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.

if it's only taking you a few minutes to heat up your breakfast in the kitchen - especially if other people are able to chat while making tea etc... the time taken shouldn't be an issue.

I disagree. If you're having a meal then that should be taken in a meal break, and I would class any food that requires a plate and cutlery to be eaten as a meal. Snacks that you can pick up and put down as an when you have a free moment are different as you don't actively have to stop working to eat a cereal bar (nor does it require any preparatikn) or a handful of nuts/chopped up fruit etc.

Even if it is "only" five minutes to prepare, the OP is then taking it back to her desk, eating her breakfast (and even if she is multitasking she is still not fully working) and then taking more time out to go and wash up the plate/tupperware/cutlery etc ... all on work time.

She is not eating her breakfast during a meal break, she is just eating her breakfast at her desk during her work day ... and then still taking her full meal break for lunch later on. Clearly her colleagues aren't happy at her extra break, hence why her manager has said she can either have a cold/snack breakfast or split her meal break over breakfast and lunch.

This thread has had me howling the hysteria over smells and 'are you Desperate Dan?' Has killed me 😂😂
Btw has op admitted she's been unreasonable yet ?

Hugely enjoying the “you are holding a fork ON WORK TIME” crowd posting their outrage on Mumsnet round the clock. Hands up who’s pissing about on here ON WORK TIME?

This is a bit like a lot of these threads. Some people are very outraged at the idea of anyone eating at all in their vicinity and others think that's proper thigh slappingly hilarious. I don't think either tbh, but whatever the issue, op's manager has asked her not to do it. It may be a workplace culture thing. I've worked in offices before. It's always been thought of as a bit odd to eat a hot meal at your desk, especially if it has eggs, fish or broccoli on it. Is that totally logical? Probably not. You'd sit in a restaurant and people could be eating those things and nobody would care, or if they did, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they complained.

Thinking about it, as a former office worker who hates open plan offices with a passion, I think the problem is that you cannot leave the office. It's being stuck in there with people you probably don't like very much. Habits which wouldn't normally bother you become magnified a lot. So "oh that guy is eating broccoli and I can smell it becomes", "why, WHY?! Why would he do this to us"?

Seriously I hate open plan offices. They are the work of some really sadistic demon I swear. I had to briefly sit in an office chair at work recently to fill out paperwork and I swear I started to feel sick with panic.

Anyway, since op has been asked not to do it, I think she should probably not do it. Not because eggs or beans are evil, but just to not stress people out. (Cue "I'm howling at that" comments...save your proverbial breath. We all know you're wacky, fun, a right larf. Message received )

I wonder if the lazy reporter who created an article from this thread eats smelly food at their desk?

They must do, as they'd be far too lazy to walk to the kitchen

@amiafreakofnature

This thread has had me howling the hysteria over smells and 'are you Desperate Dan?' Has killed me 😂😂 Btw has op admitted she's been unreasonable yet ?

Yes...she acknowledged that the smell could be the problem😁

That is going to be pretty Pongy!

Hot food, particularly eggs, can smell quite off-putting.

I used to heat up kippers in the office until the CEO complained

I think it's too much...you're pushing things too far. If everyone did this it would be massively distracting. Just buttering toast, scraping cutlery on plates and washing up afterwards can be noisy. Take some cold tortilla or an egg mayo wrap if you must have egg. Or peanut butter sandwich, cheese scone etc that you can eat directly out of a lunchbox without fuss. Or a pot of overnight oats, chopped fruit or a seedy fruit and nut flapjack. All good office breakfasts.

Can u imagine if everyone went making egg n beans at elevenses? Our company (before we all wfm) banned people from eating at desks full stop! Have to to kitchen eat at a table there. As computers get destroyed & desks messy & also distracting for others crisps crunching chomping slurping burping not to mention the smell - eggs reheated curries u name it.

