Employer says I am not allowed to heat up my breakfast

[KittyKatty123]

I work full time, 9-5, computer facing all day, work that requires a lot of concentration. I understand the important of taking regular breaks to get away from the screen but don't take the mickey with this. I can't eat first thing in the morning so I have always eaten mid-morning, at my desk, sometimes something cold, sometimes something that needs a minute or two in the staff microwave.

Past employers have never had an issue with this.

I'm fairly new to this job but in the past two months that others have observed me doing this, including my line manager, no-one has ever raised it as an issue. We have access to a microwave and toaster so sometimes I'll bring in a tub of beans, or eggs that I've already put in a bowl and whisked at home so it takes 2 minutes in the microwave to heat them, sometimes I'll do some toast at the same time. All during the space of time it takes me to make my first cup of tea of the day - which is taken after having already put in 1-2 hours work since I got in that morning.

All of a sudden my line manager took me aside and said "it had been noticed" that I was heating up my breakfast and that I was no longer to do this as it was in work time, that the microwave and toaster were only for lunch breaks, unless I decided to split my break over both. This seems ridiculous to me as it takes max 5 minutes and I then bring it back to eat at my desk whilst working. I have seen colleagues gone for much much longer than this if they get into social conversation with colleagues.

Also, this instruction was directed only to me, not as a general "heads up" to the team or department as a whole, so it very personal.

In my mind, from an occupational health point of view, it is very important to take regular breaks throughout the day from VDU work, to make tea, go to the loo, chat with a colleague etc, so why is heating up food whilst making my tea any different.

Am I being unreasonable here? Do others do this at work with no issue? As I said, past employers have never had issue with it and I don't take the piss with it. Thank you.

@GlitterSquid

I used to sit opposite a guy who had huge hot dinners at his desk every day, usually left overs from the night before, think plated up roast dinners, lasagne, beef stew, curries. The fork scraping and smells were horrendous but the absolute WORST thing was how he ALWAYS left his dirty plates at the side of his desk all afternoon until he left drying and stinking. Approaching his desk to speak to him or work with him made me heave, over his dirty dishes. Ugh.

Multiple women in the place where I work do this. Soups, curries, chillis. I can't think why they don't just have a bloody sandwich!

@Batfinkwings

I'm stubborn, and it annoys me when a workplace doesn't treat people like adults. So I would probably sweetly say "Ok that's fine, I'll take the five minutes out of my lunch hour and just have a 55 minute lunch break". Really, if you're not taking the piss I don't see why it would be a problem. I imagine smokers take up much longer out of their day to have smoke breaks.

Everywhere I've ever worked, they've either been banned outright or only allowed as part of your lunchbreak entitlement, so an hour became 40 minutes if you spent 5 minutes having two breaks (and yes, a cigarette break can take as little time as five minutes to get off site, smoke and back again - the fact they were also taking double the time actually taken to smoke was to emphasise their disapproval).

Same places banned eating at your desk as well, though - and not just stinky eggs and beans, which would bug me, but all food.

@FortunesFave

I couldn't function or concentrate after a big meal like that at work.

@LadyOfMisrule

I've never had an employer who would have objected to this. We've always been allowed/expected to eat hot meals and snacks at our desks. Meals have included curries, and fish and chips. We've also had a canteen that served and delivered hot bacon butties in the mornings.

I hadn't realised that other places were less accommodating!

It's wrong to expect staff to eat at their desk in my opinion. It's gross for others (chomping sounds, clattering and smells) and it's uncomfortable for the eater too. All places of work should be made to offer a place for staff to eat.

Because many people don't enjoy 'bloody sandwiches' and deliberately or just happen to make extra portions of yesterday's dinner to have for lunch the next day.

Much more satisfying and usually healthier to have something like soup, curry, chilli etc.

The worst foods are anything fish, egg or curry related. Just anything with a smell. Takes forever for the smell to dissipate.

They just make everyone heave and raise their eyebrows to each other whilst sitting at their desks trying to work.

I couldn't function or concentrate after a big meal like that at work

Whereas I would be either asleep or starving all afternoon if I'd had sandwiches for lunch. And a lot fatter.

Other people’s food always smells mingin. Unless it’s cake.

@BarbaraofSeville

Because many people don't enjoy 'bloody sandwiches' and deliberately or just happen to make extra portions of yesterday's dinner to have for lunch the next day.

Much more satisfying and usually healthier to have something like soup, curry, chilli etc.

Just don't eat it in the room where everyone sits all day working.

@BarbaraofSeville

Because many people don't enjoy 'bloody sandwiches' and deliberately or just happen to make extra portions of yesterday's dinner to have for lunch the next day.

Much more satisfying and usually healthier to have something like soup, curry, chilli etc.

This.

