Eating breakfast at work

[Henry Fiddleton]

Some of so sound like you work in a classroom!

I eat my desk when ever I am hungry; if it stinks out the place I feel even better :-)

[Sebo]

I eat breakfast, lunch and often dinner at work.

Edit to add, so do most of my colleagues.

The stench of curries on the dealing floor on Fridays may be too much for some people to stomach though..

Edited by Sebo on Tuesday 16th November 17:01

[ewenm]

I often run to work - eating at home beforehand means getting up 2 hours earlier, no thanks. Plus work has a canteen that does a good breakfast

The usual complaints are from others who smell my double-sausage-hash-brown-bap and then want one for themselves

[Mutt]

T84 said:

I usually get in 15 minutes early to have some crumpets or something, I don't feel up for breakfast when I've just woken up.

Sex, breakfast of champions.

[everGreddy]

Taking a bowl of golden syrup porridge into meetings usually gets one or two backs up

[ccr32]

I am not ready to eat breakfast at or before the time I leave the house in the morning (about 6am), so if I do have breakfast, it will be at my desk when I'm feeling a bit more up for it a few hours later.

Our place have provided us with a kitchenette area with a microwave, fridge, etc - no toaster though...

The bad news about having the microwave though is down to what some of the techy geeks like to put in it and stink out the entire floor with - reheated vomit-scented curry for breakfast anyone?

[NDA]

I had a kitchen installed for my team - but pretty soon had to remove the microwave and ban the preparation of all hot food. The kitchen was always in a dreadful state, people left food to go rotten and the stench from hot meals permeated the building which led to the ban on hot stuff.

We had clients visit our office regularly, the smell of food became a major irritant.

Breakfasts were fine, but I could see the ratio of 'mealtimes' being greater than 'work times' for several people.

[snowy slopes]

Henry Fiddleton said:

Some of so sound like you work in a classroom!

I eat my desk when ever I am hungry; if it stinks out the place I feel even better :-)

You eat your desk??? You must really be hungry

[Deva Link]

NDA said:

Breakfasts were fine, but I could see the ratio of 'mealtimes' being greater than 'work times' for several people.

There's a weird dynamic in the office my wife works in - the younger staff get in early (between 7.30 and 8) log on (so their flexi clocks start) and then spend 60-90 mins having breakfast and chatting until the more senior staff arrive at about 9AM.

Drives my wife nuts - she works part-time but likes to get in early on the days she works to crack on with things, but often ends up being the only person who will answer the 'phone so she can't get any work done.

[ShadownINja]

When I used to work full time in an office, I'd eat at my desk because (1) smokers are allowed breaks and I am happy to work while eating rather than stepping out when I feel peckish (2) I don't mind working through my lunch as to just sit and do nothing for an hour but eat seems a complete waste of time as I can't do anything actually interesting (I said interesting before someone suggests the obvious like pub/shopping/crack one off) in that hour if I am to eat my lunch as well. Then again, I've never been an "Ooh! It's 5.30pm! Sod you lot! I'm off!" kind of person...

[Cogcog]

Is there a diference , between employes eating in the firms time before wirk has even strated, and when say my plumber comes out to repair and service m heating, or my joiner who I pay by the day arrives, and the first thing they do is start the £££ clock running and then get out the Big Mc Breakfast and don't start for 20 minutes while I am paying their hourly rate?

How about the mechanic who is servicing your car at £40 a on hour? Would you be happy to pay for that time while he tucks in on your clock?

Whichever way, some custonmer is paying directly or indirectly?

[NDA]

Deva Link said:

NDA said:

Breakfasts were fine, but I could see the ratio of 'mealtimes' being greater than 'work times' for several people.

There's a weird dynamic in the office my wife works in - the younger staff get in early (between 7.30 and 8) log on (so their flexi clocks start) and then spend 60-90 mins having breakfast and chatting until the more senior staff arrive at about 9AM.

Drives my wife nuts - she works part-time but likes to get in early on the days she works to crack on with things, but often ends up being the only person who will answer the 'phone so she can't get any work done.

Tricky one. I think a gentle word from senior management is probably appropriate - something (softer) along the lines of 'it is hoped that we can avoid a ban on bringing food into the office by adopting the following protocols.....'

My office trod a fine line on the food topic, but we didn't have clock watchers and the people were superb workers - so I cut them a lot of slack to eat their muesli and chat. I also installed a bar with playstations, table football etc along with free wine, beer and champagne, this was never abused and I really liked the fact that they'd be drinking and having a laugh in the evenings rather than going home!!

