Nursery workers drinking at lunchtime.

No not fine. Drinking during working hours is just not OK. It impacts judgement. If your job doesn’t matter at all, may be, but nurser nurse, no.

No, you don't always, it depends. One small glass slowly with food and I wouldn't necessarily feel anything. Without food and tired, yes, maybe.

So you don't know what they were actually drinking or if they were returning to work afterwards or not?

Those are fundamental pieces of information before passing any judgement.

I would think unacceptable.

I wouldn't say anything. I find the idea that a nursery pays enough staff to give them all long enough to go to the pub for lunch unlikely! I work in education and we get half an hour if we're lucky and nothing interrupts it. More likely they'd done an early shift and finished for the day. You say it seems strange they are off together, but having 2 shifts say 7-1.30 and 1-6.30 seems very likely!

Were they working that day, was it non alcoholic wine, lemonade and lime in a wine glass (yes I'm sad and have asked for lemonade and lime in a wine glass). If worried talk to manager.

To summarise
you don’t know if they were there glasses
you don’t know what was inThe glasses
you don’t know if the were working

I’d have been fired for that. Many places have a zero tolerance for alcohol during the day. It’s not the 1980s anymore.

@ihaventfedthecat

you don't know they had 2 glasses each

what does the drink drive limit have to do with the price of fish??

@Brendathedoll it's cowardly not reporting something you think needs reporting just because you can't do it anonymously. If you're genuinely worried about how they treat your child then you seriously need to consider whether you should be using that nursery anyway.

you don't even know if they were going back to the nursery after or not.

I'm sure people turn up to work with a higher blood alcohol level some mornings than a glass of wine at lunchtime.

it wouldn't worry me, but you do what you think is right.

id be surprised if their contracts don't forbid it, so they may lose their jobs, but that's on them for doing it, not you reporting it.

we had a school around the corner from my restaurant in Canada. I believe that they got an hour but had to be back in the classroom dead on the hour as the bell would ring and the kids back in from lunch break. We often got several teachers in at lunch. They would text me and preorder the lunch and ask me to have the table ready with food on it for 12:15 , They never ordered alcohol. Usually just waters or a soft drink. On occasion I would get a text saying, please help us save lives today. (code for...big fresh pot of coffee please, kids are doing our heads in) My guess is that they were on a half day or off for the day. Our group of teachers even went as far with pre ordering that they had their bills sitting on the table before they even sat down. They were that pressed for time! Two glasses of wine each? nope. Not unless they guzzled them! Put this down to "not your business"

I'd say one glass with a meal at lunch is fine. Not 2 glasses, that would be a bit much and I wouldn't be happy to have my kids in their care. I've had a glass at lunch when mine were smaller, on holiday etc, and I was still capable of looking after them. Can you really police what people do in their unpaid lunch breaks as long as they are capable of doing their job afterwards?

Another thing to consider is the school holidays. A couple of nurseries I know have a smaller amount of children in during the 6 weeks and some members of staff do not work the summer.

Most schools are finishing this week, maybe they finished yesterday morning and went for a little end of term lunch together.

But how do you know they we’re working that day? I’d be keen to find out first if they were working. Also could have been alcohol free wine?

if they were on duty... then i'd say that was a big no no, but if they were on a day off or half day?

I don’t think you have enough information to go off. They could have been on a day off or a half day so if you’re not even sure they were working reporting them is a bit off.

If they were working I don’t think they should have been drinking though. I’m not sure why some posters think as it’s an unpaid lunch break it’s fine to drink alcohol then go back to your job looking after children. That’s outrageous. Do they even get a long enough break to have a leisurely meal in a pub though? That would make me think they were off work.

As a previous nursery worker, I would've been fired for that.

She doesn't even know if they have been working at all.

Maybe there were off? I do a half day once a week and sometimes go straight out for a lunch/drink with a colleague or friend. We are allowed lives outside of looking after your children lol.

Do you even have confirmation it was alcohol or non-alcoholic?

And if not I’ve just checked my contract and there’s nothing that would even pertain to this.

Knowing my manager if one of us had a drink on our break and a parent complained. She would shut it down swiftly and sharply. She’d probably tell us to stick to one and take our uniform off next time. Thats it really.

@Brendathedoll How do you know it was wine? Not being funny, but it could have been something non-alcoholic - or even some kind of fizzy water?

I would gently raise this with the nursery manager. I don’t think it’s ok, especially if it was two glasses. I would go in with a “probably i misunderstood” rather than a “reporting them” or “confronting them” attitude, if you see what I mean. Honestly, if you don’t feel able to have a polite and reasonable conversation with the nursery manager then you need to move your child to somewhere better.

Check with the nursery management to see if they were working? Unless one of the staff was management of course...

It's unacceptable in my view. As other posters have said you really feel the effects of even one glass going back to work. Used to do this in the 1980s as a civil servant on a Friday quite frequently, though it was an office job, nothing responsible like looking after children.

Um....did YOU miss the part where op said they don't WEAR a uniform as such just a "tabard thing" which is worn OVER their normal clothes and would take seconds to put on/off

Which tbh I would take off if going out at lunchtime even if just popping to the shop - they aren't the nicest looking things, probably get dirty throughout the day working with kids, are an extra layer when it's warm out and it's more hygienic to not wear them out.

I actually don't think they were working but you've only made yourself look stupid there - looks like you're the one that can't read or at least struggles with reading comprehension....

It is incredibly unlikely these two women were on a lunch break and then going back to look after dc.
They could have been on a day off. They could have been on study leave. They might have been given time to do any sort of paperwork.
They could have been drinking alcohol free wine.

The nineties is when most workplaces started bringing in no drinking alcohol during lunch breaks. And in most places it was a disciplinary offence.

Not quite the same but I got on a bus once with my son in the pram. An older lady sat opposite and she tutted loudly and said "that's terrible that is " so I was looking out the window wondering what on earth had happened. Took me a minute and her saying "drinking like that with a baby" for me to clock- she thought the one litre green bottle of sparkling water from aldi was wine 🫣 I don't know who was more embarrassed 😂 I don't even drink! Cue me showing the whole bus that the label said sparkling water .. though most of the people who got off after found it funny and told me enjoy it 😅