These office food faux pas are hurting staff morale

From boozy lunches to chilli eating competitions

These office food faux pas are hurting staff morale

Getting along well with colleagues is part and parcel of a happy and inclusive company culture. As such, understanding what annoys and aggravates your co-workers is a good place to start.

A report from CV-Library found that 46% of employees agree on a set of ‘lunchtime taboos’ – certain acts that all workers should avoid at noon.

After interviewing over 1,000 employees, the report highlighted attitudes toward eating habits in the workplace.

Employees listed their top six gripes as being;

  • Drinking alcohol on your lunch break (39%)
  • Eating smelly food (36.8%)
  • Making a mess of the shared kitchen (32.2%)
  • Eating too unhealthily (28.2%)
  • Not taking a lunch break at all (25.4%)
  • Taking too long on your lunch break (22%)

Speaking on the matter, Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, commented: “Although how you choose to spend your lunchtime, and what you eat is down to personal choice, it’s clear that there are certain faux pas that professionals find hard to ignore.

“We spend a great deal of our time at work, and if your lunchtime habits are having a negative impact on your colleagues it could be time to rethink your choices.”

The report also included some testimonials from the employees themselves.

One worker admitted: “I once had fish for lunch and I re-heated it in the microwave, it made the whole office smell, and everyone knew it was me – I was so embarrassed!”

Another added: “We had a contractor in last year and he decided to turn the toaster on its side in an attempt to cook cheese on toast, and it caught on fire.”

Other incidents included employees who had their mothers make their sandwiches, chilli eating competitions and food theft.

 

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