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July 16, 2010 11:25 AM Subscribe
Does anyone have experience with a "beer cart" at the office? I have a friend whose office pushes around a cart full of beer on Friday afternoons. He says it is awesome, improves morale, etc. We're thinking of implementing it here, but we're wondering if anyone had any experiences with it.
We're a small office of about 25, mostly men in their 30s and 40s. We have soda, tea and a bunch of other non-alcoholic drinks already stocked. The idea is that an hour or so before closing we'd push around a beer cart and have it be a weekly tradition.
No one here has ever heard of this, but my friend insists that it is common. He's a lawyer on the coast and we're a bunch of engineers in the Midwest.
The lone dissenting voice is the person who does HR who believes it to be, "inappropriate." So anyone have experience with this? Did it work or didn't it?
We're a small office of about 25, mostly men in their 30s and 40s. We have soda, tea and a bunch of other non-alcoholic drinks already stocked. The idea is that an hour or so before closing we'd push around a beer cart and have it be a weekly tradition.
No one here has ever heard of this, but my friend insists that it is common. He's a lawyer on the coast and we're a bunch of engineers in the Midwest.
The lone dissenting voice is the person who does HR who believes it to be, "inappropriate." So anyone have experience with this? Did it work or didn't it?
I worked at a software company that had been recently acquired by Nokia. We had beer Fridays. Didn't help my morale much.
posted by mkb at 11:30 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by mkb at 11:30 AM on July 16, 2010
And I've never worked any place where this would be acceptable.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 11:30 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by DieHipsterDie at 11:30 AM on July 16, 2010
Trading floors used to do it all the time. I haven't seen it since the mid 90s though.
posted by otto42 at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by otto42 at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010
In my wife's office, they pull out scotch on Friday afternoons. She actually brought in those little individual wine bottles so she could be collegial despite her hate of scotch.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010
I work at an international law office in New York, the home office being in London. We have drinks cart on Fridays. My understanding is that it's a very British thing. It's not actually a cart (though I imagine it was at one time) - about an hour before closing, beer, wine and snacks are put out in a common space. People like it a lot.
posted by Evangeline at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Evangeline at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
I know some law firms in the area have beer stocked fridges. Usually a runner collects money on Friday afternoon to stock it. Then everyone sits around and drinks instead of hitting a bar for happy hour.
This is Central texas, so there is a drinking culture. This is not seen as abnormal.
Not sure about the morale angle (or the moral angle).
I think sometimes you might end up with an alcohol fueled bitch session. Once the idea becomes accepted and expected. Especially if the company is paying.
posted by Seamus at 11:32 AM on July 16, 2010
This is Central texas, so there is a drinking culture. This is not seen as abnormal.
Not sure about the morale angle (or the moral angle).
I think sometimes you might end up with an alcohol fueled bitch session. Once the idea becomes accepted and expected. Especially if the company is paying.
posted by Seamus at 11:32 AM on July 16, 2010
Engineer here (the construction kind, not the computer kind). We occasionally buy a couple of cases after a winning a project or as an end of the week happy hour. Never heard of a cart though. Who wants to drink alone at their desk?
posted by electroboy at 11:32 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by electroboy at 11:32 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
I've never heard of this. I live and work in an office in NYC.
posted by dfriedman at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by dfriedman at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010
Ad agency. Beer call 4 pm every Friday.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
Never heard of this. The places where I've worked have always had a "zero tolerance" policy. No alcohol of any sort consumed during work hours, nobody to come to work under the influence, etc.
Personally, I can't see a lot of harm in a beer at the end of the day on Friday, but thinking like an administrator (ye gods, how I hate that!) I have to wonder how long it would take a lawyer to pin the blame on the company if anyone had a car accident on the way home from work, etc.
posted by wjm at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Personally, I can't see a lot of harm in a beer at the end of the day on Friday, but thinking like an administrator (ye gods, how I hate that!) I have to wonder how long it would take a lawyer to pin the blame on the company if anyone had a car accident on the way home from work, etc.
posted by wjm at 11:33 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would love this personally. But I can see how an organization would be concerned about liability. What if someone drinks too much and gets hurt or drives home? How do you handle it if someone seems to be bringing a substance abuse problem to work? Are there any weird legal issues around whether you sell it or provide it free? Can you use office funds to pay for alcohol?
