Nursery workers drinking at lunchtime.

[Brendathedoll]

Had a rare day off yesterday so went for a pub lunch with my sister. In there I saw 2 nursery nurses from my child’s daycare having lunch and they each had a glass of wine. There were also 2 empty glasses in the table but possibly from previous customers. I wasn’t happy but my sister says it’s there lunchtime they don’t get paid for and 2 glasses won’t make any difference. They saw me and looked a bit sheepish but it means I can’t report them anon now. I’m scared if I say something they would treat my child differently. Am I being ott thinkinb they shouldn’t drink while caring for kids?

Are you certain they hadn't just finished a shift? If not, then they are breaking their nursery policy at the very least.

We bumped into our daughters nursary key worker enjoying a few drinks with friends down the pub. It was 9:30pm on a Saturday. She still jumped out of her skin when she saw us! We all had a laugh about it. I recon the sheepish look is just the same feeling you get when you run into an old teacher and forget for a split second you are an adult and don't have homework to pretend you lost!

Agreed.

If the workers are dealing with parents half as mental as on here, im surprised it was only two glasses (potentially, of wine, or not because actually no bugger knows!)

I hope all those outraged have NEVER had a sip of alcohol while parenting since its so abhorrent 🙄😂

As a nursery owner, what's your take on how a manager would react if a client rang up and said
"Look, I feel a bit funny even having this conversation, but it has been bothering me. I saw two staff members in the local pub yesterday at lunchtime and they appeared to be having what looked like a glass of wine. Now, it's of course probable that they were off shift or on a half day, but given the proximity of the pub to the nursery it made me concerned that it might have been their lunch hour. I'm perhaps overthinking, but I thought I would make you aware and, if as I'm sure will the case, if I am worrying about nothing, then no harm done and we can forget this conversation."

Would you rather a parent came to you like this?
Or would the manager/ owner rather the concerned parent assumed it was a glass of non alcoholic wine consumed by staff who were on holiday and said nothing?

This happened to a friend of mine who saw a childminder she regularly saw at the playground. She didn't even know her but the childminder came over to say not to worry it was her birthday and she was off that day!

Absolutely rubbish. I've been a childminder for over 20yrs and know plenty more. I've never once felt the need to explain my actions to a parent in any scenario.

Most child areas are more likely to go places where they won't bump into customer/clients.

Surely most workplaces have a no alcohol policy nowadays apart from those involving the entertainment of clients, the latter being a small minority. Any amount of alcohol impairs efficiency and constitutes a health and safety risk in a job, driving or not. The issue is not the inappropriateness of alcohol at lunchtime, but the fact that one cannot know what was in the glasses without having tasted or sniffed them. And that would surely be out of order. I would forget about the incident but begin looking for another crèche if you are not comfortable with the present one.

I don't drink so can honestly say I don't parent while drinking alcohol. However I'm not sure that's actually relevant. Comparing childcare professionals drinking and parents drinking is a non sequitur because we are literally talking about people who are paid, not just to keep your child alive and safe, but to deliver an early years curriculum.
The only relevant point is nursery workers should not be under the influence of alcohol at work. Not a single drink. Not still drunk from the night before. They sometimes have 8 children per worker (for children 3 and over) and honestly, while the thought of that might drive me to drink, that's why don't chose to work with small children!

I’d first check on the rota to see if they were working or not - if not I’d inform parent but thank them for concern. If they were working I would investigate - you can’t have practitioners drinking whilst on duty any amount of alcohol - it’s bonkers!!

as an aside, most nursery workers only get 30-45 mins lunch break and are often paid to remain in the building to maintain ratios, they’d be hard pushed to get to the pub, down 2 glasses of wine and get back, and sign in again smelling of alcohol !

We can’t drink in our lunch hour, paid or unpaid, if looking after children. Hopefully it was a one off.

