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Original poster

Nursery workers drinking at lunchtime.

534 replies

Brendathedoll · 18/07/2024 13:12

Had a rare day off yesterday so went for a pub lunch with my sister. In there I saw 2 nursery nurses from my child’s daycare having lunch and they each had a glass of wine. There were also 2 empty glasses in the table but possibly from previous customers. I wasn’t happy but my sister says it’s there lunchtime they don’t get paid for and 2 glasses won’t make any difference. They saw me and looked a bit sheepish but it means I can’t report them anon now. I’m scared if I say something they would treat my child differently. Am I being ott thinkinb they shouldn’t drink while caring for kids?

OP posts:
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5
Debdelight · 20/07/2024 10:56

Just in case is was Dd she saw I will answer some of the points raised by PP

Dd was driving hence no alcohol. Her colleague I believe lives local to nursery so meeting at that pub was convenient. All the talk about drink driving is pure speculation.

In all the nurseries she has worked in, all contracts state no alcohol and instant dismissal if not adhered to. Do PP think they are so stupid to go to pub next door to be possibly be seen by parents if they were going into work.

When working they stagger the breaks to ensure ratios adhered to. It is unusual to have two on break at same time.

DD has no issue if anyone wants to check with nursery that they were off duty. Her manager was fully aware she was going for lunch in pub as it had been mentioned in passing as she was leaving.

The amount of assumptions by some PP is unbelievable. She has no reason to "get her story straight" ffs.

Have PP not thought that the simplest explanation is quite often the truth.

betterangels · 20/07/2024 10:51

WTAFisthisnonsense · 20/07/2024 10:04

Do you know it was wine or perhaps a soft drink/alcohol free drink, poured into a wine glass.

Of course she doesn't. She doesn't know more than any of us, least of all whether the women had a day off. She admitted as much.

But that story isn't exciting. Just ask the journalist from The Sun.

WTAFisthisnonsense · 20/07/2024 10:04

Do you know it was wine or perhaps a soft drink/alcohol free drink, poured into a wine glass.

RareFatball · 20/07/2024 10:01

I would be very surprised if Nursery staff were on a break over lunch time as that is usually a busy period where the children need supervised and supported. Staff usually have break before or after the lunch time period.

Jack80 · 20/07/2024 09:59

I would think they had finished work and didn't get changed and went for a drink/lunch. Maybe mention it to them in the nursery, how was your lunch or nice to see you at the pub the other day.

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 20/07/2024 09:42

Waiting for OP to come back and confirm if it was the PP's daughter she likely saw ...

Expecting OP to never show her face on this thread again, especially after realising she could have literally ruined someone's career on a false assumption

Blondeshavemorefun · 20/07/2024 09:40

Debdelight · 19/07/2024 22:03

Just discussed this thread with my Dd. If who you saw was a red head and mixed race pair and the pub was in the midlands then it could be them

My Dd worked half day yesterday and her colleague was off. They got together after Dd shift as it would be last catch up before breaking up today as they only work term time. My Dd had tonic water in what could have looked like a wine glass and her colleague had wine.

Dd didn't have tabard on as she had finished shift. Even when on shift they take tabard off at their half hour lunch even if just dashing over the road to get lunch from Tesco.

Of the 3 nurseries she has worked in she has always had half hour break. Two colleagues off for same lunch time is unusual as they normally need cover to keep ratios.

If it was her you saw then the sheepish look was a "please God don't come over to discuss your child" look. She has it when she goes supermarket shopping and sees parents who want to talk work. She works damn hard for minimum wage so give her a break.

If it was her then she says she will see you September!

So @Brendathedoll do you live in the midlands

As this sounds very likely to be them

I have friends who work in a nursery and do term time only and finished this week for sept

But I'm in Kent. I'm sure they went out for a drink /meal at lunchtime as well

Procrastinates · 20/07/2024 09:21

by now they'll have their story straight - it was alcohol free wine or a soft drink.