I hate to be a buzzkill. Like I said, I'd love this and every now and then we have an extra 6-pack in the fridge. It's fun to sip beer and work.
*checks fridge* score!
posted by juliplease at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
I hate to be a buzzkill. Like I said, I'd love this and every now and then we have an extra 6-pack in the fridge. It's fun to sip beer and work.
*checks fridge* score!
posted by juliplease at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
A good friend of mine's company here in Chicagoland area did this every Friday (or similar -- the fridge was filled); he was a DBA in a place that sounds somewhat like yours demographic-wise and it was seen as a definite plus, especially since they spent a lot of nights working late. It really seemed to improve morale and there were no moral problems; it was seen as bad form to drink more than one (this may seem obvious) but there was no written rule as such.
If you're HR person is worried about inappropriateness, I'd go with some sort of written policy so nobody ruins it for everybody else.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010
If you're HR person is worried about inappropriateness, I'd go with some sort of written policy so nobody ruins it for everybody else.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010
We don't have a cart, but we do have a Friday Beers tradition. At 5pm on Fridays, we have beer, soda, juices and take out delivered. It used to be super popular and back in the day we did have some departments that had to work late every other Friday so they were here anyway, but now most people just grab a slice of pizza and take off. I don't think we could do it earlier than 5pm and have it be appropriate and most of our employees are old enough that hanging out at work on a Friday night isn't really that interesting.
posted by marylynn at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by marylynn at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010
When I was at Big Bank, we had an analyst happy-hour every Thursday evening and the bank provided us beer, pizza and other snacks. Sometimes it helped morale. But usually it was just mean--I couldn't really drink at 5pm because I still had to work for another 8 hours after that.
posted by mullacc at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mullacc at 11:34 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
For what it's worth: This is not uncommon in the Netherlands (one place I worked had a weekly 'borrel', as we call it), but you have to go to the company bar/a particular room for drinks. I'm not at all sure how it would go down in the US where I understand that attitudes towards alcohol are somewhat different.
posted by rubbish bin night at 11:36 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by rubbish bin night at 11:36 AM on July 16, 2010
The do, or until recently, did this in some of the law firms in NYC. Paul, Weiss in particular. A friend of mine worked there and someone would come around with cocktails on Friday afternoons (the joke, of course, being that many associates have MUCH MORE WORK to do when the cart comes around, but, hey, fuck it).
In any event, to the extent that this perk has been cut, it's a casualty of the economy, not due to liability. Nonetheless, you should check with your lawyer to see what the company's liability is.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:37 AM on July 16, 2010
In any event, to the extent that this perk has been cut, it's a casualty of the economy, not due to liability. Nonetheless, you should check with your lawyer to see what the company's liability is.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:37 AM on July 16, 2010
We have beer Fridays where I work. Every Friday afternoon, beer and pop magically show up - it's wonderful. Mind you, I work at a large software/gaming company that is trying desperately to hang onto the excess of the dot-com boom, but with today's budget constraints. Either way, it seems to go over really well here.
posted by cgg at 11:38 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by cgg at 11:38 AM on July 16, 2010
We did this at my previous job (high-dollar wholesale insurance brokerage in Los Angeles). Now I work for a beer wholesaler and they would never dream of it, probably because the industry is very aware of the liability issues involved.
posted by something something at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by something something at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2010
I was a Software Engineer at an off-campus office of a large printing company in the midwest. We had a "beer-o-clock" tradition on Friday afternoons that definitely improved morale, not that morale was ever actually low. The company itself was very alcohol-tolerant. No actual cart involved but the same end-result was achieved.
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 11:41 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 11:41 AM on July 16, 2010
I worked at an Internet start-up in NYC ten years ago that did this (although not on a cart). The first time I thought it was sort of neat -- Hey! Free beer! -- but I quickly realized that if I was going to drink beer and not work, I'd rather do it with friends, somewhere other than the office. I was freelance and (reasonably enough) wasn't allowed to bill for the beer time.
