Now, many companies in Oman are saying good-bye to the age-old custom of afternoon breaks (1pm-4pm). For the last three years, I have been not able to decipher the logic behind these breaks, which is specific to this part of the world. Is it employee-friendly or anti-employer?

I have always felt giving a break at noon paves way for laziness when the employee resumes work in the evening – thanks to the combination of a hearty meal and a catnap. Imagine a scenario wherein a very important task was assigned at 12.30pm and you are waiting for your colleague to finish the work. And, at 12.55pm, the colleague says he will come back at 4pm and do the remaining work. How on earth can you take it? It not only slows down employee productivity, but also hurts key decisions to be taken by the company.

Another issue is people getting struck in the lunch-hour traffic, which means you lose an hour in road sometimes wading through a stream of vehicles. For all the hustle-bustle, you just end up staying for an hour-and-half at your residence. It’s not worth the effort. I have seen many Omani colleagues whaling away a couple of hours in shopping malls or inside offices from 1pm to 4 pm because they work in Ruwi and their residences are in Seeb. So it doesn’t make sense for them to travel from Ruwi to Seeb for an afternoon break.

It’s high time all the companies compulsorily switched over to a system wherein a lunch break of one hour is given to all the employees. This will not only help productivity and continuity, but also boost bottomline of companies.

Also, by avoiding unnecessary travel, four times a day, companies can do their bit for preserving one of the costliest commodities on the universe — oil.