You are not being unreasonable, but it could've been non alcoholic wine

Are you sure it was alcoholic wine? Were they actually back working that afternoon? It seems that you don’t really know for certain from what you’ve said.
If you’re certain it was alcoholic wine as opposed to non alcoholic, and they were drinking it, plus you’re certain they were back at work that afternoon, then you have a valid reason for complaint - drinking alcohol whilst working is a huge “no no” these days. However, you need to be absolutely certain of your facts before going ahead with a complaint.

You sure they weren't there after work? If we finished early where I worked we would always go for a drink at the pub next door

Could it of been alcohol free or perhaps a different soft drink in a wine glass

Alcohol free wine is everywhere now, and it looks exactly the same as regular wine. I drink it often if I don't want alcohol, or if it's lunchtime or something. Anyone seeing me could easily assume I was necking a large glass of 'normal' wine, but they'd be wrong.

I would send an email to the nursery & ask them what their thoughts are on the employees drinking alcohol
at lunch time... & see what the reply is

What would that prove exactly?

I would absolutely check if they were going back to work that day, and if so have a discussion with management. It’s not ok to drink when you are in charge of other people’s children in a childcare setting. You are more than entitled to check, it’s your child at the end of the day! My son’s keyworker was caught drinking at work when he was in her care aged 2, turned out she was an alcoholic which she hadn’t told anyone about. She was suspended immediately when it came to light then later sacked and disciplined by the regulatory body.

They were either not at work that day, or had been put on the rota to do morning only. I say that, because I cannot believe that nursery workers are given the time to leave the building, go to a pub (no matter how close), order lunch, and eat it!

The legal minimum entitlement for breaks is 20 minutes (unpaid), if you work for 6 hours or longer. The employer need not pay you for that 20 minutes. Many employers are more generous than they are legally required to be, but I doubt nursery sector is excessively generous.

My last job (non-nursery), we got 30 minutes exactly, but it was paid. On this subject, a lawyer friend could not get her head around the idea that I didn't get long enough lunch break to come and meet her in a cafe on the other side of town for lunch, and that we would be meeting on my day off, or not at all...

Apparently not according to @TheQueenWhoNeverWas who appears to be the font of all knowledge when it comes to alcohol free wines....

I'm generally a really relaxed person about this "kind" of thing. However, I wouldn't even get away with this in my office as a middle manager, and excuse the other posters huge tolerances but 2 large glasses and I'm certainly feeling something even if it isn't drunk yet. As nursery nurses? Definitely fucking not. It's uneccessary and inappropriate. Their break might be unpaid but so what, if they wouldn't come in first thing in the morning after 2 large glasses then they shouldn't do it at lunch time. They work with little children, it's a bit different to smashing buttons in a bog standard office job surrounded by only adults of peer status. They need to be on form.

I'm surprised at anybody here saying "it's unpaid so it's fine" - I say we all go outside for a puff on our crack pipes when the bells up then. Spliff? Sniff a couple lines? Do literally anything else that makes you temporarily mentally impaired? It's unpaid afterall. Flawed logic

One of my cousins works in childcare. I'm sure there is something in her contract that says about this. Once we met on a Sunday night and she said she was only having the one drink because of this.

No, you absolutely do not have an alcoholic drink when responsible and being paid for looking after someone else’s children! Full stop. It is a sackable offence. But they were a) on a day/ afternoon off or b) they were drinking non-alcoholic wine while they were on duty! Otherwise …….. bye! I’m

Out of interest, where are all these pubs that serve alcohol free wine by the glass? I don't drink alcohol and I'm usually impressed by the range of AF beers in pubs but AF wine is really hard to come by unless it's a decent restaurant (and even then you need to buy a bottle. Not that I could ever finish a bottle of it as it's fine for a small glass but sickly after that!) This has been a revelation to me (I must be going to the wrong pubs!)

Could they have been drinking wine and lemonade? Could it have been non-alcoholic wine? It’s a tricky one. I wouldn’t be too impressed if I knew that they both had 2 glasses of just wine and they were heading back to work. Is there a way you could jokingly mention it to them in front of their manager?

I would need more than 2 glasses at lunch if I did that job 😂