It ended up being a bit alienating for me, as there was this supposedly fun thing going on and I would just leave.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:41 AM on July 16, 2010
It ended up being a bit alienating for me, as there was this supposedly fun thing going on and I would just leave.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:41 AM on July 16, 2010
I worked for a theater festival a few summers back that would have dock party Fridays. A coffee can would be passed around the various departments, and someone from the scene shop would go pick up beer and pizza towards the end of the day. It was great.
posted by mollymayhem at 11:42 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by mollymayhem at 11:42 AM on July 16, 2010
Personally, I can't see a lot of harm in a beer at the end of the day on Friday, but thinking like an administrator (ye gods, how I hate that!) I have to wonder how long it would take a lawyer to pin the blame on the company if anyone had a car accident on the way home from work, etc.
This happened where I used to work. The guy got on the freeway going the wrong way and hit someone head-on. I don't think the company was actually held liable, but that ended "beer Friday."
At any rate, I used to enjoy the free food and mingling aspects a lot more than the beer. I never understood the people who would take a beer and go back to their desk, as if working while drinking beer was somehow pleasurable to them. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, a weekly gathering can be a lot of fun even without alcohol.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:44 AM on July 16, 2010
This happened where I used to work. The guy got on the freeway going the wrong way and hit someone head-on. I don't think the company was actually held liable, but that ended "beer Friday."
At any rate, I used to enjoy the free food and mingling aspects a lot more than the beer. I never understood the people who would take a beer and go back to their desk, as if working while drinking beer was somehow pleasurable to them. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, a weekly gathering can be a lot of fun even without alcohol.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:44 AM on July 16, 2010
I worked at a computer company that would have a "beer bash" on alternative Fridays with beer, other refreshments and light nibblies. It was a fun, nice way to end up the week, and I don't remember people getting smashed or acting inappropriate. (...or more inappropriate than usual.)
posted by Bella Sebastian at 11:46 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by Bella Sebastian at 11:46 AM on July 16, 2010
No cart, but I've worked at a couple offices where beer was an occasional feature during Friday meetings. It was fun as a novelty, but it also meant I'd be doing the last hour or two of work while buzzed.
I'd be worried that there may be a couple employees, current or future, who don't drink for whatever reason and might feel excluded by this practice.
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:46 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'd be worried that there may be a couple employees, current or future, who don't drink for whatever reason and might feel excluded by this practice.
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:46 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Friends of mine in Dallas say their company does this (beer cart, Fridays, around 3 pm or so). I'm insanely jealous, but not jealous enough to want to work at an ad agency.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2010
Our company used to do beer afternoons. Then they realized all those partaking where driving company vehicles home and stopped.
May have improved the morale at work, but i think the morale of some of the marriages suffered when beer afternoon turned into beer night.
posted by domino at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
May have improved the morale at work, but i think the morale of some of the marriages suffered when beer afternoon turned into beer night.
posted by domino at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
This was common (and might still be) at an internet marketing/technology agency I recently worked at. At 3 or 4 on Friday a senior manager would push the cart around and those who were so inclined would imbibe.
Morale-wise, I'd say it had a negligible affect. The only people who would take the beer were those would could afford to slack a bit the last few hours of the week. And it was usually late enough on a Friday that you didn't have time to get drunk anyway.
Every once in a long while, a few people would stick around after work and make an evening of it, a la Don Draper et al. But this was rare. I never heard of anything approaching lawsuit-worthy ever happening. Which isn't to say it couldn't.....
posted by kables at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
Morale-wise, I'd say it had a negligible affect. The only people who would take the beer were those would could afford to slack a bit the last few hours of the week. And it was usually late enough on a Friday that you didn't have time to get drunk anyway.
