to think that I should be able to eat at work?

[GlassyPinkP]

I work in an office, am not public facing, and sit behind a computer all day. 6 months pregnant and feel hungry throughout the day, but heartburn means I can't eat big meals. I've been eating at my desk (not huge or smelly meals, usually a bowl of cereal, sandwich, fruit etc) throughout the day. It doesn't impact on my work and it makes me feel a whole heap less hungry throughout the day compared to when I eat a tiny breakfast and a tiny lunch in between!

My manager has raised with me that one of my colleagues is not happy that I am eating a lot at my desk (I'm within my calories, it's not a huge amount it's just more spread out). Apparently I should go in to the kitchen area and eat out there. Everyone eats their lunch at their desks but their screens are turned off so it's an official lunch break.

AIBU to think I should be allowed to have a 30 min lunch break to eat my sandwiches and if I want to eat fruit or the odd bowl of cereal 2/3 times a day this shouldn't be an issue?

I'm finding pregnancy really hard and have nausea constantly as well as heartburn and gallbladder problems. Food helps! I don't want to be banished to standing in the kitchen every time I want to eat an orange...

Opinions?

It's a workplace not your lounge at home. Are people only allowed to eat in their lounges?

Sounds like your colleague thinks you're doing less work than them as you are constantly stopping to snack. I've worked with people like this although I'm not suggesting you are, OP. Just perception from your post.
That is MAGNIFICENT in its subtleties of shade and passive-aggression.

The last office I worked in actively encouraged you to work at your desk whilst working. The kitchen was tiny with no furniture.

You had to officially log half an hour for lunch but it was frowned upon to sit and do nothing for half an hour.

YANBU OP. People often snack on fruit throughout the day and you would lose more time out of your day to keep going to the kitchen.

Your fellow employee is a knob and your boss can clearly see that.

My bet is that Sunshades works in a young offenders' institution if her workplace is even real

I would report but we're having too much fun with her.

You'd be out the door within the week at the office I manage

As long as that?! I don't think I'd last 5 minutes!

Eating at your desk is clearly only done in small fry places. You probably wear slippers at work which you keep under your desk for years. Delightful.

I work for a large company and no, I don't keep slippers under my desk. I've got a pair of Go Walks instead if that makes any difference!

The last office I worked in actively encouraged you to work at your desk whilst working.

good to know.

They don’t do that at The Treasury, for instance. They hot desk too. How on earth do constant grazers and slipper wearers manage?

Sunshades is a lot more refined than some of you.

Rosewhitetips are you Sunshades?

It's more than reasonable to snack at your desk and if they don't want you snacking at your desk then your manager has to be ok with you leaving your desk and taking extra breaks to eat....reasonable adjustment. I snacked all the time when I was pregnant as I couldn't wa t first thing cause of morning sickness and I couldn't eat big meals. The colleague needs to be more accepting

Erm...nope. Just dislike childish people who gang up.

Next?

Eating at your desk is clearly only done in small fry places

I worked at a redbrick university as a clinical educator and eating at the desk was common - in fact, the norm. When I worked in a hospital research department (no lab equipment, obviously) it was the same.

The only place I didn't eat at my desk was when I was working as a clinician in a medical setting - this was because it would be discourteous and unprofessional to be scoffing my dinner when I was expecting patients. A lot of food leaves a smell behind, and not all people, particularly ill people, can tolerate this. (However, drinks were acceptable).

The university and the hospital were NOT "small fry places".

Many professional people eat at their desks, though not if the area is open to the public.

I can assure you it's a very real office

In Oceania?

They don’t do that at The Treasury, for instance. They hot desk too.

Hahahahahaha

RoseWhiteTips, you do know SunShades thinks school children should be locked in cells, don't you? And that it's perfectly fine for her co-employees not to be allowed to leave the office without permission, even when it takes a long time to get that permission even for a dire emergency? Could you tell us how that makes her a lot more refined than others on here?

And who's ganging up? People are entitled to disagree, you know, and if you express views of that nature you have to expect rather a lot of people to disagree.

Is SunShade the one who works in the office where they get locked in at 9:00am and let out again at 5:05pm? And if there is an emergency they need to email their boss and it can be a couple of hours before it's approved?

What would happen in the event of a fire? A two-hour management consultation to decide whether it constitutes and emergency, and then another 50 minutes for everyone to be unshackled from the oars released from their desks?

Could you tell us how that makes her a lot more refined than others on here?

She probably drinks her tea with her little finger crooked - in her allotted break time away from her desk.

I can tell you that, as a senior manager with responsibility for procurement, if I visit a potential supplier's office and see people eating at their desks, I'll turn right back round and out the door.

Staff eating at desks is an indicator of sloppiness and low standards for our company, so we simply will not do business with them

Do you ever use lawyers, SunShades? You can bet that most, if not all, of them eat at their desks as it can be rare to get a lunch break when you're busy.

Actually, I'm sure this persona of yours doesn't, as it cannot possibly be real, quite frankly!

You should have had a pregnancy risk assessment and this could be considered a reasonable adjustment in line with that.

SunShades I thought you were a deputy head in a school parents who didn't attend sports day had their children excluded?

If you aren't allowed to eat at your desk take regular walks to the kitchen then DARE anyone to say anything! Your employers have to make reasonable adjustments to help you in pregnancy and smaller meals is reasonable to anyone who has ever been pregnant! I wasn't even entitled to a break during my last pregnancy but took 5 minutes to shove a mars bar down myself halfway through my shift, my manager commented about it to my supervisor who thankfully pointed out that as I was pregnant it wasn't exactly unreasonable to need to eat!

Why are people still responding to SunShades as if anything she says is true?

Stop feeding it.

Not me, that must be another poster @FabulouslyGlamorousFerret

Sorry Sunshades I'm getting you mixed up with SunnyShades .. she did work based patrols too!!

This thread is crazy. I wasn't aware there could be such a wide gulf in expectations. I must say I'm pretty sure my colleagues in the Treasury all eat at their desks, those of us working down the corridor in HMRC certainly did and I consumed vast amounts of food while pregnant there. Of course HMRC is a bit more 'slippers under the desk' than Treasury