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.

[quote Yayaga]@girlmom21
Thats nice but its not all about you its about your colleagues not having to smell your gross food smells[/quote]
I haven't said anything about myself... I think you're confused. Maybe you're replying to the post I quoted. Don't be rude to someone who hasn't done anything to wrong you.

I think it’s fine to have a couple of biscuits or a cereal bar at your desk with a cup of tea, but making a cooked breakfast does seem a bit piss taking. Your employer has a point really. Sorry.

If the real issue is food smells, the boss should use their words properly and say so rather than making the OP feel like she's stealing company time.
I'd mildly ask for the reasoning behind cold breakfast being OK and hot not.

It looks bad. That’s the crux of it.

Part of the issue with the smell is it can be enticing for some people, disgusting for others. Distracting either way.

I find that cutlery scraping on a plate noise really unpleasant. In a designated lunch room at lunch time it's ok, because there's a lot of other noise, it's expected and it's not distracting, as no-one is trying to work. In an office where you're trying to concentrate though, it's painful.

Smell wouldn’t bother me, people heat up all sorts in our very multi cultural team. No foods are a no-no, even fish. But I agree with your manager - you’ve been given an option to deduct some time from lunch or eat a cold snack. Best to heat up food at home first and then have a small snack mid morning. Having hot food which needs a knife and fork to eat is making it very obvious to all that you’re not fully working in that 5-10 mins taken to make it and eat it.

Fish curry in an open plan office is the worsr

I agree with many pp. Glad you're listening, OP.

If you really need to eat an hour after you get to your desk, I'd suggest you bring in an inoffensive sandwich or similar to eat at your desk discreetly.

I'd certainly encourage staff with blood sugar or digestive issues to look after their health in the best way, so eating per se is fine, but that's not permission to impact negatively on other staff.

Your manager already said to take some of your lunch time to have your cooked breakfast. This seems sensible; and I'd further expect you to eat it in the staff kitchen / cubby.

5 minutes per day racks up to more half a working week per year that you are cooking stinky eggs in your office.
It's not for you to decide what's reasonable in terms of additional breaks from work, you can't use paid time to do what you want!

I bet it's the smell rather than the time that's the issue though.

@scarpa

No wonder so many people hate their jobs.

I trust the fully grown adults who work for me to manage their time, nutrition and workload appropriately and somehow despite flagrant microwave usage and eating, they manage to get their jobs done to a high standard... amazing stuff!

(In all seriousness, this petty micromanaging nonsense drives me insane. If you work in my office and at 11am realise you're starving and need to eat, I don't care if you walk to McDonalds and get yourself 80 hash browns or make yourself some porridge or Deliveroo an entire full English. Whether the work is done at the end of the week or not will be evident either way, and as long as it is I'm not in the business of telling people what or when they can eat, how to split their day up, etc. Obviously some roles can't be that flexible but 90% of email based desk jobs can. Too many managers seem not to realise that treating employees like kids at school is a surefire way to make them fucking hate their jobs.)

I'm the same with my employees.

I understand if it is call centre or data entry type work where they have to be at their workstation but most other jobs people can organise their own day for the most part.

I've been handed a team of overly micromanaged staff by COBD, I wanted to sack all of them!
Those teams tend to be the worst performers too.

But what if some of your employees hate the stink and resent the fact she takes more breaks? Don't their opinions matter?

Not to mention the farts produced by a diet of microwaved eggs and beans...

I would hate to work in a really laissez faire office, with no set lunch space or break (important social time and break from desk IME) and other people eating hot food, chatting and scraping cutlery all around me. Thank god for managers who give a damn about staff conditions and welfare!

[quote KittyKatty123]@Yayaga I'm feeling very anxious about the prospect of any breakfast now! I will probably wait till lunch and take an early lunch well away from my desk![/quote]
I make breakfast cakes. Banana, eggs, oat bran and then add for flavour, like cocoa and cherry or cinnamon and blueberries. Totally healthy, filling, tasty and easy to eat a slice each morning. Just do something like that.

@lottiegarbanzo

I would hate to work in a really laissez faire office, with no set lunch space or break (important social time and break from desk IME) and other people eating hot food, chatting and scraping cutlery all around me. Thank god for managers who give a damn about staff conditions and welfare!

My business partner is French no way would they want people eating microwaved eggs at their desk.

I got told off for eating rice cakes once because of the smell....eggs would probably get me ejected from the building

Well indeed, three course lunches in a proper canteen all the way!

For us poor Brits, a dedicated lunch / break room (allocated for lunch time at least) and standard lunch time, so people can eat and chat together if they like.

My manager used to eat microwave fish at lunch time. When I pregnant I would be in the loo vomiting 🤮
I mentioned it made me sick but he still did it - everyday!
Funny when I got back from may leave he stated having sandwiches

Some people don't have a choice @cowburp In previous jobs, there's been no breakout area, no canteen...a lot of smaller companies don't have dedicated lunch areas. Where do you expect them to eat?

I'd love it if all I had to be concerned about at work was someone else eating their lunch.

Where do you expect them to eat? ah fair point hadn't thought of places with nowhere else to go.

@GlitterSquid

I'm amazed at the amount of people saying 'cook it at home and take it in a flask'

Hot egg and beans in a flask? Together!?! Really!?!

Plus, as soon as you crack open that flask, that's going to stink too, surely?

Yes. I’m finding it strange everyone accusing the Op of having beans and toast.

My mum always used to make egg and beans combined together and it was great. And surprisingly didn’t require a fork AND knife.

I'm vegetarian. I had a colleague who regularly heated-up meals containing meat or fish. This person would then sit in their allocated office space and take the full one-hour lunch break to savour the chosen food.
I raised this with the person in a respectful manner. The result was being told to "p off you f* c**". I raised it with our manager. Essentially, the reply was the same.
I got another job. Life's too short to waste time on people such as them

You can't tell people that they can't have meat or fish in their lunch.

[quote GlitterSquid]@FortunesFave

I couldn't function or concentrate after a big meal like that at work. [/quote]
How do you know how big the meal is?

I have two eggs, half a small tin of beans and a slice of toast and it all sits in a side plate.

This is a small filling meal. The Op hasn’t indicated what everyone seems to be inferring.

@Astrak

I'm vegetarian. I had a colleague who regularly heated-up meals containing meat or fish. This person would then sit in their allocated office space and take the full one-hour lunch break to savour the chosen food. I raised this with the person in a respectful manner. The result was being told to "p* off you f** c**". I raised it with our manager. Essentially, the reply was the same. I got another job. Life's too short to waste time on people such as them

While their response was completely out of order, your initial complaint was bizarre. You being vegetarian doesn't mean other people can't eat whatever they like.