Every once in a long while, a few people would stick around after work and make an evening of it, a la Don Draper et al. But this was rare. I never heard of anything approaching lawsuit-worthy ever happening. Which isn't to say it couldn't.....
posted by kables at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
We do this where I work - however, it's a gathering, not a cart, and it's sponsored by a different work group each week. Snacks are also provided, either store-bought or showcasing people's baking talents. Also, almost everyone takes public transit, so drunk driving is less of a concern. I think that the cart idea is strange, but I find getting together on Friday afternoons when productivity is already low is a nice way to mingle and keep in touch with people in my immediate field. Its like a mini-networking event every week.
posted by fermezporte at 11:55 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by fermezporte at 11:55 AM on July 16, 2010
I work at an internet-related company of about 50 people. We have a fridge of beer. It's nice. The informal rule is to wait until the end of the day to have one. It's not as if people are getting wasted at their desks.
posted by the jam at 12:00 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by the jam at 12:00 PM on July 16, 2010
I worked at a hedge fund in NYC for 3.5 years, and we had company-wide happy hours once a month, fully catered and with beer and wine. We also had department-wide smaller happy hours, catered less expensively but also with beer and wine. They started around 5:30 but no one ever was done with work that early, so I did a lot of month-end reconciliation mildly buzzed.
It helped morale. I worked in finance for 3.5 years, and I didn't really want to.
posted by millipede at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2010
It helped morale. I worked in finance for 3.5 years, and I didn't really want to.
posted by millipede at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2010
Years ago, we're talking late 80s, I worked in an architecture firm in Boston. Every Friday afternoon we had beer, wine, cheese and crackers that were served while one or more architects presented on projects (mostly current, sometimes past). It was a mid-sized firm (about 50 staff members consisting of architects, interns, and administrative staff. Everyone was strongly encouraged to attend, or at least drop by for a few minutes, even if you were working on a project with a quickly encroaching deadline. I think that they (the partners/senior staff) viewed it not only as an opportunity to build camaraderie, but also as professional development for the younger staff as they got to see other projects and get some insight into design decisions from senior architects. I don't recall a single instance of anyone getting drunk or it causing any other problems.
posted by kaybdc at 12:02 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kaybdc at 12:02 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am a little surprised.
Most of the companies that I have worked for have had a zero tolerance policy.
The most recent firm went from company sanctioned (although after hours) parties to gatherings with no alcohol whatsoever. When questioned, they cited the liability.
Even the New Year's bash went from completely open bar to you get a single "coupon" for a drink at the bar.
posted by Drasher at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2010
Most of the companies that I have worked for have had a zero tolerance policy.
The most recent firm went from company sanctioned (although after hours) parties to gatherings with no alcohol whatsoever. When questioned, they cited the liability.
Even the New Year's bash went from completely open bar to you get a single "coupon" for a drink at the bar.
posted by Drasher at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2010
You (or HR, or the CEO, if you're not the person in charge) might want to craft an "alcohol policy." It doesn't have to be very in-depth, but it should outline when it is appropriate to drink alcohol at the office and/or when you are “on the clock” off premises.
My office has the occasional “wine Fridays,” during which we end our work day half an hour early, meet in the conference room, have a glass or two of wine (or something else, for non-drinkers) and talk about non-work stuff. We have a small staff, so it’s a great opportunity to get to know each other in a more relaxed environment. Everyone loves it, and it fosters a better sense of community that is harder to maintain when we’re all cooped up in our individual offices, with only the occasional hallway chat.
posted by SugarAndSass at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2010
My office has the occasional “wine Fridays,” during which we end our work day half an hour early, meet in the conference room, have a glass or two of wine (or something else, for non-drinkers) and talk about non-work stuff. We have a small staff, so it’s a great opportunity to get to know each other in a more relaxed environment. Everyone loves it, and it fosters a better sense of community that is harder to maintain when we’re all cooped up in our individual offices, with only the occasional hallway chat.
posted by SugarAndSass at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2010
I remember beer Fridays at a (largeish, biotech) company in Boston in the mid-90s. It was a nice way to blow off steam at the end of the week, and I can't remember anyone getting visibly intoxicated. I later worked at an ad agency, where the office drinking was daily and unconstrained, and got out of hand on more than one occasion. Of the two environments, I preferred the former.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 12:10 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 12:10 PM on July 16, 2010
your success may depend on a couple of key issues (disclosure: I work for an in-house attorney):
1) local liquor laws (some of them can be surprisingly byzantine, so I would check first)
2) company liability, and accordingly, company policy (you didn't clarify if this was a self-owned company, a branch of a corporation or ???)
