Did you know that there are federally mandated breaks for workers? That is, you’re supposed to get something like 15 minutes off for every 4 hours of work. (Those numbers may vary; I can’t be bothered with research right now… too much stuff to do.)
By my reasoning, if you don’t take your two 15-minute breaks per 8 hour workday, then you’re breaking the law. I mean, they are federally mandated, which means the government is telling you to do it. So unless you want to be a criminal, you’d better be taking those breaks!
BTW, your employer might not mention that, because some places want you to work, work, work all the time. But don’t let them strong-arm you into illegal practices. Know your rights! Knowing is half the battle! (And in this case, goofing off for 15 minutes is the other half.) 🙂
Buffet o' Blog 
untapd
Lol, well, well ,well, looks like I have something on my boss now 😉
Brad
We wouldn’t want to disobey the government now, would we… If they tell us to break, I guess we should break. But I LOVE working so much 😛
Ram Venkatararam
I wonder how this would apply to me? I own a convenience store and am the sole employee. I work 112 hours a week but can’t afford to give myself the 4 or 6 hours. If I get a taste of that, I’ll soon be asking myself for pee breaks and access to food and water.
Enna
I had no problem taking the breaks…now if I could only have had a LUNCH break, then I would have been in business.
Olivia
Now I know why we only get 30min for lunch!
Thomas Wayne
I’m pretty sure lunch breaks are required, too. I don’t know what the law mandates, but I mandate it should be at least an hour. And my research shows that occasionally taking two-hour lunch breaks increases morale and productivity. So that should be factored into the equation, also.
Sherlock Magnum Holmes, P.I.
Occasionally taking two hours? Please! My private investigations* of you, Mr. TW reveal that 2 hours was the minimum lunch break observed during your mid-day hiatuses. Further research** has shown 3 hours to be quite acceptable and longer if needed.
*I know and have had many lunches with TW.
**I continued on my lunch breaks for the endurance of TW’s.
Enna
I don’t even KNOW what I would DO with a two hour lunch break!
Thomas Wayne
It’s not too difficult to fill a two-hour lunch break. You know the adage: Time flies when you’re having fun. With two hours, you can visit with friends for a while, or take a nap, or play video games, or go to the store, or cruise around, or go on a long picnic with a special someone. I could go on, but you get the idea. My research* has proven that all these ideas are feasible.
* I have done them all. 🙂
Kristy
I actually just did a search on the subject and before I came to this blog I found out that there are NO Federal Laws that make any employer give anyone any kind of break – Rest or Meal Breaks. There are some states that have set up their on laws for breaks but if you don’t live in one of those states then you’re just out of luck I guess! What the heck is this country coming too?! This is so ridiculous and it seems that we just don’t have any rights anymore!
Here’s the 2 websites that I was looking at…
United States Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/breaks.htm
Employment Issues
http://employeeissues.com/breaks_meals.htm