The Smell of Food is Offensive?

[Venus193]

Back during the turn of the last century, houses were built with kitchens as far away from living/dining rooms as possible on the assumption that cooking odors were offensive.  I have never understood that, unless eating was considered to be almost on par with sex on the obscenity scale.

This was the mindset of the CEO of a company I worked for umpteen years ago.  She would not permit anyone to work at her desk because of this and... that company had no cafeteria space.  We were allowed to eat in the conference room, but only on days when there were no client meetings.  So if you routinely brought your lunch to save money, you would be out of luck that day (we were

My current CEO is talking about instituting a similar rule when we move to a new space in March.  Considering how many times we have to work at our desks through client crises (like right now) I consider this rule to be unrealistic and punitive.

What is the consensus here?

[Sterling]

I feel that unless the company offers a space for eating and someone isn;t eating something so strong smellings that others are running for safty I think it is unrealistic.  Of course I like you eat at my desk 5 days a week.  I am eating right now because this is my lunch break.  We have a break room but people always want to "chat" and I don't.  I can not afford to eat lunch at $10 a day somewhere else when for $10 a week I can pack my lunch and watch exactly what I eat and how many calories.

I can understand that if you work where clients walk past that eating can look unprofessional but in that case a space should be reserved for employes to eat.

Also does this mean you can't also have water or coffee at your desk?

[Bethalize]

My current CEO is talking about instituting a similar rule when we move to a new space in March.  Considering how many times we have to work at our desks through client crises (like right now) I consider this rule to be unrealistic and punitive.

Sounds like the boss hasn't considered the business case. It has benefits either way.

[ShadesOfGrey]

I can understand that if you work where clients walk past that eating can look unprofessional but in that case a space should be reserved for employes to eat.

I think this is the crux of the issue.  As someone situated close to a kitchen, I have to say, I'd appreciate a space far away from regular office duties for co-workers to chat and heat up their last night's leftover garlic and sardines....

[Venus193]

BTW, this is an ethnic company and all of us like different ethnic foods.  Thanks to conference calling and lower travel allowances from clients, in-person meetings in the office are few and far-between.

[FoxPaws]

Unless the new building provides a clean, convenient space specifically for employees to eat - such as a breakroom on the same floor - that is not a reasonable request.

Personally, I quit working through my lunch breaks years ago when I realized that if I dropped dead tomorrow, they'd simply send some cheesy funeral wreath to my Mother, find a replacement, and carry on business as usual. My current boss - a total hard case about most things - insists we take our lunch breaks.

If CEO insists on pushing the no food policy, let her know you will no longer be eating at your desk but you will be taking a lunch. It would be worth it to see what the state labor laws and official company policy is regarding breaks - what she's proposing might actually get her in trouble.

[Chocolate Cake]

Back during the turn of the last century, houses were built with kitchens as far away from living/dining rooms as possible on the assumption that cooking odors were offensive.

I've never heard this rational before.  I do understand, though, that kitchens were situated in a separate building away from the main house due to fire hazard and because of the heat generated just added to the misery of summer otherwise.

I think you would be wise to tell your manager that a good many people bring their lunches to save money and won't be particularly pleased if there is no where to eat.  As a result, not accomodating for them will affect morale.   And, definitely bring up that it will seriously cut down on staff willing to work through the lunch hour during crisis times because they'll be too hungry to do so.  Plus, that's not even including people that have to eat regularly due to medical conditions, so she could be violating some part of the Disabilities Act.

Although I wouldn't say this, it sounds like your boss has some personal issues with food that she needs to keep out of her managerial role.  

[CocoCamm]

I definitely don't find the smell of food offensive but I can see how it can be distracting. Personally I hate Chinease food, even the smell gives me the willies (bad experience in my younger years) but I grin and bear it when people in my office order. I think its all about tolerance, something that people have little of these days.

[Venus193]

Although I wouldn't say this, it sounds like your boss has some personal issues with food that she needs to keep out of her managerial role.  

I think that was definitely true of the former CEO; I'm not sure about this one.  It is something to think about, though.

[Venus193]

Personally I hate Chinease food, even the smell gives me the willies (bad experience in my younger years) but I grin and bear it when people in my office order.

Interestingly, we currently share office space with an Asian-American agency.  They bring in food all the time.

[kingsrings]

It is law in most states that employers must provide a space for their employees to take their breaks, such as a lunchroom. Personally, I don't want to work in a space that is permeated by all kinds of food smells, especially strong, unpleasant ones. If there is a lunch room, then employees should have the common courtesty to others to eat their lunch there. Even if you are too busy to take lunch and leave your desk, most people can eat their lunch in fifteen minutes or less.

[kiero]

Before I went on Mat leave my office was right next the the 'breakroom'.  That's fine for a while - but when the guy who comes in early wants to heat up his food at 10:30am it really bites.  I also hate the office enviroment when everyone runs and hides at their desks.  Personally I think a little human interaction is good for working together.  But then I've always worked for small companies where collaboration is vital and so getting to know each other is imperative. 

So I think that having a 'must eat inthe breakroom' policy would be good for most offices.  But they need to provide a reasonably sized space where people who want to quietly read a book can and not be too bothered by those who want to chat. 

[Lisbeth]

If the company wants you to eat at your desk, it needs to put up with food smells.

At my last job, we weren't allowed to go outside the office for lunch during tax season (a big part of the reason why I don't work there anymore) but had to order in off a menu only one person got to select.  And we had to remain available to our supervisors and clients through lunch.

But I think the reasons why kitchens were built far from living rooms two centuries ago was:
1) Cooking was very noisy (it still is, but walls weren't soundproofed back then)
2) There was fear that a fire could get out of control and damage the rest of the house (considering that all cooking back then was over fires or on gas and there was no electricity, I think this was a reasonable fear)
3) To put more distance between people of higher classes and menial laborers (not justified IMO, but I wasn't alive back then to make the rules  )

[Sharnita]

If by ethnic food you are saying the food has strong odors then I think it is reasonable. If it is something that doesn't have astrong smell, it probably wouldn't matter. The smells linger long after the food is gone. I eat lunch in my classroom and there are things I won'r eat because I know the smell will still be around when the kids show up for afternoon classes.

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

OK, so this may upset people, but I figure since I love seafood and a lot of people cannot stand the smell, I should be fine admitting this.

I worked for a company where we had a breakroom I could not use because a gentleman ate Menudo every day, and another man ate highly curried foods.  The smell of the menudo and the curry would make me sick to my stomach, so I had to eat at my desk.  The strange thing is, there was a rule about not cooking fish in the microwave because of the smell (fine with me, I like mine fresh and properly cooked), but intestines were fine!

I also worked at a company that had a rule that you could not make microwave popcorn at work.  You could bring popped popcorn, but could not make it at work, this was for 2 reasons, being smoked out of an office when someone burnt the pop corn, and the President thought it "Smelled unprofessional" to have clients walk into an office that smelled like popcorn, said this was a place of business, not a carnival.