Anecdata 1) My current company (branch of large European owned corporation) frequently does Friday afternoon events where alcohol is served, and it seems to be okay with local codes to do this on private property (Boulder, Colorado). That said, we don't allow employees to drink on the clock, or return to work after drinking, so pretty much once you crack a beer, you're done for the day. At all of these events, there is also always an HR rep on hand to monitor affairs and/or arrange transportation for anyone they feel shouldn't be driving home.
Anecdata 2) In the late 90's, I worked for a pharmaceutical training institute in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. They did frequent gala (and FAC-type) events for their employees and clientele, and in order to do so, they had to obtain their own private liquor licence to circumvent some weird local liquor law that banned "open container" at any events involving 25 people or more (yes, even tho they were run on private / company property). Ohio can apparently be a pain in the ass in regards to liquor laws, tho this may have changed since 1999.
Anecdata 3) At another Colorado company I worked for five or six years ago, we had a well-stocked beer fridge onsite and did FAC (Friday Afternoon Club) every 2-3 weeks, or whenever we felt like it. This happened to be a little privately owned biotech startup (~35 employees) and so the rules were correspondingly a bit looser; we didn't actually have onsite HR people or legal counsel either so, you know, whatever. That said, there was a tacit understanding that a) you didn't go back to work in the lab after drinking, and b) we'd call a cab if we thought you needed it. Small close-knit company, we did tend to look out for each other.
So in summary, your 2 major concerns are local codes and company liability. But I think it can be done.
posted by lonefrontranger at 12:10 PM on July 16, 2010
1) local liquor laws (some of them can be surprisingly byzantine, so I would check first)
2) company liability, and accordingly, company policy (you didn't clarify if this was a self-owned company, a branch of a corporation or ???)
Anecdata 1) My current company (branch of large European owned corporation) frequently does Friday afternoon events where alcohol is served, and it seems to be okay with local codes to do this on private property (Boulder, Colorado). That said, we don't allow employees to drink on the clock, or return to work after drinking, so pretty much once you crack a beer, you're done for the day. At all of these events, there is also always an HR rep on hand to monitor affairs and/or arrange transportation for anyone they feel shouldn't be driving home.
Anecdata 2) In the late 90's, I worked for a pharmaceutical training institute in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. They did frequent gala (and FAC-type) events for their employees and clientele, and in order to do so, they had to obtain their own private liquor licence to circumvent some weird local liquor law that banned "open container" at any events involving 25 people or more (yes, even tho they were run on private / company property). Ohio can apparently be a pain in the ass in regards to liquor laws, tho this may have changed since 1999.
Anecdata 3) At another Colorado company I worked for five or six years ago, we had a well-stocked beer fridge onsite and did FAC (Friday Afternoon Club) every 2-3 weeks, or whenever we felt like it. This happened to be a little privately owned biotech startup (~35 employees) and so the rules were correspondingly a bit looser; we didn't actually have onsite HR people or legal counsel either so, you know, whatever. That said, there was a tacit understanding that a) you didn't go back to work in the lab after drinking, and b) we'd call a cab if we thought you needed it. Small close-knit company, we did tend to look out for each other.
So in summary, your 2 major concerns are local codes and company liability. But I think it can be done.
posted by lonefrontranger at 12:10 PM on July 16, 2010
This is pretty common in advertising, on both coasts.
