Why Working Too Much Can Cost You Your Job

Can you give too much at work?


Of all the reason that you could get fired, you wouldn't think that working too much could be one of them. I mean, when you are out of work and looking for a job, one of the things that you try hard to get across during an interview is how dedicated of an employee you are.


The typical reasons for losing a job are not getting their work done, unprofessional behavior, being rude to clients, not showing up for work and so on. However, working during lunch or after hours can now cost you your job.


There have been a few cases recently of people being fired for eating lunch at their desk and working after their shift was over. Which is surprising to me because there has been such a push by companies to get as much work as possible out of their employees. If they were going to do anything to an employee who worked through their lunch break, you'd think it would be to give them a commendation or something.


In fact, in 2004, The New York Times ran an article about how many Americans were being forced to work off the clock. Since then, however, disgruntled employees who were upset about having to work more for free began filing lawsuits against the companies and they were forced to pay back wages.


Due to this, more and more companies have started forbidding employees from working off the clock. In fact, Target made the news when they fired a manager for working after their shift and during their lunch break. Which is probably a good thing. Companies put pressure on employees to get work done and when some employees work through lunch and after closing in order to accomplish it, everyone else feels that they aren't working hard enough if they don't do the same. Suddenly, the corporate culture changes and taking a well-deserved break to eat lunch starts to be viewed as slacking, even though taking a break will make you more productive.


If you frequently work through your lunch and aren't sure if it's a bad thing, first try taking your lunch break for a week and see if you get significantly less work done. The odds are good that you are more productive when you actually take your entire lunch break. But, if you are still determined to work through it, check your employers policy about overtime and working through lunch.


If it's against the company policy in writing, even if you see others doing it, it is a legitimate reason to be fired and you can even have unemployment benefits questioned. However, if you still feel that you need more time to get all of your work done, maybe try talking to your boss about adding a few extra hours to your week or changing your responsibilities.


Do you work through lunch? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts in the comments.


By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for FinancialJobBank and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.