My work is SO not OS

Gingham_Ribbon

Are you sure they're not going to allow a kettle? Is there a drinks machine? If not I'd be surprised if that's legal.

I've never worked anywhere that had a microwave or fridge for staff. I bought most lunches, but if I brought sandwiches they'd be fine in a cool bag. Alternatively, I'd make up the sandwiches in advance, freeze them and take them out just before I set off for work. They'd have defrosted by the time I got to eat them and they were still cool.

going2die_rich

grade15 wrote:

I think best to bring in fridge n freezers..from old building and say..u didn't get the new policy..or r u with a union..and demand management let u guys keep it.!! :dance:

LOL! As if management or the union are going to care.

Welcome to business life, they are their to get work out of you, not provide you with what you desire. Would you complain if you went to work somewhere else and they didn't have a fridge and kettle in their office too?

Most larger businesses now are moving towards canteens rather than the kettle, microwave and fridge so that staff aren't eating at their desks and also to make the business look more professional - not to mention the additional revenue. It's just good business sense to make the most out of your business, any business that offers fridges, microwaves and kettles are paying electricity for all it's staff that it could be charging them for.

You have to look at it as the owner of the business, yes the canteen revenue might only be small compared to the general business, but every little helps. If you owned the business would you turn your nose up at making an additional £10k+ a year? They most likely will make way more than that.

Any savings in electricty are always a bonus as the number of times a kettle is boiled in a office must total to alot in a year, costing the business a small fortune.

going2die_rich

Gingham_Ribbon wrote:

Are you sure they're not going to allow a kettle? Is there a drinks machine? If not I'd be surprised if that's legal.

Of course it's legal for them not to provide a source of food and other refreshments. Next you'll think it's illegal if they don't pay for your bus fare home.

The business will argue that all staff can bring drinks into work and at lunch times they provide them with time to go out and eat/drink else where if they aren't happy with the business's canteen.

Just have the local sandwich shop do an office order each day and they will drop them off at lunch time.

mikeywills

Get yourself a nice compact coolbag, and before you go to bed at night, fill a small bottle of water and put it in the freezer,
Pack your lunch in the coolbag with your frozen bottle of water, the water will defrost by lunchtime giving you a nice refreshing cold drink and cool sarnies to boot.;)

annie-c

Also, there are things you can keep in your desk drawer that don't need to be kept cool - dried fruit, nuts, seeds, rice cakes, crackers,bottled water, canned drinks, bread will keep a day or two, fruit will keep a week. If you get into a habit of shopping somewhere locally every week or two then all you need to bring on the tube is a small lunchbag.

In the place I worked, although there was no staff kitchen we could get free hot and cold water from a machine in the canteen - so by taking in teabags and buying a carton of milk daily it was possible to make hot drinks. It might be worth asking for a facility like this - much more likely to be granted than asking to bring in a fridge/kettle.

I wouldn't personally think this is an issue for the unions, though I really sympathise with the nuisance it will be after you've been used to having more.

annie

Heth_2

Even though we have a fridge I have never bothered putting my sandwiches/salad in it (I sometimes keep stuff like chicken/cottage cheese in it overnight, but always leave my lunch by my desk). This has never been a problem for me, and yes I do commute on a busy train and we don't have air conditioning in the office/building.

jcr16

i think that it awful. i certainly wou;dn't be able to afford to use a cafe every day if i worked.

could u buy a mini travel kettle and keep it on your desk and take a 5 litre bottle of water to work once and week keep this under ur desk. sorry i can't think of any wonder ful ideas. but i hope ur able to sort something out rather than use a cafe

mikeywills

I would be interested to know if they are planning to subsidise meals at the cafe to keep costs down, as they do in local councils?

If not then they really should assist you in providing a space where non cafe goers can have their lunch.

summerday

A couple of months ago Flora were giving away free littl;e linchoxes with one of their spreads - it seems to be like a little cool bag as my sarnies always stay pretty cool in there. To help you remnember to bring a flask, I'd leave it out on the worktop the night before so you see it and remember.

sarahs999

Just to clarify, there is a water dispenser. They're not that appalling.

And yes, I suspect the union will be on to it, just as soon as it has sorted out the 133 redundancies that were pushed through illegally a few weeks ago. And to the people who think that I'm asking too much, I think that a kettle to make tea and a fridge to stop food going off is quite reasonable, especially when you work in newspapers where there are many staff working night shifts, when obviously there are no shops open, and plenty of undesirables on the streets outside.

And yes, if I went to work for a company where they didn't offer these things I would make a move to suggest that they should. Just because things haven't been done before it doesn't meant that you shouldn't question them.

Thanks to everyone offering OS ways to beat the system!
S