This thread is reminding me of when the Pinterest trend for layered salads in a Kilner jar was a thing – a thing no normal person would do in real life. And I got in the lift with someone showing her colleague her lunch and she’d done the jar salad thing, only not a beautiful Kilner one, but a washed-out old Dolmio jar still covered with sticky label glue and filled with tragic salad, including boiled eggs. And it had been in her handbag! Imagine unscrewing the lid to bag-warm pasta-sauce-jar boiled egg scent, and surviving.

There's a woman at my work who does this and it absolutely stinks the office out. We also have one of those George Foreman grills in the staff kitchen and she grills bacon too. There's been days she's brought in Cullen skink soup too and the smell is just horrific.

I don't think it's the time you're taking, it's the smell. I'm pregnant and during my early stages of pregnancy when I was struggling with my morning sickness, the smell of her cooked eggs and grilled bacon just tipped me over the edge.

@viques

I wonder how long this breakfast actuallly takes. You don’t seems sure yourself.

First it was “a minute or two”

Then “two minutes”

Then “a max five minutes”

Then you have to eat the food ( however long that takes) and then I assume, and hope, clean up the plate/ bowl/ spoon/fork / Tupperware you have used before getting back to your work.

Sounds quite a lot longer, and smellier than making a cup of tea.

This

BarbaraofSeville

Because many people don't enjoy 'bloody sandwiches' and deliberately or just happen to make extra portions of yesterday's dinner to have for lunch the next day.Much more satisfying and usually healthier to have something like soup, curry, chilli etc.

Tough! Others don't enjoy the smell of your food! Why do your needs come first?

@BarbaraofSeville

Because many people don't enjoy 'bloody sandwiches' and deliberately or just happen to make extra portions of yesterday's dinner to have for lunch the next day.

Much more satisfying and usually healthier to have something like soup, curry, chilli etc.

Well, tough shit. You need to respect the people around you and it's a pretty well known and accepted fact that you do so by not making smelly food at work.

This thread is a good reason to WFH.

When I used to work for others, the employers wouldn't dare ban people from eating at their desks or be pedantic about work breaks as they knew competitors were itching to steal them away.

I agree it's likely the smell. I wouldn't have said anything when I worked in an office as I can be sensitive to smells and that's my issue, but it would have made for a shitty hour or so every morning if it was something like beans / eggs! Cereal or even porridge heated up wouldn't be an issue but from an outsiders POV (and I might be weird in this) it seems strange and OTT to have a sort of cooked breakfast every day at work!

There's been days she's brought in Cullen skink soup too and the smell is just horrific.

Ugh that is such a dick move. How can people who do stuff like that not realise?! Or do they just not care?!

I would bring in a protein bar and eat that. Or a protein shake. (Gross, I know… meanwhile, filling and nobody will complain of the stink.)
I have to agree that smokers definitely take the piss with time out of the day.

there's a woman at my place of work who always, always burns her toast.
Drives me mad. Then she gets irritated when people act admittedly dramatic about it ...lots of "Oh! What's burning! What's that terrible smell!??"

Stop burning your bloody toast every day then!

Tough! Others don't enjoy the smell of your food! Why do your needs come first?
Tough! Others don’t enjoy sandwiches! Why do your needs come first?

Of course you can eat leftovers and chillis and lasagne and soup and curries at work. You can’t microwave fish unless you’re a sociopath, but everything else is fine. Except beans and egg breaks at your desk, apparently.

@hotmeatymilk

Tough! Others don't enjoy the smell of your food! Why do your needs come first? Tough! Others don’t enjoy sandwiches! Why do your needs come first?

Of course you can eat leftovers and chillis and lasagne and soup and curries at work. You can’t microwave fish unless you’re a sociopath, but everything else is fine. Except beans and egg breaks at your desk, apparently.

Hot food in a workplace just isn't on. It belongs in a kitchen or canteen.

That's that.

People don't want to see/ hear/ smell you eating a hot breakfast at your desk!

In my mind, from an occupational health point of view, it is very important to take regular breaks throughout the day from VDU work, to make tea, go to the loo, chat with a colleague etc, so why is heating up food whilst making my tea any different.

It isn’t.

Taking a 5-10 minute break every hour or so is a good idea.

From hse.gov.uk:

The law says employers must plan work so there are breaks or changes of activity for employees who are display screen equipment (DSE) users.

There is no legal guidance about how long and how often breaks should be for DSE work. It depends on the kind of work you are doing. Take short breaks often, rather than longer ones less often. For example 5 to 10 minutes every hour is better than 20 minutes every 2 hours. Ideally, users should be able to choose when to take breaks.

A protein snack is also a good idea. The smell might be an issue, but your line manager made no reference to that.

It does seem unfair, given that others spend at least as much time chatting, etc. You are certainly not being unreasonable.

Hot food in a workplace just isn't on. It belongs in a kitchen or canteen.

That's that.
That’s not really that, because I’ve worked in dozens of places and everyone ate delicious fucking food and didn’t have weird “cold meals only” rules. Suspect it’s a workplace rule for the MN lick-the-capitalist-boot-on-my-neck crowd, who can’t cope with any job that isn’t horrible.