Drinking on the job!

mikemac

When I started in my current job in Dublin we had bottled beer in the canteen. Miller, Bud, Bulmers, Coors Light, etc. All ice-cold and all free!
And it was perfectly acceptable to sit at your desk around 4:30pm on a Friday evening with a bottled beer in one hand as you worked away on your PC. Everyone did it, from management to the young lad in the mailroom.

And it’s the banking industry so sometimes you’d be here until 10pm. Those days, especially on Fridays, you could have 2-3 drinks in work before you left.
And the World Cup, sitting in the canteen at lunch and having a beer

God, I sound like an alcoholic.
So I gather this isn’t typical in most offices, it’s not an Irish company btw. It's a trading dept of a Dutch Bank (not Rabobank)

They’ve got rid of this citing Health and Saftey legislation. :mad:
They’d be liable if someone drove home after work and crashed or tripped down as stairs. Sure publicans don’t have these concerns.

So folks, anyone else here have a perk like this and anyone have info I can send to HR to get this back? There’s a drink in it for you. :pac:

(I gather that employers providing drink is very common in Germany. And when I worked in the UK, it was common to have a drink at lunch, not so much here)

Alun

I worked for a while at the Rabobank in Utrecht, in the Netherlands and was doing IT support for the dealing room. Come 4pm on a Friday afternoon, someone would come in with one of those trolley things you use for moving fridges etc., loaded up with 4 or 5 crates of beer. The traders would then give out a yell, and bottles of beer would then be thrown, yes literally thrown, across the dealing room floor where they'd be caught by the traders. Needless to say there were 'accidents' and many a keyboard, or sometimes even a monitor needed to be replaced before Monday morning as a result.

Also in Germany where I worked (ESOC), beer was readily available both in the canteen and the coffee bar, and at 5pm they also opened an on site bar that was open until 9pm where we all gathered after work before heading off somewhere else.

It was also quite common, especially for manual workers who started work really early, to have a 'second breakfast' around the time most other people got into work, and that also included beer. You'd often see them hanging around the kiosk's knocking back a beer at 8.30am or so.

The lunchtime drink culture in the UK, especially on a Friday was alive and well when I started working in the late 70's, but seems to have died out now.

leeroybrown

I spent some time working in the UK relatively recently. The place where I worked had no issue with us having a pint or two with a pub lunch on a Friday.

The_Conductor

I worked in a garden centre in Amsterdam- it had a fully stocked fridge for staff with beer and soft drinks, which was restocked twice a week. Ahhh- those were the days........

Saruman

My wife used to work in Prague and in her call centre they had "Beer Call" on Firdays so at lunch time they handed out free beer

Perfectly fine in Prague where no one has any reason to drive.

jester77

When I worked in Ireland the company I worked for would buy us lots of beer and pizza every Friday, used to set us up nicely for the weekend.

Over here it's very common. Someone will take the lift down to the supermarket during the day and bring up a trolley loaded with crates and they would be left into the freezer for later. Many a late night has been had!!

damnyanks

As long as its not an american company it always seems to happen. We have beer every Friday about 4PM

J.S. Pill

micmclo wrote: »

When I started in my current job in Dublin we had bottled beer in the canteen. Miller, Bud, Bulmers, Coors Light, etc. All ice-cold and all free!

WOW!!

Bob the Builder

J.S. Pill wrote: »

WOW!!

double wow!

watna

Every Friday the senior managers here have a meeting and sometimes have wine. If they have some they pass it out to me. As I type this they're in their having champagne. If there's someone's leaving do the staff in their department will sometimes have a glass of wine at their desks before they go. (I'm working in NZ by the way).

There's a booze cupboard in work (and I ahve the key mwah hah hah!)

My Oh (who is a kiwi) was always telling me that on Friday's they'd drink in the office. I never believed him, now I've seen it for myself it's pretty awesome. Guess it's a culture thing.

BraziliaNZ

there's a beer fridge here too but I never really have any because I go to the gym straight after work might have one today though

DublinWriter

leeroybrown wrote: »

I spent some time working in the UK relatively recently. The place where I worked had no issue with us having a pint or two with a pub lunch on a Friday.

That always used to amaze me when I worked over there.

