Tea/Coffee at work

USER1999

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If somewhere started cutting back on small things like that if be looking elsewhere sharpish, not a great sign of financial health to be pinching pennies.

We're a pretty typical tech firm, big shop with loads of fruit, healthy snacks, milk etc arrives on Monday morning for each floor. Nespresso coffee machine or filter coffee and tea provided free. And of course the obligatory Friday beer fridge is always stocked

Am staggered that companies supply alcohol these days.

Unless you work from home.
 

USER1999

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It's just the whole drinking culture at work has changed. No one goes to the pub at lunch time any more, and it's all a bit frowned on. May be in your industry it's different.
 

TheDiablo

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It's just the whole drinking culture at work has changed. No one goes to the pub at lunch time any more, and it's all a bit frowned on. May be in your industry it's different.

Fair enough, never really experienced that attitude though. Maybe it's a London thing, most friends in other industries have similar experiences in their offices
 

Bunkermagnet

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Fair enough, never really experienced that attitude though. Maybe it's a London thing, most friends in other industries have similar experiences in their offices
I would have thought that the drink drive laws would have put paid to alcohol at work.
Personally I would think it highly unprofessional for a company to supply/encourage alcohol consumption on their premises during work hours anywhere in the country.
 

TheDiablo

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I would have thought that the drink drive laws would have put paid to alcohol at work.
Personally I would think it highly unprofessional for a company to supply/encourage alcohol consumption on their premises during work hours anywhere in the country.

People aren't sat around getting pissed at their desks.

We're adults and thankfully I work for a company and in an industry that trusts its employees to make their personal decisions.

And to the 2nd point, I think the current saying is 'OK Boomer' 👍🏻
 

Bunkermagnet

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People aren't sat around getting pissed at their desks.

We're adults and thankfully I work for a company and in an industry that trusts its employees to make their personal decisions.

And to the 2nd point, I think the current saying is 'OK Boomer' 👍🏻
You don't have to be pissed to be over the drink drive limit.
I would have thought that in itself was reason enough to not consume alcohol at work, whether your company and industry trusts it's employees or not.
Your last comment...whooosh.
 

TheDiablo

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You don't have to be pissed to be over the drink drive limit.
I would have thought that in itself was reason enough to not consume alcohol at work, whether your company and industry trusts it's employees or not.
Your last comment...whooosh.

I'm not sure why you assume people will suddenly start drink driving because its available at work? It's also available in the pub next door, the offy across the road, the restaurant down the street etc.

A workplace is in no way responsible for drink driving of its employees in personal vehicles on a commute, even if the alcohol was supplied by the company.

In London, most people use public transport to commute anyway. If not, like any other situation if you fancy a drink then organise a lift home responsibly.
 

robinthehood

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People aren't sat around getting pissed at their desks.

We're adults and thankfully I work for a company and in an industry that trusts its employees to make their personal decisions.

And to the 2nd point, I think the current saying is 'OK Boomer' 👍🏻
I think it's more like "OK victorian" in here 😂😂😂😂
 

Lord Tyrion

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The last place I worked at where Friday lunchtime drinking was a regular thing I seem to remember absolutely nothing got done in the afternoon. People just became dopey and tired.

We supply free tea and coffee, fruit as well. One day a couple of the staff had a conspiratorial chat and one came to see me. "Do you think we could have one of the coffee pod machines?" Absolutely I replied, you are welcome to bring one in. When she realised they would have to pay for it, not me, the idea was dropped. Instant it is then 😁
 

TheDiablo

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The last place I worked at where Friday lunchtime drinking was a regular thing I seem to remember absolutely nothing got done in the afternoon. People just became dopey and tired.

We supply free tea and coffee, fruit as well. One day a couple of the staff had a conspiratorial chat and one came to see me. "Do you think we could have one of the coffee pod machines?" Absolutely I replied, you are welcome to bring one in. When she realised they would have to pay for it, not me, the idea was dropped. Instant it is then 😁

Maybe as a halfway house you could have bought a nespresso machine for £100 but told them they'd have to bring in their own pods?

Or £45 a month for a machine and 150 pods? Not exactly bank breaking
 

Lord Tyrion

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Maybe as a halfway house you could have bought a nespresso machine for £100 but told them they'd have to bring in their own pods?

Or £45 a month for a machine and 150 pods? Not exactly bank breaking
No, but why should I pay that extra? We already provide drinks, biscuits, fruit for free. If they want to up the stakes then they are welcome to of their own accord. I'm pretty comfortable that is fair. After all, the alternative is they provide their own, chip in etc. Knowing them as I do I doubt they would have been interested had I bought a machine and they buy the pods. They like free!

Everything is ultimately a cost to a business, it comes from somewhere. I could provide fancy coffee but it would lead to an impact elsewhere, in this case a lower pay increase for them as I am not taking it out of my pay / profits. Pay or fancy coffee 🤔, not a tricky one. You may think that is harsh but our business is small and we have to monitor all costs. Little bits add up very quickly and a coffee upgrade is non essential imo.
 

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I used to work with some colleagues in Denmark and was amazed at the amount of alcohol they drank at work. I remember one guy picking me up from the airport and while driving to the town their offices were in he asked me if I'd like a beer, i thought he was going to stop at a bar but he reached into the back grabbed a bottle from a crate and took the top off with a bottle opener fixed to his dashboard 😜
 

TheDiablo

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No, but why should I pay that extra? We already provide drinks, biscuits, fruit for free. If they want to up the stakes then they are welcome to of their own accord. I'm pretty comfortable that is fair. After all, the alternative is they provide their own, chip in etc. Knowing them as I do I doubt they would have been interested had I bought a machine and they buy the pods. They like free!

Everything is ultimately a cost to a business, it comes from somewhere. I could provide fancy coffee but it would lead to an impact elsewhere, in this case a lower pay increase for them as I am not taking it out of my pay / profits. Pay or fancy coffee 🤔, not a tricky one. You may think that is harsh but our business is small and we have to monitor all costs. Little bits add up very quickly and a coffee upgrade is non essential imo.

That's fair enough, I can certainly see how £45 a month on coffee adds up with other costs for a small business on tight margins. A line has to be drawn somewhere. 1 'fancy coffee' per day for 8 is £5.50 a month pp, so coffee or pay rise is a bit of an exaggeration - it's probably not that far off a large tub of instant!

I'd personally offered to buy the machine if they wanted to use it, a one off £100 isn't much for anyone. If they prefer free then at least you've tried to meet them in the middle.
 

Dando

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We’ve got decent free coffee machines in our office plus they supply milk, tea bags and instant coffee but no sugar.

There’s also a coffee shop on our third floor and a pret on the ground floor that we get discounts in so we’re pretty well looked after
 

HomerJSimpson

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I would have thought many of those working in London would be commuting so not necessarily affected by drink driving (subject to parking at the local station).

We have free drink making facilities although the nurses are not allowed any drinks in the bed spaces. As for me I have my own broom cupboard so can make as many teas a day as I want and sit enjoying a hob nob or three with it
 
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