The last agency I worked in was large (250 + people), and we had 'Beer Cart' every Friday (it was actually a kiddie pool filled with beer and ice out in the courtyard, though, rather than a proper cart). The agency I work for now is small (25 people or so), and we have two kegs in the office at all times (4 o'clock is generally regarded as 'Beer Time' here). People often have a bottle of whisky or whatever in their desk (or on it), too.
posted by Pecinpah at 12:12 PM on July 16, 2010
The last agency I worked in was large (250 + people), and we had 'Beer Cart' every Friday (it was actually a kiddie pool filled with beer and ice out in the courtyard, though, rather than a proper cart). The agency I work for now is small (25 people or so), and we have two kegs in the office at all times (4 o'clock is generally regarded as 'Beer Time' here). People often have a bottle of whisky or whatever in their desk (or on it), too.
posted by Pecinpah at 12:12 PM on July 16, 2010
Academic departments frequently have a visiting speaker on Friday (sometimes Th) afternoons. The official talk and discussion is usually followed by a brief reception, with wine and snacks, Sure, it's largely to entertain the visitor, but it's also milling-around-chat-with-colleagues time.
I like it, both in my own department and when I'm the visiting speaker. I am always very sad for the schools that can't have wine for liability or funding reasons.
posted by kestrel251 at 12:14 PM on July 16, 2010
I like it, both in my own department and when I'm the visiting speaker. I am always very sad for the schools that can't have wine for liability or funding reasons.
posted by kestrel251 at 12:14 PM on July 16, 2010
A few years ago, I worked at a consulting company and my team did internet-related work. I don't know if this was officially condoned or not, but on random Friday afternoons the team leader would show up with a case of beer for everyone to share. We'd all crowd around his cube, grab a beer, chat for a few minutes, then go back to our desks and continue working, beers in hand. It was nice, casual, but probably a liability that slipped under the radar. This was on the East Coast.
posted by sa3z at 12:16 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by sa3z at 12:16 PM on July 16, 2010
I've worked at places with Beer Fridays, and for those who drank, they loved it. I don't drink, but I have no opposition to Beer Fridays. I just ate the munchies instead.
One tip - throw in some 'gourmet' or 'fancy' sodas for those of us who don't drink, but want to celebrate the end of the week. One rep who organized them brought in a high quality non-alcoholic beer for the nondrinkers, and that was a big hit.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:22 PM on July 16, 2010
One tip - throw in some 'gourmet' or 'fancy' sodas for those of us who don't drink, but want to celebrate the end of the week. One rep who organized them brought in a high quality non-alcoholic beer for the nondrinkers, and that was a big hit.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:22 PM on July 16, 2010
Advertising agency — beer/drinks every Friday, and any "party" we had was well-stocked with alcohol. Current company (large publication corp) not so liquor-friendly, to my chagrin. Check liquor laws, obviously. I think it's an awesome idea. Improved my morale, not so much my morals.
posted by good day merlock at 12:25 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by good day merlock at 12:25 PM on July 16, 2010
The small (6-7 people) office I worked in occasionally did that on holidays. No cart, just a couple of six packs of Guinness in the kitchen frig. I had just moved to Seattle, and my boss told me that there are no open container laws in Washington State (it seem quite plausible to me, being European). He ended up chasing me down the street after I nonchalantly left with my can of Guinness to enjoy on my walk home. Oh well, I think I would have been just fine either way.
posted by halogen at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by halogen at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2010
Engineering in Boston, worked for two companies that had beer Fridays (one officially sponsored, one employee-organized). Also have had company-sponsored champagne when new contracts come in. No big deal, not enough beer there for anyone to get drunk anyway.
Except a few yew years ago, for the day before we all took off for Christmas when we started playing Fuck the Dealer at noon in the cafeteria with a few bottles of vodka. A director walked in, shook his head, told us not to drive home, and walked out. Ahh good times.
posted by olinerd at 12:32 PM on July 16, 2010
Except a few yew years ago, for the day before we all took off for Christmas when we started playing Fuck the Dealer at noon in the cafeteria with a few bottles of vodka. A director walked in, shook his head, told us not to drive home, and walked out. Ahh good times.
posted by olinerd at 12:32 PM on July 16, 2010
Google has a T.G.I.F. event with a full bar (not sure, might be just beer) every week. The employees I know seem to enjoy it and look forward to it.
posted by halogen at 12:36 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by halogen at 12:36 PM on July 16, 2010
Almost every tech company I've ever worked for in Bay Area has had some version of a beer bash/ beer o'clock/beer Friday tradition. We have kegerators now - mostly reserved for Fridays - but also exercised for really good and really bad days between Fridays.
posted by Wolfie at 12:47 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfie at 12:47 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
When I worked for Salomon Smith Barney (ca. 2001), the old-timers there bemoaned that the old-school practice of drinks on Friday afternoons had been stopped. Sherry was mentioned (bleargh, hate sherry) though I understand they used to do other hard liquor as well. Wouldn't start up til closing bell (end of trading day), though.
