new proposal to do away with lunch breaks

11/25/2009 - 12:14

I was just reading someone called Pat Eggleton who wrote a patronizing article on the home page of this site concerning a proposal by a minister to shorten or do away with altogether with working lunch breaks.the writer may even have been to Italy...probably hanging round in some Tuscan venue trying to do something around mid day (uselessly) when things were closing.Actually nothing of what she wrote even remotely respects this country so it's evident she never worked here.Yes i do and am qualified to speak on this matter.I can assure her that most companies in the centre north of italy stop for a time of 50' to an hour and a half it can get a bit more "murky" in the deep south but there again there is far less of industry or business down there anyway.It's already out in the news that almost 60% of working people are in total agreement with the proposal ,this comes as no suprise people who work in cities and or are commuting are only too happy to shorten this lost time and finish earlier.Trade unions are even ,for the most part, in agreement.It's just another london urban legend that italians are enjoying gargantuan luncheons and interminable siesta's ,in fact millions of italians every day are out of their homes having to hang around for an inconvenient hour and a half trying to limit,understandably,their expenditure.So ms.eggleton's hoardes pulling their hair out at the mere idea of cutting out lunch intervals is totaly misplaced we're being deafened by the cheering.....But i could well imagine some pretty big NULABOR lunches preferably paid for by the taxpayer..

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glad you quoted the 60 % of working people.. that precludes banks, other national institutions , comunes, people like electricity companies and water companies... politicians of all sorts... who are basically what the comment and proposed changes were aimed at .. so pretty well the non working population ..and i cannot see how reducing their lunch hours would make any difference..they would just extend their coffee breaks...

Here on the outskirts of Rome, most shops and businesses close between 13.00-16.00. It is different in the center, but this is mainly tourist shops anyway. This is all fine if you just want a bit of shopping, but if you are trying to work and need parts from time to time, it's a real pain. Mark

Hi Sebastiano,the centre north is not all Italy, but only a part of this wonderful country, and if you live here, you must know that every part of Italy is characterized by different habits.Happy you find the rule right, though many others ( 40% ) don't, according your statistics - can you please mention where you picked them up from, please?

Speaking as someone who has moved from sandwich in front of the screen in the UK to a two hour break in Sicily I kind of understand the strong reaction the minister's comments got. Judging from reports ��s seem split on the issue - and the minister's corrective statement where he said he only meant the advice for himself show how sensitive things can get around the issue. This website poll shows that most disagree, likewise and . The last two links are from Como and Emilia-Romagna so while not the "shallow" north - certainly not the "deep" south On the other hand Rotondi himself paid for a which (suprise, suprise) came out in his favour.However, when one then hears that the parliament lunch hour about 10 million a day - well banning the whole affair seems like a good idea!As for me - I will ponder further over my break today!

Will two hour lunch breaks mean extra productivity on your return Ronald?

Tradition versus convenience and productivity?. I am used to a half hour lunch break , a quick sandwich and a fag and then back to work. Cannot cope with large amounts of food at that time of day, makes me go to sleep. But from a working in Italy view, our GP says he doesnt even eat lunch, makes him sluggish, and a friend who has a 40min drive to work and works in a govt dept says the 1.5hrs she gets is too short to return home, but not long enough in the summer to go to the beach!, it also extends the working day and she is home just in time to have supper and go to bed, ready for an early start in the morning.Just my view would be that condensing the working day is a good idea, at least then there is time to go home and enjoy the evening.A