Eating At Work

[SilverGlitterBaubles]

What is your eating at work policy, or do you have one? It seems some workplaces have a no eating at desks rule and others are a lot more relaxed. Interested to hear about how it works for you because the rise in constant snacking is driving me potty.

There’s only me and one other person on my mandatory office day, we sit next do each other. It’s a short day for both of us, no need to snack and we usually go out for lunch as it’s the one day a week we see colleagues - each order! On occasion (perhaps twice this year) we’ve worked through lunch and just ordered a sandwich up.
Don't think there’s an actual policy but the two times I’ve also seen my boss in the office he’s eaten lunch as his desk so…

We have a no eating at desks rule but it seems to be widely ignored. We not desk and are only in a couple of times a month but I take my lunch and eat in the cafeteria rather than at my desk.

We are allowed to eat at desks however it's only one team in each day so essentially only 6/7 people at a time so we are not bothered by it

What bothers you about the snacks?

Many ppl eat at their desk but I prefer to eat elsewhere, but it seems to be a growing trend.
TBF so long as they are eating fairly non smelly food, most ppl don’t really care!

We can do what we like in relation to food at work

We are allowed to eat at desks, and also to use our work computers for personal admin / web browsing on breaks (obviously within reason and decency).

Anyone who brings fish out of the kitchen gets a solid side eye from everyone though.

I don't mind lunches at all but one of my colleagues seems to graze literally all day and that drives me a bit mad as it always seems to be something crunchy.

@BrendaBicycle I'm quite partial to the odd snack myself but some just seem to eat and snack all day long - breakfast, snacks, lunch more snacks and grazing throughout the day.

We don't have a rule. Tbh I wouldn't want to work somewhere that polices my food consumption

I prefer to eat lunch at my desk so I can browse on my desktop. The kitchen is also a bit of a thoroughfare.

If I have hot food though I eat it away from the desks though

We don't have anywhere to eat lunch so there's no rules about eating at desks.

I have worked a couple of places where this went too far and some colleagues were stinking the whole office out.

Why is that your issue though?

We don't have a rule. However, I sit next to somebody who constantly snacks and the crunching and rustling of the packets drives me mad!

Im at a university. We don't have an area to eat in unless we go to another building (where we'll be stared at while people try to work out whether we're staff or student and allowed to be there ). So we have to eat at our desk or not eat at all.

Been a long time since I worked in the office but now d say half the week we had a sandwich at our desks as we had deadlines, but don't recall people snacking much. Anyway no policy as far as I'm aware - they'd rather people stayed and got the work done. A few weeks laced i worked had a canteen in house which was very convenient.

This doesn't have anything to do with you though?

We eat at our desks but we have breakout rooms, beanbags, chairs and tables.
Our team are always bringing snacks in that are put on a cupboard to share, we're constantly snacking.
Our boss tried to encourage us to leave our desks and have a proper break as we tend to work and eat

And what's it to you? As long as the snacks are not smelly then let people be

We all eat at are desks because the offices are in the middle of no where but I also work through my lunch to leave earlier and don’t sit near anyone

We have a no food in meeting rooms rule (I guess because they are enclosed spaces). But no rules about desk eating - though people just don't. We have plenty of break areas and cafes - which are really nice, so people generally go to those.

I’ve gone back to the office an extra day . I hate listening to people eat! The man opposite me eats all day long! I guess at least three packets of crisps a day and all I can hear is crunch , crunch crunch. Another person eats their sandwiches and smacks their lips. I will probably kill them both one day.

Everyone eats at their desks in my office, because there's no other realistic option. No constant snackers though.

We eat at our desks as and when we want to. No issues with it at all - tbf we don't snack much though, just lunch when we are hungry.

Why do you care?
I couldnt care if my colleagues eat at desk or snack doesn't bother me.
In fact I often take treats in for my staff to eat as it helps build morale.
I.prefer to eat away from mine but my staff eat at their desks. That's their choice.
I'm not bothered either way.

Listening to people eat winds me up. There are break rooms where I work, but some people still chomp away at there desks.
All the desks are shared, so it's particularly yuk.

@Jammylou I normally don't care and have eaten lunch at my desk regularly when I had no choice but to keep working. My issue is with being surrounded by constant snacking, munching, slurping, rustling, food smells, plates and wrappers strewn around desks, unable to have a conversation with someone because you feel you are interrupting them eating.