Personally, I would have worked there longer if I could've had cocktails to block out the more obnoxious coworkers. :)
posted by bitter-girl.com at 12:50 PM on July 16, 2010
Personally, I would have worked there longer if I could've had cocktails to block out the more obnoxious coworkers. :)
posted by bitter-girl.com at 12:50 PM on July 16, 2010
I've had this at one place I work, and it was great. A beer or two, some snacks, and a chance to hang out at the end of the week. Also, it meant people would get to chat to others from the same building but different departments, people who they probably wouldn't have had a chance to meet otherwise. I think it definitely created a sense of unity among the people there, and was good for morale.
That being said, you'd have to be careful about people driving home afterwards if they've had a few.
posted by twirlypen at 12:52 PM on July 16, 2010
That being said, you'd have to be careful about people driving home afterwards if they've had a few.
posted by twirlypen at 12:52 PM on July 16, 2010
Most of the places I've worked and my friends have worked (mind you these are mostly media/tech companies, even the large ones) have had beer fridays, a kegerator in office, "vodka-thirty", etc.
However pretty much nobody I know drives to work... I think the acceptability of this is somewhat different when the large majority of workers commute via subway compared to when they are all driving in.
posted by shownomercy at 12:57 PM on July 16, 2010
However pretty much nobody I know drives to work... I think the acceptability of this is somewhat different when the large majority of workers commute via subway compared to when they are all driving in.
posted by shownomercy at 12:57 PM on July 16, 2010
When I worked in France, we had champagne Friday - everyone would pitch in and clean the office, and then afterwards we'd have some fizz. It was an incentive and reward for cleaning every week, and a good segue into hitting one of the two bars in the town square.
Good times.
posted by djgh at 12:59 PM on July 16, 2010
Good times.
posted by djgh at 12:59 PM on July 16, 2010
I worked for a huge company in Redmond that had this sort of thing quite frequently, back in the day.
These were the risks/issues:
* Less mature members of the workforce were then free to communicate with customers/partners/other groups after being "loosened up", which did have some unfortunate results. Not a lot, but introducing "unfortunate" into business is hardly ever good even in small doses.
* Folks driving home after drinking - aside from obvious risk to their legal status and health & safety of everyone on the road, this created a liability for the company.
* Discovering that some co-workers couldn't handle even a single beer without donning "party self", thus transforming relaxation hour into ohnoes hour. Being too forward, buzzed backflips in front of VPs, starting bottle cap wars...the list goes on.
* Those with alcoholism were facing down their demon at what had been their one "safe" place.
I don't know if they still do this (they might), but I know some teams went with other morale boosts after some of these issues.
posted by batmonkey at 1:06 PM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
These were the risks/issues:
* Less mature members of the workforce were then free to communicate with customers/partners/other groups after being "loosened up", which did have some unfortunate results. Not a lot, but introducing "unfortunate" into business is hardly ever good even in small doses.
* Folks driving home after drinking - aside from obvious risk to their legal status and health & safety of everyone on the road, this created a liability for the company.
* Discovering that some co-workers couldn't handle even a single beer without donning "party self", thus transforming relaxation hour into ohnoes hour. Being too forward, buzzed backflips in front of VPs, starting bottle cap wars...the list goes on.
* Those with alcoholism were facing down their demon at what had been their one "safe" place.
I don't know if they still do this (they might), but I know some teams went with other morale boosts after some of these issues.
posted by batmonkey at 1:06 PM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
My first job out of college, the first friday eve was spent watching my manager and two other people try to finish off a mostly full keg leftover from a beer friday event.
