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.

I’m honestly so baffled by all this “eating whist working” being ok 😳🤣 I’m a retail manager and while I could very well perform my duties in my shop while walking around eating breakfast, it just wouldn’t be done as it isn’t professional 🤷🏻‍♀️😬 surely your breaks are when you eat? I also can’t eat breakfast so my first meal of the day is lunch 🤷🏻‍♀️

a mid morning breakfast of egg or beans on toast is completely normal to me.

It is normal. Just not at your desk in a office with other people.

@myfeethurt

YABU, it does take time to heat up and to eat, why can you not wait until lunchtime? Why do need a meal before your meal. How often do you need to eat. Are you diabetic? You are not a toddler who needs to eat every 2 hours. Just have a banana if you are hungry like most of us do.

Have you missed the bit about OP not eating breakfast..... this is her breakfast and therefore she's not eating every two hours.

Competitive under eating is very boring.

@BarbaraofSeville

What if the OP doesn't like bananas or congealed sick overnight oats?

Most of these suggestions of alternatives literally turn my stomach. I'm sure if the OP did like those foods she'd be eating them already.

I suspect the OP is a lot like me. I almost never eat cold food by choice and a mid morning breakfast of egg or beans on toast is completely normal to me.

It sounds to me that a lot of the objection could be that people are thinking that, gasp, perhaps the OP is eating more than one hot meal a day and we all know what most people seem to think about that.

What an unusual post. You’ve totally missed the point. Of course eating eggs or beans on toast is totally normal. What people are saying is it’s not ok to eat it mid morning at your desk in many offices, take a break as the manager has requested she does, and then go eat it in the staff food area.

She’s not been told she can’t eat it, nor has she been told she can’t cook at that time of day, what’s she’s been told is if she wishes to do it, to use some of her break time and go and eat it where they normally eat their meals. That’s what she’s objecting to. She doesn’t want to use any of her break for it.

And no one gives a crap how many hot meals a day she eats.

Would an arborist eat a fried egg bap atop a tree? Would a trapeze artist break off mid-swing for a Greggs pasty? What would HAPPEN if a deep sea diver just fancied stopping for pizza? Can’t you see what would happen OP! It is simply unprofessional for a jockey to slurp soup!

Do you work in a greasy spoon OP? That would be the only circumstance in which whipping up eggs/beans on toast at work would be acceptable.

YABVU for stinking out your office and doing it mid-morning too

@BarbaraofSeville

What if the OP doesn't like bananas or congealed sick overnight oats?

Most of these suggestions of alternatives literally turn my stomach. I'm sure if the OP did like those foods she'd be eating them already.

I suspect the OP is a lot like me. I almost never eat cold food by choice and a mid morning breakfast of egg or beans on toast is completely normal to me.

It sounds to me that a lot of the objection could be that people are thinking that, gasp, perhaps the OP is eating more than one hot meal a day and we all know what most people seem to think about that.

Of course it's normal, that isn't the point of the thread at all.

@hotmeatymilk

Would an arborist eat a fried egg bap atop a tree? Would a trapeze artist break off mid-swing for a Greggs pasty? What would HAPPEN if a deep sea diver just fancied stopping for pizza? Can’t you see what would happen OP! It is simply unprofessional for a jockey to slurp soup!

What if I'm taking a shower and I slip on a bar of soap? Oh, my God, I'd be killed!

They were right to speak to you direct if your the only one doing it - good on them for doing so. If they sent a general note out then everyone would be talking about you because they would all know its about you, this way its kept private.

In terms of food, yes hot food smells and shouldn't really be in the office space. If they don't provide somewhere that people can eat then at least the smell would then be contained to the lunch break times.

Their request is not unreasonable.

Could you make it at home and put it in one of those thermos flasks designed for food? Obviously not toast. Although if the smell is the issue...

It’s an office environment and it’s sounds like it’s smelling like a kitchen.

Toast smells,

eggs can stink,

beans can be strong smelling,
Even the sound of scraping butter can irritate,
Microwaves can have lingering smells.
Also the noise of eating, all be it quietly can irritate.
All culminating in less production in the workplace.
Sorry but I do think it’s unacceptable.