See even this sort of wording implies they were doing something wrong.

Maybe just maybe they don't need to get their story straight because there is no story... Hmm

lemonmeringueno3 · 20/07/2024 09:15

It doesn't matter whether they had a glass of wine or not because by now they'll have their story straight - it was alcohol free wine or a soft drink.

The best you can hope for is that, if they were drinking, they won't do it again after the little scare of seeing you there.

Bluebirdover · 20/07/2024 09:06

Swampy1958 · 20/07/2024 04:09

Alcohol is alcohol regardless of quantity. Being in charge of babies/children is an responsible job and those in charge should not consume any alcohol. They should wait until they're not working to chill with a tipple. I would have thought this subject would be in their T&C's/employment contract?

Like they could've been when OP saw them?

Dreamsofcruise · 20/07/2024 08:58

OP I only have NHS proceedures to go by but as a nurse (not dealing with hands on care even) part of our terms and conditions is that we must not turn up for work with alcohol in our system and drinking on duty is a sackable offence.
People minimising professional staff drinking alcohol in the middle of a shift looking after young children is plain weird in my opinion!! Please do speak with the nursery manager, your concerns do need to be addressed.

JustPoppinBy · 20/07/2024 06:48

Icannoteven · 18/07/2024 13:15

Drinking one glass of wine. Fine. If they were legless, that’s a different story. It’s their unpaid lunch break, as long as they are compos mentis to do their job when they get back to work, where is the problem?

I only have a drink every few months and I can honestly say that a glass of wine, especially with a meal, wouldn’t get me tipsy.

No, I’m sorry, but this is wrong. You can not drink alcohol during your lunch break and then go back to your job as a nursery nurse! It doesn’t matter if it’s during their ‘unpaid lunchtime’, they still have their working day to continue. Of course you can’t consume alcohol then work in a nursery! I’m pretty sure this would be gross misconduct OP.

Swampy1958 · 20/07/2024 04:09

Alcohol is alcohol regardless of quantity. Being in charge of babies/children is an responsible job and those in charge should not consume any alcohol. They should wait until they're not working to chill with a tipple. I would have thought this subject would be in their T&C's/employment contract?

Bluebirdover · 20/07/2024 03:04

If they drive to and from work, then that is illegal. How many people realise that you cannot drive even if you only have one drink?

Not in England.... where are you talking about?

TheKeatingFive · 20/07/2024 00:56

If they drive to and from work, then that is illegal.

And why are you assuming that they're driving? Zero evidence for that too.

NewName24 · 20/07/2024 00:04

If they drive to and from work, then that is illegal. How many people realise that you cannot drive even if you only have one drink?

That's only the case in Scotland, not the other home countries (sorry, I don't know about the rest of the World).

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 19/07/2024 23:52

If they drive to and from work, then that is illegal. How many people realise that you cannot drive even if you only have one drink?

Whilst I absolutely don't condone drink driving... this is technically not true. Different people absorb alcohol differently and some can be under the limit after drinking more than others...

Obviously the, sensible, advice is not to drink and drive at all. But there's a legal limit and one drink might not push you over it.

Also, technically it would only be illegal to drive FROM work.

Undertherainbow00 · 19/07/2024 23:47

Greenshed · 19/07/2024 22:09

The more I read the thread, the more I’m convinced the idea of these women drinking 2? glasses of wine and eating lunch in a pub - getting there, getting served, eating and drinking said meal and booze, and getting back to work - in a 30 minute time frame - is a load of rubbish. There’s no way that anyone will have the time to do this. Think about it - in that 30 mins they’ve first got to get to the venue, then read the menu, then decide what they’re having, then place the order, then have time to eat it and drink 2 (?) glasses of wine. Even if they pre- ordered the meal before arriving, getting through it, drinking 1 (or2) glasses of wine once it is served, and then back to work within 30 minutes is nigh on miraculous. Plus, don’t you think the staff back at the nursery might smell the alcohol on their breath? The whole thing is ludicrous.