[ShadownINja]

Cogcog said:

Is there a diference , between employes eating in the firms time before wirk has even strated, and when say my plumber comes out to repair and service m heating, or my joiner who I pay by the day arrives, and the first thing they do is start the £££ clock running and then get out the Big Mc Breakfast and don't start for 20 minutes while I am paying their hourly rate?

How about the mechanic who is servicing your car at £40 a on hour? Would you be happy to pay for that time while he tucks in on your clock?

Whichever way, some custonmer is paying directly or indirectly?

Depends on whether you're paid by the hour or not and whether you're flexible about your work hours (within reason). As I say above, I don't tend to clock watch so my lunch times are shorter (10-15 minutes) and I tend to work 30-45 minutes or more (sometimes staying until 7 or 8) beyond my contracted hours... if I'm paying someone by the hour or I was paid by the hour then I'd more likely stick to my times; eg when I was contracting, I'd make a note of when I started and ended lunch plus when I left to go home. I didn't, however, make a note of the times I started and finished Pistonheads posts.

[jonesey]

My employers look favourably on this. We have an office and then we trade in a building 10 minutes away so they like to give people a reason to come to the office in the morning. The fridges are always fully stocked with bread, fruit, cereal, milk, marmite etc etc to encourage us to come in and see each other. I always find that I end up talking to people who I'd most likely mever have a reason to interact with. Sometimes its worth the 10 minutes if the team is a united entity?

Albeit united by toast.

[Cogcog]

ShadownINja said:

Cogcog said:

Is there a diference , between employes eating in the firms time before wirk has even strated, and when say my plumber comes out to repair and service m heating, or my joiner who I pay by the day arrives, and the first thing they do is start the £££ clock running and then get out the Big Mc Breakfast and don't start for 20 minutes while I am paying their hourly rate?

How about the mechanic who is servicing your car at £40 a on hour? Would you be happy to pay for that time while he tucks in on your clock?

Whichever way, some custonmer is paying directly or indirectly?

Depends on whether you're paid by the hour or not and whether you're flexible about your work hours (within reason).

What I have seen is that once somethingv gets accepted as practice SOME people start to take the pi55, and regard it as an 'entitlement' but still insist on finishing bang on 5pm.

I am stil struggling to see how it is different for someone who I am paying by the hour to service my car is any different to the person I am paying by the hour (ie. salary and overtime) to file my invoices, deliver my parcels or make my sales calls. I don't dispute the swings and roundabouts argument I just cannot see why some people expect to take an extra 15 miutes in bed and then expect their employer to pick up the tab while their colleagues work.

[vxrandy]

snowy slopes said:

when i used to travel to work, i used to get in earlier than i needed so i could eat my breakfast and be ready to start work at the designated time. Like a lot of people, i cant stomach food straight away in the morning, so by the time i got to work, i was ready to eat something, but on my time, not the company's

This is what I expect of my staff, I provide milk, tea, coffee, biscuits, cereal and a few other bits. But they must be ready to start work at 8:00.

[Cotty]

Theoretically I could in my office building:

Wake in a double bed in a private room
Shower in the en-suite
have breakfast in the resturant
have lunch in the resturant
Visit the nurse if I cut my finger
Have a coffie from Starbucks
Hit the gym
retire to room with 40" TV and freeview
have a drink from the fridge
Sleep in private room

and do a full days work

[geordieracer]

My employers endorse our eating at work, as my paid working day includes time for me to have a full english breakfast - Yippee!!

That said, when I worked in an office, I was often frowned up for drinking cereals out of a mug at my desk, even before work started.

[CO2000]

cal72 said:

We do a 7am-3pm without lunch break so we have to eat at our desk and as we do reception duties we have no choice. so it does not matter wether it is breakfast or not.

Pretty sure that's illegal (unless you are not in the UK)

[ShadownINja]

Cogcog said:

What I have seen is that once somethingv gets accepted as practice SOME people start to take the pi55, and regard it as an 'entitlement' but still insist on finishing bang on 5pm.

I am stil struggling to see how it is different for someone who I am paying by the hour to service my car is any different to the person I am paying by the hour (ie. salary and overtime) to file my invoices, deliver my parcels or make my sales calls. I don't dispute the swings and roundabouts argument I just cannot see why some people expect to take an extra 15 miutes in bed and then expect their employer to pick up the tab while their colleagues work.

You're right that some will take the piss. As for being paid by the hour, I don't see the problem. If something needs fixing, I ask my plumber to give me a quote for parts plus labour. That's what we agree on. He can drink as many cups of tea as he wishes in that time and we know that I will pay him the amount he quoted at the start of the job. Same goes for a car mechanic.