About breakfast at work

[WishingILivedOnAnIsland]

Every day without fail one of our senior administrators comes in on time, gets herself settled, then spends 10 minutes in the kitchen constructing a complicated bowlful of breakfast. She takes the bowl to her desk and slowly eats in the open plan office until around 9:30am. She then signals the start of her work day by returning her bowl to the kitchen. Anyone who approaches her regarding work prior to The Bowl’s Return is met with a withering look and an ‘excuse me I am eating my breakfast’ as though they’ve walked into her own kitchen out of hours and demanded a favour.

I’m her manager and I’m starting to get complaints. Both about her commandeering an additional 30 odd minutes break, and also about the tart rebuke she gives anyone who dares interrupt her morning ritual.

Here’s the thing- I don’t really care that she does this as in every other way she is a sensational employee. She is a proud set-in-her-ways kind of person and wont respond well to negative feedback. It would be a disaster if she quit and we had to replace her with a mediocre employee whose only advantage is that they eat their breakfast at home.

So AIBU to let this breakfast nonsense play on? My colleagues seem to think so and are salty with me for my inaction thus far.

You are a crap manager if you don't feel confident or comfortable dealing with this issue. Of course she won't leave, she's not going to get away with doing this for another employer.

Bit of an assumption there @ShatnersWig. What it’s doing is piss people off, I doubt very much it’s impacting on their performance.

30 mins a day adds up to over a day a month extra break!

Fuck that, she needs to be told.

Say she can do her breakfast etc but she would need to arrive at 8:30am so she starts actual work at 9am as contracted.

She's getting more than a day off every month by doing this! She may be a great employee, but all of your other great employees will leave due to unfairness, and your name will start coming up in their exit interviews.

What it’s doing is piss people off, I doubt very much it’s impacting on their performance.

Team morale is very important to performance, so it probably is having an impact.

I had an employee who came in at 8am, building up flexi time, but who spent most of this time having breakfast. I came in at around 9 - worked to seven and took work home. If she saw fit to answer the phone before 9am and anyone asked for me she laughed and said oh dippy would never be in this early!

I started sending her emails late in the evening, then arrived in at 8:30 to discuss them. After a few blank looks, she started swiping her computer on a 8am and reading her emails.

She too was a good worker, but she was abusing the system and my good will, and her colleagues were complaining about it. It had to stop.

It's worth thinking about whether the way to address a lot of people whining is to insist that one other person change their behaviour: it may not be the case.
Have a think about the rest of the team, as PP have said - do others take longer lunches, or cigarette breaks; is it the type of work where what matters is getting the task done, or is it all about presenteeism and obedience? Would it, for example, really harm the working day of other people if they simply adapted to the fact that Ethel isn't available to them before 9.30 unless the building is on fire?

An awful lot of jobs and businesses have plenty of room within the working day for people to eat, read the paper, play Candy Crush or even have a wank. If your job is not paid a strict hourly rate, that means it's about getting the task completed, not Being There. If it's the case (as you have hinted) that this is a line of work which suits individualistic, self-managing people, you could simply tell the rest of the team that they have similar leeway (if they do) to eat/wank/chatter/leave early as long as the work is getting done and they can just adapt rather than sneaking to Teacher all the tim.

This is woefully poor management OP.

You're willing to ignore the resentment that other members of staff are feeling, to accommodate this person's arrogant behavior. That's likely to come back and bite you on the arse massively.

It would be a disaster if she quit and we had to replace her with a mediocre employee whose only advantage is that they eat their breakfast at home.

Why would you replace her with a mediocre employee? Who does the interviewing? That's a really negative outlook to be honest.

As my old dad always says, "Graveyards are full of 'indispensable' people".

I suggest coaching as I work in an area that does not have a clear clock in and clock off policy. It's common to have breakfast and chat, but lunches often do not happen due to work load. Some work harder in the day and others take work home with them. If someone appeared to take more leeway we would talk about it.

Getting the employee to explain why they are doing something can lead to them understanding their need for change. The goal can be the same, but if the employee is part of a conversation the manager understands their perspective. I would not say this if she was not performing well overall.

@ReanimatedSGB, I wish I was as articulate as you! That’s exactly my approach.

You do what my head of department does. Instead of pointing the finger at specific staff members you send an email out to the whole team about being at the desk ready to start work at 9 o'clock, not 9.30, not after having a late breakfast or hot drinks etc.

My boss has had to send out emails specifying that any hot drinks etc have to be made before 8.30 so that we are ready to start actual work at 8.30 (our start time).

She has also sent out emails reminding everyone of the dress code as some staff members have been taking the piss (mainly the younger ones it has to be said).

Pissing off the rest of the team because you can't deal with a difficult member of staff is not great managing strategy.