I wouldn't be impressed to be sat near you, I'd think you were a CF, have your breakfast on your own timr. The smell 🤢 I've never worked anywhere office based where this is ok

I think your manager has a point here. You cannot possibly working with a knife & fork in your hands if you're eating beans on toast. So whilst it's not taking any time to make, you aren't working while you are eating - unless you can type or eat with your feet ;-)

A lot of workplaces have a 'no hot food at the desk' policy & this could be the problem if they are ok with cold food. Are you allowed to eat lunch at your desk?

I personally wouldn't have a problem with any of my staff doing this unless they were quite blatantly taking the piss. Maybe you are & you don't think you are.

SHO do a really good food flask. I put scrambled eggs and beans in it. You could also cut up the toast into small pieces!

@MarySlater

I used to heat up kippers in the office until the CEO complained

Am not surprised 🤣🤣.

@hotmeatymilk

Hugely enjoying the “you are holding a fork ON WORK TIME” crowd posting their outrage on Mumsnet round the clock. Hands up who’s pissing about on here ON WORK TIME?

Not me sadly. I have to all my pissing about on my own time

A turkey or chicken sandwich, cheese, yoghurt, croissant, protein shake or bar, etc.

Protein shakes smell worse than beans and aren't food

Eurgh i would find this annoying to be honest.

A croissant and a coffee. Bit of fruit. Stuff like that is OK mid morning but not a full English lol.

In my opinion YABU.

As a boss this sort of stuff used to get on my nerves, along with people who insist on taking no lunch break so they can go early, which is illegal so puts the boss in an awkward position. I get that a lot of people work long hours, and if it was someone who really pulled their weight, I would probably understand.

However, I always found the same people who insisting on eating breakfast "Al desko" were the ones who had their bag packed, cup washed by ten to the hour, left dead on time and often just left all the work and deadlines to others. They had a total "me first" attitude, not caring at all about their colleagues.

That's not to say you are like that, but at the end of the day someone is paying you to do a job, not take meal breaks.

Personally, I think there should be some kind of boundary between being "switched on" and working, and "switched off" on lunch/food break. Any time where you're doing a non-work activity like being on your phone, the Internet, eating and so on, is technically a break.

Some offices are more casual than others and so you have to bear that in mind when switching from job to job. If the office culture is like being in your own living room at home, then fine, with your boss being like a mate. However, if there's a professional ambience, people eating hot food at their desks can be distracting, and just generally seen as sloppy behaviour. Different people have different upbringing and you have to respect other people's standards at work.

The solution of taking part of your lunch break early sounds like a very reasonable compromise to me. Although you say 5 minutes, that's probably an underestimate of the time taken to cook it, eat it then pack away and wash up.

Amd yes - smoking breaks - but smokers get so much grief for taking those breaks, so why would this be any different?

I thought you were going to say oats so simple I did just that never had a complaint. But beans and eggs is a step too far.

Op, I was going to vote YANBU until I saw that you where heating up eggs in the microwave. I think herein lies the major problem. YABU. I eat eggs and the smell can still make me heave, especially if heated up in the Microwave. The egg smell most probably lingers throughout the office (you can’t smell it because you’re the one eating it) and even when the next person uses it. I think it’s unfair to subject people to your food smells but eating breakfast at your desk that doesn’t affect anyone else, YANBU!

I dint understand the need to keep eating all the time..I have breakfast before i go to work..have lunch..which I get from a baker near by.When i get home..I Make dinner...

In my last job working for the emergency services it was pretty much expected that we would eat at our desks! People ate all sorts and no one complained! Imo people who complain about certain food smells are a bit odd! As an adult there are foods I don't particularly like the smell of but im grown up enough to understand that others do eat and enjoy them . Have people actually got nothing better to do than whinge about the smell of food?

I think it just depends on office culture. First office I worked at there was a poorly enforced sentiment of no problem with eating at desk but no heated food in the office.

The place I work now, there is a big culture of at desk eating and many people eat at their desk and then take a lunch break to do other things. On site canteen too so lots of hot food. Never an issue. Obviously we are WFH now but I assume it will be the same if we ever go back.

The problem is the management of the situation. Is the issue really the time? In which case I would contest it. But what if it's the smell, or is some jobsworth thinks because you're eating more than a cold snack that can be eaten one handed that you're not working?