Every Friday we were able to fit in a leisurely 4/5 rounds of drinks plus grub, then head back to the office totally polluted.

BraziliaNZ

the feeling of dizzy lightheadedness drunk is horrible when in the office I think

How Strange

I'd never heard of this before and my initial response would've been ' :eek: absolutely no way' but I see from other posters that it's considered quite normal in some companies.

I've heard of one consultancy company who treats staff to champagne on a Friday and I thought that was incredible.

I need to start working for German or Dutch companies

BTW, I agree with BraziliaNZ, that feeling of tipsy drunkness is horrible in work, talking about killing the buzz

Saruman

Drunk would not be nice at the work place but a pint of guinness would go down well at lunch time.

the_syco

A load of nordic countries, as well as some of the German companies ring the helpdesk I work in... probably why it's quite Friday evening, but busy Monday morning.

BC

When i worked in australia they used to take us all for a long lunch on fridays - BBQ and beer.

On the Health and safety issue - as long as they aren't forcing you to drink i wouldn't have thought that what you do after you clock out impacts on the company at all. Otherwise, if i leave work and go and break into a shop, is that my employers problem?? Where is might have an impact is if you have a few too many beers in work and injure yourself on the premises.

ibh

When i worked in Sydney we had 2 beer fridges in work. From 4.30 on friday till as late as you wanted, you could stay in work drinking.

It was a car garage that i worked in and the beer was paid for by selling Aluminium from broken parts (wheels etc) to a scrap yard. Also paid for Pizza for 15 every fortnight.
Also had to work halfdays on Saturdays sometimes until around 12pm. At 10.30am Beer o' Clock was called so we'd be supping and working.
Sometimes if the Saturday hangover was dodgy, a beer at 8am start was required to get the body moving.

Still go for a pint the odd lunchtime, mainly on fridays.

I miss leaving work pissed at 8pm on a friday night wearing my tie as a headband....

DublinWriter

BC wrote: »

Otherwise, if i leave work and go and break into a shop, is that my employers problem?? Where is might have an impact is if you have a few too many beers in work and injure yourself on the premises.

One public-sector client of mine have cracked down on this big-time.

They used to have various social clubs that used the staff canteen after hours for functions and they paid for their own alcohol, food, etc.

About a year ago HRM H&S came down on the practice like a ton of bricks and banned such events on the grounds of someone having a skinful and injuring him or herself on the premises.

It's a shame really as where do you effectively draw the line with employee safety? I can understand the concerns in this overly litigious society of ours, a trait we seem to share exclusively with the United States, but on the other hand such functions were great bonding exercises for staff and good fun too.

Even crazier still is the bar in the Dail which until a couple of years ago was operating without any form of license whatsoever.

Eoin

BC wrote: »

On the Health and safety issue - as long as they aren't forcing you to drink i wouldn't have thought that what you do after you clock out impacts on the company at all. Otherwise, if i leave work and go and break into a shop, is that my employers problem?? Where is might have an impact is if you have a few too many beers in work and injure yourself on the premises.

The employer could easily be found accountable for whatever happens when the employee leaves work. Same goes for employers being responsible for whatever might happen on a work night out. Unfortunately, it seems that no-one can take responsibility for their own actions in this litigious day and age.

Personally I wouldn't want to have beers in work, as I would not be able to concentrate (aside from the fact I drive into work). If it's a social event, then I'd rather it was done down the pub.

BostonB

I've been in a few companies where they've stopped any alcohol at events on premises. Only place I've worked that allowed beer during work was in Germany.

HashSlinging

My whole team got totally wasted one night in work, we were working on the HD while the our new building was being offically opened.. Free bar for all guests, we were told we could have a "few".. haha never forget it.. we had all the large bins from the kitchen at our desks full of empty bottles. Still working...very badly...witness phone recording software rocks!!

Pythia

I've been brought out for lunch by managers where there was lots of alcohol, then we'd go back to work, but I could never imagine sitting at my desk drinking. It's an odd thought!

Borzoi

BostonB wrote: »

Only place I've worked that allowed beer during work was in Germany.

I've seen this in works canteens in France, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania too. Done the 4-5pints at lunch in the UK and back to work.

