Office romances are in, but lunchtime pints are out
New research has revealed that a pint at lunchtime is out, but dating colleagues is acceptable when it comes to 21st century working etiquette.
A survey by recruitment site CV-Library found that three-quarters of employees think drinking during working hours is unacceptable workplace behaviour while over 70 per cent think tardiness is frowned upon.
And when it comes to employer attitudes to such blunders, over half of those surveyed were of the belief that UK workplaces have got stricter in recent years, with health and safety legislation cited as a key reason for this.
But having relationships with co-workers, wearing casual clothes, and having tattoos previously frowned upon in many offices were all seen as acceptable by those surveyed.
our data reveals some stark contradictions between workplace strictness and office taboos, said Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library.
whilst it is very much down to the organisation in question, these findings align with trends we are seeing in the workplace, such as increased diversity, more flexible working and more openness around salaries, through gender pay gap discussions.
Plenty of British workers are taking advantage of more relaxed attitudes to working relationships, according to a survey by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) in November 2015.It revealed the average worker will have at least one office romance over the course of their career with six per cent racking up five or more.
And despite the fact that it is frowned upon, British workers are not shunning the lunchtime pint completely. A survey carried out by Alcohol Concern in November 2015 found that one-in-ten men regularly have their first drink of the day before 4pm with those in London most likely to have a glass of wine with lunch.
Boris Johnson is a famous proponent of a half-pint at midday, famously declaring the thing about two pints at lunch is that you don’t feel drunk, you just feel ever so slightly superb.
But Biggins argued that restrictions are for everyone’s benefit: This type of disruption harms both staff and overall business productivity, so it’s not surprising that employers are implementing sterner rules around behaviour at work.