Tricky. Does she have an annual appraisal? Could it be mentioned tactfully that although you don't mind and wouldn't want to lose her that others do and are unhappy about it? After all, she is taking the piss, isn't she?

I think it has to be generically mentioned rather than specificaly first - so a mention in team meetings that corporate are picking up on timekeeping for everyone and can we make sure we are in and working on time, not late back from lunch and on time for meetings as we have become slack. Working hours re x and we are expected to be available for work in those times. If it continues you are then at liberty to point it out to her, if it continues its a performance issue and should be managed as such

I don't care if the staff reporting to me do their work standing on their head or want to eat breakfast at their desk. Once their work is done to a high standard and handed to me on time they can do it however they like. You will probably find that her work is done to a higher standard than those who complain about her. I hate petty childish behaviour in an office as it always reminds me of my kids squabbling that one got more than the other but in reality they are more bothered about what others are getting than taking stock of what they are getting and what things they are doing that a blind eye might be turned to.

You need to be more assertive op, this employee has taken over your role as manager and does not recognise your senior position. She sees herself as top dog.

She is taking the piss. It's your job to make sure everyone is treated fairly. Her having an extra half an hour break isn't fair on the other staff. It's time to manage her.

If you were any sort of a decent manager you wouldnt be debating this. Why will she quit if you talk to her? If you can handle yourself as a manager you’ll be able to approach it in a way that doesn’t make her instantly quit! There’s a world of discussions between the 2 things, for example you chat to her informally and ask about what colleagues have said, she may respond that she does all her priority emails while eating breakfast and she finds it easier if she’s not interrupted doing it but says to staff it’s breakfast rather than work... or what if she’s on a medication that takes half an hour to kick in before her brain can settle (like pain medication or certain steroids). Maybe her breakfast thing a front and then you can justify it to people moaning. It’s probably just that she’s got a god complex as she knows she’s untouchable really but if you don’t even try you won’t no.

Managers like you hold the rest of the team back, they no you don’t give a crap what they think and this woman can do no wrong, you don’t have to get rid of her or even stop her eating breakfast if it helps her be so productive but you could atleast pretend you care to the rest of the team who put effort in to working there.

Tell the other staff to come in at 9.30. She can have her breakfast at work, they can have theirs at home. You do all the work between 9-9.30.
Everybody wins

Take the time off her lunch break. Problem solved.

She’s starting half and hour late everyday and doing so in front of her colleagues who are working and from time to time need to liaise with her. You need to manage. Fear of losing someone by proper management is the very definition of you being bullied and being a very poor manager.
Talk to her. Suggest she eats earlier or stays later or has a short lunch hour and that you’ve noticed it. Don’t lay the blame on Others at this stage.

And tell her she’s great otherwise and that she’s valued. .

I'm not any kind of manager so cant offer advice really.

But I think there re 2 kinds of people. Those who start at nine so are there, tea/coffee drunk/made , coat hung up and computers/tills on ready to start at nine and who knock smoking breaks or emergency trips out off their lunch breaks.

And those who roll in the door at 9. Have a cigarette and coffee when they get there then sign in and get to work. And who then take cigarette breaks onto of maximum lunch breaths AnD of course take last cigarette fifteen mins before they sign out so dont have to any work

I think its very hard to strike a balance between those who take the piss without screwing over those who occasionally need to pop out or make a phone call.

Eating at desks is fairly common. I've worked in jobs where theres either nowhere to go for lunch so why bother and those where it's impossible to take lunch breaks at all. Theres no need for it to take that long if it's time that's uninterrupted though. Usually lunch takes ages if you are working through it but should only take ten mins if you arent

I think part of the problem is that if someone needs to ask her a question, they have to wait until 9.30am, so it affects others productivity. It is also quite annoying having someone chomping away when you are trying to work.

I think an informal chat is the best place to start. If she really can’t take this on the chin, then that’s more worrying than anything.

How long has this bring going on? Was she already in place when you became her manager and you didn't feel you could upset the applecart so quickly?

Are thry paid for their hours ie toil and ot or is it a set salary? If they're paid for their time then you absolutely should have put a stop to this. If she's prepared to walk out because you expect her to work her hours, good luck to her finding anywhere else as accommodating.

A compromise might be changing her start time and cutting her lunch break

Oh I hate this. I used to work with someone who would log on to update her flexi time sheet then disappear off for over an hour to have breakfast with a pal in a different part of the building. She was a lazy shite anyway and would do the absolute minimum she could get away with. She took her full hour for lunch out of the office then would bring food back and eat it at her desk for another half hour.

Everyone else really resented the fact that the manager didn't manage this blatant piss take and ultimately applied for other posts away from that office. However, the employee wasn't very good anyway given just how lazy she was.

I think time spent monitoring everyone's productivity would be enlightening. I've worked with others who are at their desks all day long but spend hours on their phones not doing any work. At least your administrator is a good worker.