Nursery worker told she HAS to eat with children

Spendless

So is your girlfriend not eating her packed lunch at all or eating it in her own lunch break?

whitewing

It seems to be getting more popular now. My son's school has family eating where the younger siblings sit with older brothers and sisters etc.

My daughter's nursery has lovely food from the local farm shop. All nutritionally balanced, I'd love it!

azza21

Spendless wrote: »

So is your girlfriend not eating her packed lunch at all or eating it in her own lunch break?

She eats her packed lunch in her lunch break. I doubt now she will have her own lunch and be forced to eat the childrens dinner.

joannaspanner

Next you'll be telling us she has to look after the children as well!

mumps

azza21 wrote: »

I would like to know if my girlfriend has to eat something she doesn't want to eat and where she stands. Not everybody likes certain foods. I don't think anyone should be told they have to force food that they don't want down there throat.

As i have said she does bring her own lunch in to eat what she enjoys eating.

Does your girlfriend tell the children to eat their food? Does it worry her that some children might not like the food the nursery provides? Perhaps if the adults have to eat it the quality of food will improve.

azza21

joannaspanner wrote: »

Next you'll be telling us she has to look after the children as well!

I just think if your not going to give anything productive to this thread other than try and insult someone you don't know anything about then maybe you should stay out.

ladylouise62

Bloody ridiculous. I can understand the need for them to be present and pretend, but blinking heck, a large proportion of parents at home will rarely eat the same food as their kids!!!

I would consider playing the 'change to employment contract' card. If this is a change in what you all agreed was part of the job when you joined then they shouldn't be able to just enforce it. Even if that wasn't specifically outlined, 'long standing custom and practice' would cover that.

But, if she wants to change this she HAS to make her feelings known (and her co-workers if necessary), or she will be deemed to have accepted it.


Take a look here for a basic description.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10028079

azza21

ladylouise62 wrote: »

Bloody ridiculous. I can understand the need for them to be present and pretend, but blinking heck, a large proportion of parents at home will rarely eat the same food as their kids!!!

I would consider playing the 'change to employment contract' card. If this is a change in what you all agreed was part of the job when you joined then they shouldn't be able to just enforce it. Even if that wasn't specifically outlined, 'long standing custom and practice' would cover that.

But, if she wants to change this she HAS to make her feelings known (and her co-workers if necessary), or she will be deemed to have accepted it.


Take a look here for a basic description.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10028079

Thank You for the postive and informative reply. I'm utterly surprised by some of the comments from a few people on this thread. I'm after help not digs at my girlfriend because she thinks its unreasonable too do whats she's being TOLD to do, i feel the same way too and thats why i made this thread.

I appreciate the help so far guys, however if you have nothing informative to say and don't agree, don't have a dig at my girlfriend its uncalled for, don't even reply.

RobertoMoir

specialkthefirst wrote: »

i dont see what is wrong with that? my son goes to nursery and all the staff eat what the children eat with them. it encourages the children to eat and as they see adults eating the same stuff they eat it too. its just what kids are like. i guess its just one of thoese things that comes with the job.

no idea about laws and such but it doesnt seem a bad thing to me
x

You don't see what's wrong with it?
I work in education, though admittedly not a nursery. I certainly wouldn't be happy to be told "you must eat x because that's what the students are eating". That seems a bit over the top to me.

I wouldn't be enthused to be told I had to eat with students, either, because my lunch break is a break from work, and if you're eating with the students you're essentially supervising them too. I'm not paid during my lunch break, therefore its my time to go where I want for lunch and eat what I like when I get there (Though I could be persuaded that this may well be different in a nursery/primary school environment).

I'm not saying that I wouldn't eat with our students or that I don't eat the food our wonderful catering team serve, by the way, its being forced/expected to do something like that whether I wanted to or not that would make me annoyed.

mildred1978

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Not being funny, but as an adult, I don't want to eat what I see 4 yr olds eating; I want to eat what I - as an adult - have deemed appropriate for me - not what my boss has deemed appropriate for a 4 yr old.

My almost-2 year old eats exactly what I eat and has done since he was 6 months old, no mashing or pur!eing or special "baby meals". We had lamb shanks tonight and roast chicken dinner yesterday. He's never eaten a chicken nugget or a fish finger. Believe it or not there doesn't have to be "baby food" v "adult food".

I'd be wanting to know why the kids weren't being fed normal food!!