Helen Gurley Brown (who was right about EVERYTHING) recommended protein shakes for breakfast. She has a recipe in her Sex & The Single Girl book. I did it for a while and it really does make you feel amazing. You just drink it in the morning as you get ready.

Do that!

@IcedCoffeeAlways

I’m honestly so baffled by all this “eating whist working” being ok 😳🤣 I’m a retail manager and while I could very well perform my duties in my shop while walking around eating breakfast, it just wouldn’t be done as it isn’t professional 🤷🏻‍♀️😬 surely your breaks are when you eat? I also can’t eat breakfast so my first meal of the day is lunch 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP works in an office, not a shop. Things that are appropriate in one working environment might not be appropriate in another.

I also can’t eat breakfast so my first meal of the day is lunch

Utterly irrelevant to the OP's issue.
And as a pp says, surely you can see that eating might be different in different work environments?

@IntermittentParps

I also can’t eat breakfast so my first meal of the day is lunch

Utterly irrelevant to the OP's issue.
And as a pp says, surely you can see that eating might be different in different work environments?

And obviously in this environment it is not considered appropriate to eat in paid time because she has been asked to use her break.

Arguing that it’s ok in some workplaces is pointless because it’s obviously not ok in ops work place.

You aren't just heating up your food. You are cooking it. Eggs. Absolutely yuck that somebody thinks its ok to do this. No wonder you have been pulled up on it.

Kanaloa, except her boss has explicitly said that if it is a cold breakfast it's OK, so it's not about eating per se.

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.

Your employer holds a different view about what constitutes an appropriate break, presumably because the other things you list do not have an impact on others in the same way.

@IntermittentParps

Kanaloa, except her boss has explicitly said that if it is a cold breakfast it's OK, so it's not about eating per se.

So it’s fine to unwrap a croissant or sandwich at your desk and quickly eat it. It is not fine to leave the workspace it cook and heat a hot meal. It’s really quite simple and the employer has been more than reasonable.

Oh, you've changed your story.

Previously you said (my bold) 'And obviously in this environment it is not considered appropriate to eat in paid time'
No mention of what/how it may be appropriate or inappropriate to eat.

Yes apologies. I should have specified that since I was (clear by my other posts) talking about the time factor of cooking that what I meant was ‘it is not appropriate to cook and eat a hot meal.’

Of course if you had taken it in context of my other posts it wouldn’t be ‘changing my story.’ I’ve said all through the thread that it’s obviously not appropriate to cook and eat a hot meal on paid time to this employer and that I think they’ve been very reasonable in offering a split break.

Havent RTFT but I didn't have to laugh at your wanting to eat practically a full english at your desk

I think the issue here is, you can't eat beans on toast and type at the same time so it's not just the time it takes you to actually nuke your food but the eating it as well.

Take a cereal bar to work FFS

OP works in an office, not a shop. Things that are appropriate in one working environment might not be appropriate in another.

True, but it is slightly amusing how office workers believe it's almost a right to eat when they want (you should be free to eat when you want to), when many people don't eat the whole way through a shift and nobody dies. The surgeon/theatre nurse who posted for example, or the retail and hospitality workers on here.

If it isn't an issue in some offices thats fine. But it clearly is an issue in the op new office. So going on as if a basic right has been taken away from her is a bit silly to people who never eat while working.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't feel hard done by! I don't eat through my shift. I eat when I have a break. But freedom to eat three course meals over my work desk still wouldn't make me want to do a different job - I love my job. But it isn't a hardship having to eat breakfast before work, then having lunch OR eating a cold meal instead of a cooked breakfast at your desk. To people who work in industries where there is rarely time to stop for a quick snack, maybe you can see why some people are mildly amused.

It’s 1/5 a full English at best but I’d like OP to up the ante by microwaving some black pudding

I think on the face of it YANBU but reality is if I was sitting near your stinky eggs and crunching toast at 11 every morning I'd probably complain and hope someone would tell you to stop.