My thoughts exactly!!!

Undertherainbow00 · 19/07/2024 23:45

Debdelight · 19/07/2024 22:03

Just discussed this thread with my Dd. If who you saw was a red head and mixed race pair and the pub was in the midlands then it could be them

My Dd worked half day yesterday and her colleague was off. They got together after Dd shift as it would be last catch up before breaking up today as they only work term time. My Dd had tonic water in what could have looked like a wine glass and her colleague had wine.

Dd didn't have tabard on as she had finished shift. Even when on shift they take tabard off at their half hour lunch even if just dashing over the road to get lunch from Tesco.

Of the 3 nurseries she has worked in she has always had half hour break. Two colleagues off for same lunch time is unusual as they normally need cover to keep ratios.

If it was her you saw then the sheepish look was a "please God don't come over to discuss your child" look. She has it when she goes supermarket shopping and sees parents who want to talk work. She works damn hard for minimum wage so give her a break.

If it was her then she says she will see you September!

☝🏻THIS

Undertherainbow00 · 19/07/2024 23:43

☝🏻THIS

Undertherainbow00 · 19/07/2024 23:39

LovedFedAndNoonesDead · 18/07/2024 13:18

Perhaps they had a half day 🤷🏼‍♀️

This was exactly my thought… They probably only have a half hour lunch break (standard in most day care provisions) - maximum an hour… I cannot see how they would feasibly have time to leave work, get to said place drink wine, eat and get back to the nursery. This just doesn’t make sense to me unless they were working a half day. If I was that concerned, I would raise it with the nursery manager.

llizzie · 19/07/2024 23:37

Brendathedoll · 18/07/2024 13:12

Had a rare day off yesterday so went for a pub lunch with my sister. In there I saw 2 nursery nurses from my child’s daycare having lunch and they each had a glass of wine. There were also 2 empty glasses in the table but possibly from previous customers. I wasn’t happy but my sister says it’s there lunchtime they don’t get paid for and 2 glasses won’t make any difference. They saw me and looked a bit sheepish but it means I can’t report them anon now. I’m scared if I say something they would treat my child differently. Am I being ott thinkinb they shouldn’t drink while caring for kids?

It is so wrong I hope OP did something about it. Judgement can be impaired by alcohol. Only if they were drinking alcohol free wine or grape juice have they NOT committed a crime.

If they drive to and from work, then that is illegal. How many people realise that you cannot drive even if you only have one drink?

If it is an offence to be drink driving, it most certainly is an offence to look after little children.

I would go as far as to say this nursery should be reported to whichever body is responsible for monitoring pre school nurseries, and if the OP's dc is still going, then she is making a grave mistake, even if she has to stay off work while looking for another pre-school.

planAplanB · 19/07/2024 23:02

Sometimes I have a white wine spritzer in a large wine glass with loads of ice and soda. It looks like I've 2 massive glasses of wine when I've actually only had one small. You are massively jumping to conclusions when you have no idea if they were drinking or even working!!!

Procrastinates · 19/07/2024 22:53

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 19/07/2024 22:50

And if the nursery still let's them go because the story gets misreported and parents aren't happy and start to remove their children?

Or they get hate mail and death threats and targeted? Slandered on SM and can't walk down the road safely?

These things happen, especially with the fact this story is now in the papers!

Exactly!

You only have to look at that news article and this thread to see most people have already deemed them guilty of drinking whilst looking after babies!

Allegations like this stick even if they are investigated and found to be completely untrue.

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 19/07/2024 22:50

And if the nursery still let's them go because the story gets misreported and parents aren't happy and start to remove their children?

Or they get hate mail and death threats and targeted? Slandered on SM and can't walk down the road safely?

These things happen, especially with the fact this story is now in the papers!