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?

You've been a right lucky bugger then!

I assume you mean because I only said other people’s children . The thread wasn’t about people drinking around their own children.

I know I’m ok to have a few glasses of wine around my children - I wouldn’t get drunk , but I know my limit. A glass or 2 on a meal out , or a glass in the evening - I know I’m capable of caring for my children . However , when you are caring for other people’s children regardless of if you know you’re ok , it’s not your choice - the parents don’t know you’re ok and it’s their choice as to whether they want that around their children .

When you are being paid to care for other people’s children in a professional capacity - and not just one child but a class / room full , changing babies , holding babies etc - I think it’s completely unacceptable and unprofessional.

There are rules (in most companies) that you can't drink alcohol during lunch. They are there for a good reason. It has been proven that one glass is enough to alter your behaviour ( I think in Scotland you are not allowed any alcohol at all in your body while driving). I would be most unhappy especially as they are looking after vulnerable children.

Either the manager says drinking at lunchtime is not against any policy and OP does nothing. Or manager says it is forbidden and OP decides whether to say anything. Perhaps she would say that she didn't want to report individuals as she didn't know if they were working/what they were drinking but staff could be reminded of the policy?

What if it wasn't wine? I don't drink when I am on call, not the company rule, but mine. So if I do go to the pub for a meal I drink non alcoholic drinks...Guinness zero, Thatchers zero, etc....if you report two adults for being in the pub that's what they will say they are drinking

as an aside, have any of the parents no here no had a drink then looked after children?

I got a filthy look once when I was heavily pregnant and holding my husbands pint while he was in the loo at a festival. Don’t jump to conclusions.

No proof they were working. No proof they had alcohol. No case.

I struggle to believe this is real, when I worked in a nursery I definitely never had the time to go for lunch at the pub 😂

I got a filthy look in a garden centre once. I didn't get why until she had left and the smell from the half whiskey barrels I was next to finally hit me.

You've missed the point entirely. The OP has no evidence that anyone has broken a policy.

I work in a nursery and live a 5 min walk from work! So the pub close to the nursery is my local!!
a lot of the staff Iive local - I’d imagine a lot of nursery staff live local as there’s jobs available in basically every nursery so why would you work far away if you can get a job locally

and you literally don’t know if they had the day off

my contract for example is Monday - Thursday so I’ve Friday off and never work that day even tho we are short staffed

Lol I was thinking this earlier. My mum bought me a bottle when I was first pregnant and I remember trying to force down a glass so as not to hurt her feelings.

How long a lunch break do you think they get? Laughable that you think it's long enough to go to the pub and order anything never mind sit down for a meal....

I work in a Nursery and it's a 30 minute break.....

Drinking on duty absolutely not allowed, But- do you know they were on duty, and do you know it wasn't non- alcoholic wine, or even a soft drink in a wine glass, absolutely discuss it with nursery manager but proceed with caution

They definitely should not be drinking at all if they were going back to work. Maybe they weren’t, fair enough if so. I would ask the manager if they were working that afternoon and if so I would report it and insist it is properly logged as an incident and investigated.

*"they each had a glass of wine."

What made you think it was wine in the first place? Was it because it was in a 'wine'-type glass? You don't need me to tell you that was a pretty big assumption to make.*

I've been to a pub and they served Appletize in a wine glass, it does look like white wine..

Ha, where I work, it's officially a 20 mins break within a 9 hour work day, aka the absolute legal minimum
I'm not based in the shop, and we tend to take a little longer.

I think we’ve established it varys same with most workplaces. I work in a nursery and it’s an hour 🤷🏼‍♀️ it depends on the setting, obviously.

I have a day off midweek and have met up with colleagues also having a day off for lunch. Even with staffing issues people still need their days off, nursery staff quite often do early or late shifts too if they are open 7-6, for example.

However it wouldn't be allowed to have alcohol in the middle of a working day and we certainly wouldn't have time to have a couple glasses wine and eat out in our half hour break!

I'm guessing you've spotted them off shift.

You have missed that I am suggesting the OP finds out if there is a policy.

Why?

They clearly were not on shift. Obviously there will be a policy if no alcohol consumption during shift but why does the OP need to clarify that when they were not on shift...

I wouldn't say they were clearly not on shift. The pub is next to their workplace, and while they weren't in uniform, their uniform is a tabbard that's easily removed. I'm guessing OP knows how they tend to dress at work - dark polo and leggings at our nursery - if they were dressed in non-work clothes she would have assumed they were off.

It's very likely they were on a half day, but I don't think OP would be out of line to make a friendly call to the manager to check given the seriousness if they went back to work. I know our manager would be happy to reassure me and have a laugh about my DC driving them to drink, and would take it very seriously if they were in fact drinking on their break.

A nursery where staff can take a one-hour break for lunch is unusual to say the least. Most nurseries barely have enough staff to fulfill the required staff-child ratios as it is. It's not as if the children go home for lunch and the nurseries can close for an hour or so at lunch time and give their staff a one-hour lunch break.

Nursery workers who can afford a regular pub lunch including a glass or two of wine during the working day are probably even more unusual. If the OP's story is true, it is more likely that they were finished for the day.

No one has time to get pissed in a one hour lunch.