Bach haome it's just been at Christmas that there would be some drink on the premises

steo87

micmclo wrote: »

When I started in my current job in Dublin we had bottled beer in the canteen. Miller, Bud, Bulmers, Coors Light, etc. All ice-cold and all free!
And it was perfectly acceptable to sit at your desk around 4:30pm on a Friday evening with a bottled beer in one hand as you worked away on your PC. Everyone did it, from management to the young lad in the mailroom.

And it’s the banking industry so sometimes you’d be here until 10pm. Those days, especially on Fridays, you could have 2-3 drinks in work before you left.
And the World Cup, sitting in the canteen at lunch and having a beer

God, I sound like an alcoholic.
So I gather this isn’t typical in most offices, it’s not an Irish company btw. It's a trading dept of a Dutch Bank (not Rabobank)

They’ve got rid of this citing Health and Saftey legislation. :mad:
They’d be liable if someone drove home after work and crashed or tripped down as stairs. Sure publicans don’t have these concerns.

So folks, anyone else here have a perk like this and anyone have info I can send to HR to get this back? There’s a drink in it for you. :pac:

(I gather that employers providing drink is very common in Germany. And when I worked in the UK, it was common to have a drink at lunch, not so much here)

Holy sh!t!! you have the best job ever!

Davidth88

I have seen this in Holland , but not here .

When I was much younger in London it was normal on a Friday lunchtime to have 3-4 beers......

I have now got a policy in my own head that I don't drink at work ( lunch etc ) at all , could be because I worked for 15 years for a retail company where it was a sackable offence ( even for the head office people like me ).

pow wow

Wherever I worked in the UK they had zero problem with you taking a 3 hour liquid lunch on a Friday and tumbling back into the office to grab your stuff, sit there for an hour or so 'working' and then heading home. That said, the contracts had strict 'no alcohol on the premises' rules.

Presumably if they're providing the alcohol it opens them up to potential culpability in the event of you doing something whilst 'under the influence'...

zoemax

Safety legislation changed in 2005 so that employees must

''now ensure that he or she is not under the influence of an intoxicant to the extent that he or she is in such a state as to endanger his or her own safety, health or welfare at work or that of any other person''

I think the thing that caused that clause to be introduced into the legislation was an incident where a well known builder told a judge in a prosecution by the HSA that he had no problem with his staff having a few pints at lunchtime before coming back to work when one his crane drivers was being prosecuted for operating a tower crane in the centre of Dublin after having a few, he was so bad that people rang the Guards when they seen the crane swinging wildly. Once the employer said that the judge decided that the crane driver had not broken any law so he was let off.

When I worked in the UK we used to have a feed of pints at lunch time on a Friday, go back to the lab and spend the next 3 hours looking through a microscope and developing a really bad hangover.

mikemac

Sorry to reopen this thread, I was the OP here

Yeah, alcohol was banned when I started Post 1 but as of last Friday, they reintroduced it

In the office until 8pm Friday, most people had drinks, one lad had 6 bottles of Heineken!
Tbh, drinking that much is just going to get it withdrawn from the rest of us and is just messing realy

I agree with other posters, seems to be a big thing with German and Dutch companies. My company is Dutch anyway
I've seen this UK liquid lunch thing too, doesn't seem to happen in Ireland though I definitly saw it in Belfast strangely.

Any Irish employers do this and give free beer?

LadyE

We get free champers/wine when something big has happened..or if there is a big birthday etc.

The_Conductor

LadyE wrote: »

We get free champers/wine when something big has happened..or if there is a big birthday etc.

We often have a tea party to celebrate birthdays, new borns, exam results, breaking for Christmas etc- at which we'd have a few bottles of wine along with copious amounts of cake and other nibbles. We all contribute towards it- and it really is a great way of helping develop a sense of teamship among us all- particularly if work has been particularly ****ty lately.

S.

parsi

When I worked in an office in Berlin it was not uncommon for them to shut up shop in the afternoon for a small civilised party (even did it for my birthday). The phones would be switched over to the answering machine.

Then bang on home time they'd finish their drinks and off they'd go.

It was at one of these parties that the bossman apologised to me on behalf of the Germans for bombing the North Strand.

Around this time we'd often have lunch in the post office canteen and I used be amazed that they had beer on draught.