As of: February 13, 2024, 1:36 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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Stress at work and no prospect of rest?
An expert recommends longer lunch breaks.
(Symbolic image) © Shotshop/Imago
Stress at work and no prospect of rest?
An expert recommends longer lunch breaks – as is common in Italy.
Berlin - a hairdresser's appointment, a quick delivery of a package to the post office or cooking food at home: for many people, the lunch break is a welcome opportunity to squeeze private things into a full working day.
Some, on the other hand, keep their lunch break as short as possible and eat in front of the monitor because there is so much to do or they want to leave the office earlier.
Expert recommends longer breaks: “Our Western lifestyle is based to a large extent on stress”
However, Stefania Doria, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with her own practice in Milan, warns in an interview with Die
Welt
to switch off sometimes, if that is possible.
“Our Western lifestyle is based to a large extent on stress,” she explains.
“We use so much energy that it is missing elsewhere.”
Instead, the experts suggest: “The Germans should do more like we Italians and treat themselves to a long lunch break.” In Italy – as in other southern European countries – it is traditional to take a longer lunch break, sometimes because of the greater midday heat called siesta.
However, this model is currently in retreat due to American and Northern European models.
Of course, a longer lunch break cannot be implemented in every job, says Doria.
“But if you want, you’ll find the time, I’m convinced of that.” The expert advises against a short lunch break with a small salad in front of the monitor: “Even the healthiest diet is of no use if we consume it in an unhealthy way.” , she warns the
world
.
Instead, she recommends taking longer breaks to eat and relax with colleagues, also to increase productivity.
The psychiatrist is of the opinion that the work that takes five hours of rest can probably be done in three.
Lauterbach: “Siesta in the heat is certainly not a bad suggestion”
In fact, there are also some fans of a lunch break based on the Italian model in Germany.
Last year, Johannes Nießen, head of the Association of Medical Officers, suggested introducing a siesta in the summer months in Germany.
“We are learning from the southern countries,” said the chairman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service to
WDR
.
“They work intensively in the morning and then, when it is no longer so hot, in the afternoon until later in the evening.” There is already a prominent supporter for this: “Siesta in the heat is certainly not a bad suggestion,” wrote Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach ( SPD) on X, formerly Twitter.
According to WDR
, studies also suggest
that resilience reaches its peak in the morning and then drops again around midday.
It then rises again in the afternoon.
This would be the perfect way to bridge the unproductive midday slump.
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Lunch break: What applies in Germany
But are employees allowed to do whatever they want during their breaks?
Or can the employer dictate how and where employees spend their time?
“In principle, the employee is free to decide where to spend the break,” says Peter Meyer, a labor law specialist in Berlin.
Employees can go for a walk outside, go to a restaurant or do sports as they please.
“Of course the specified length of the break is crucial,” says Meyer.
According to the specialist lawyer, only under certain circumstances are cases conceivable in which the employer can, for example, prescribe a break on the company premises.
This is conceivable, for example, if employees have to go through a lengthy change of clothes before leaving the company premises for safety reasons.
“Once a company reaches a certain size, employers are generally obliged to provide suitable break rooms,” says Meyer.
Where and how employees spend their breaks is usually up to them.
However, the employer can decide when.
“The employer has the right to direct and can determine when the break must be taken,” says Meyer.
The legally specified times for rest breaks must be adhered to.
With material from dpa