4pm on Fridays

[jgw1]

AIBU to think that having wine time every Friday whether or not one is working hard and whether or not there is a pandemic is wrong and should not have been permitted in Downing Street?

Workplaces vary in the attitude to drinking on site. Personally I see nothing wrong with some drinks on Friday at 4 provided it doesn’t interfere with ongoing work.

It’s been pretty standard in every office I’ve ever worked in. Although saying that, clients from out of London who happened to be in our office have always been very impressed so I think it’s probably less common in offices where most people drive in.

My industry closes at 4pm on a Friday. It’s perfectly normal to to have drinks straight after. It’s not compulsory, that would be wrong.

Would not have been tolerated on site where I worked. Finishing g at four and going to the pub, fine.

I think that nobody should be working under the influence of alcohol when that work has a profound impact on society.

Alcohol at work would get you sacked anywhere DH or I have worked (as in bringing it onto the premises would get you saked, drinking it or not)
Going to the pub afterwards with your mates would be fine.

Sadly, does not happen where I work. It's a normal working day and drinking during office hours is pretty much frowned upon. I need a job on Downing St

Our office used to do Friday payday drinks in canteen! It was v well attended. It hasn't returned after Covid though as not many people are in the office on Fridays now.

Husband's office has a fridge that's cracked open 4pm on a Friday. No one would stay late to drink though. It's very much a beer and a chat as you wind up your work.

I'm not sure what's inherently wrong about it. It's common enough in my industry or used to be.

My last office started doing drinks at 4pm on a Friday. It's commonplace in marketing/advertising.

Its not a thing anywhere I’ve worked. Maybe in the 80s/90s, but not a reality in my working life. It feels like a throwback to an earlier time.

Well it all depends if there's a pandemic on i guess.

Maybe best avoided if you've made rules that prevent gathering for a drink at 4pm.

Unless you're a tory. Then its game on.

Our offices have fridges full of booze! People have it any evening they feel like it and it's never an issue. I don't think that is the issue of the day though.

During my working life going to the pub on a Friday lunchtime used to be a normal thing up until about the mid/late nineties then it started to die out and by the mid noughties was unheard of.

All the posters stating 'it's normal in my industry' yeh that's cool, but we're talking about the people running the country here. Central government funded by tax payers money and designated to make sound decisions regardless of the time of day.

You won't find local authority workers drinking in the office at 4pm. Or NHS staff. Or teachers cracking a few open after the kids have left.

All the posters stating 'it's normal in my industry' yeh that's cool, but we're talking about the people running the country here. Central government funded by tax payers money and designated to make sound decisions regardless of the time of day.

I'm presuming those on staff have working hours and aren't expected to make sound decisions 24/7 though.

I work in consultancy and it's fairly standard. You would not partake in a drinks trolley if you were still writing up an important report. You would however if you were wrapping up some admin/doing timesheets, which would be fairly common at 4pm on a Friday.

If you're expecting them to make decisions at any time of the day what's the difference between having drinks in the office or having drinks at a pub half a mile down the road?

Alcohol should never be in a workplace

But if you’re in a taxpayer funded role it’s not appropriate to be drinking alcohol even if you’re just doing paperwork or timesheets. In public sector organisations I’ve worked in, it’s no longer acceptable to drink at work even if everyone is clocked off, let alone on work time.

You won't find local authority workers drinking in the office at 4pm. Or NHS staff. Or teachers cracking a few open after the kids have left.

and very few civil servants outside of Downing Street/Whitehall.

What if you work in a pub?

I'm NHS and we used to have a Friday 5pm drink in the office but site went dry about 15 years ago, so it moved to a drink in a local pub. The move from quick drink in office (one single bottle of wine between 4/5 colleagues) to leaving work and going to a pub saw only 1/2 making the effort to go to the pub.
A drink in the office was a nice way to wind down and have a social chat, but times change and can see understand drinking on site (Acute hospital) was banned

I’d like one of these jobs.

The one exception for us being fizz and nibbles prior to going out on office Christmas lunch. None of which was funded by taxpayers money.