Ontario, people lived to work.

If you ask me, it's bollocks to work yourself stupid. There is more to life than commuting, working long hours, commuting and basement renos. In the end, you're not impressing anyone by working 60 hours a week and finding solace with other overworked people paying off their two SUVs and solid gold BBQs.

It's nice if you can find balance, but sadly, people keep chasing the "dream" job or house, never happy with what they have.

dbd33

I guess I was unclear there, I know what the workplace in Toronto is like, "humourless" and "puritan" are a couple of words I think apt, I was expressing the hope that in other cities of similar size and amenities people look after themselves better.

Incidentally, I see that you live near Main and Danforth, have you ever been in Bill's Fish and Chips (at Gerrard and Main)? That's the scuzziest restaurant I've eaten in anywhere.

dbd33

Pride, then Wells' IPA.

There's no French influence in Toronto. There are French people but they have no authority.

Naryamente

I laughed hard at that.
I must sound like such a jerk, but I wouldn't eat around here unless I was a hostage. We're veggies anyway, so the selection is limited.

There's a tavern at Danforth & Dawes that looks SO awful, we HAVE to go to it before we leave. I can't say I spent all this time here, not knowing what it was like.

Humourless is certainly one way of describing many aspects of this city.
In fact, I can't think of a big city that really does have a municipal sense of humour. I think cheerfulness is inversely proportional to population.

Ever been to LA? LA makes Toronto look like the life of the party.

dbd33

South-east corner? I've been in there, it was a hold out from the smoking bylaw, rough but not big league rough. Try The Crossroads on the Danforth, The Duke (named for John Wayne) at Queen and Leslie or karaoke at the Maple Leaf Tavern opposite the Welfare Mall.

Many times. I don't like LA, apart from the Watts Towers and the beach it could be Mississauga.

Naryamente

Yes, South West it is. I think it still reeks of fags (cigarettes, that is.)

Oh and the Maple Leaf... What a beautiful looking place.
Welfare Mall? Is that the Home Depot and such? Jesus, that's harsh.

The Ulster Arms is also worth a look - if you're blind.

I *think* I know of the Duke - is it painted 'puke'? (and should therefore be renamed?)

I reckon The Crossroads escapes me.

Wannabe

Okidoki - I guess I work for one of the good ones, then. We get 15 for a 4-hour shift, 30 for a 6-hour and 2 15s and a 30 for an 8-hour shift.

Do you come with a car? In that case, we might be talking...

dbd33

Adding the Home Depot moved it massively upmarket. My daughter used to go into the Maple Leaf when she was guarding at the pool next door, that's how I came to know that I should witness the karaoke. (She also worked at the pool at Main and Danforth which is a surprisingly nice facility).

Ah yes, lovely block, all those broken taxis. Still it has the marvelous Barbecue Hut/Shan-I-Hind and the Madras Durbar - that one's even good for you since it's incidentally veggie.

Newfie bar. Once upon a time I used to go into lots of those. Curiously the only places I've been punched by strangers (in Toronto) are Scotland Yard, Mick E Fynn's and O'Farrell's.