My current job has monthly beer, wine and snack events that start at 3pm on a friday (there's even one today). Every department gets their turn, and throws a themed party. When the weather is warm enough, we do them out on the deck, otherwise they happen in the biggest conference room or the dining hall.
I used to work for a company that had a fair number of company sponsored work-hours-drinking events to celebrate specific milestones. They had a separate set of rules for the little close-knit group of guys from Romania, and let them drink a beer at their desks during the afternoons on every friday.
posted by nomisxid at 1:07 PM on July 16, 2010
My current job has monthly beer, wine and snack events that start at 3pm on a friday (there's even one today). Every department gets their turn, and throws a themed party. When the weather is warm enough, we do them out on the deck, otherwise they happen in the biggest conference room or the dining hall.
I used to work for a company that had a fair number of company sponsored work-hours-drinking events to celebrate specific milestones. They had a separate set of rules for the little close-knit group of guys from Romania, and let them drink a beer at their desks during the afternoons on every friday.
posted by nomisxid at 1:07 PM on July 16, 2010
I work at a lot of photo studios that do this at the end of every shoot. This is for jobs where we're all freelancers though.
I have friends who work at ad agencies in the creative department where this definitely happens, and a lot of times during the weekdays because they all work ridiculous hours.
posted by bradbane at 1:08 PM on July 16, 2010
I have friends who work at ad agencies in the creative department where this definitely happens, and a lot of times during the weekdays because they all work ridiculous hours.
posted by bradbane at 1:08 PM on July 16, 2010
My first real job out of college, I worked at an executive suites that would host a happy hour for clients after work hours on Fridays. But the other receptionists and I got to start drinking wine around 4. West Coast. I don't miss that job, but I miss that part.
posted by emkelley at 1:12 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by emkelley at 1:12 PM on July 16, 2010
At one company where I worked we had a keg in a keg fridge at all times in the lunch room but we only actually drank the beer on Fridays. It was OK. The company was horrible though so it didn't do much for my morale.
Google has a T.G.I.F. event with a full bar (not sure, might be just beer) every week.
Random wine, random beer, munchies.
posted by GuyZero at 1:17 PM on July 16, 2010
Google has a T.G.I.F. event with a full bar (not sure, might be just beer) every week.
Random wine, random beer, munchies.
posted by GuyZero at 1:17 PM on July 16, 2010
It's very common at tech companies here in Austin, TX to have a weekly beer party ("Beer Thirty") or all-the-time beer fridge, though I don't think I've heard of any carts. It's been quite popular at places where I've worked.
posted by magicbus at 1:42 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by magicbus at 1:42 PM on July 16, 2010
3 or 4 of the (chemistry and biochemistry) labs I've worked at have had lab beer stocks, generally stored in cold rooms, and two of the departments (to which labs I've worked in belonged) had more organized beer hours. However, these labs were all in (mostly American) cities where there was great public transportation, and almost no one drove. Also, beer hour was generally after 5pm (since scientists often work late), meaning that the day was essentially already done and people weren't going to do anything but computer work afterwards. Never heard of it causing serious problems, and people feel free to skip it if they're not interested.
posted by ubersturm at 2:16 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by ubersturm at 2:16 PM on July 16, 2010
If it makes you feel more normal I knew someone where they drank all day long, every day at their workplace.
Tough job doing production monitoring at an liquor plant.
posted by GuyZero at 2:21 PM on July 16, 2010
Tough job doing production monitoring at an liquor plant.
posted by GuyZero at 2:21 PM on July 16, 2010
Worked at an ad-type agency in Portland that had a party every Friday afternoon at 4. Whole lotta good times, but also a whole lotta drunk people driving home.
Batmonkey does a good job of capturing the downsides.
posted by ottereroticist at 2:32 PM on July 16, 2010
Batmonkey does a good job of capturing the downsides.
posted by ottereroticist at 2:32 PM on July 16, 2010
My first job in Denmark had this, they call it "fredagshygge" (Friday cosy/nice/enjoy). At around four the receptionist would email out that there was Fredagshygge in X room and people literally stampeded there. There would be several kinds of beer, a few bowls of candy/chips, the occasional cake or seasonal sweets. I didn't drink alcohol these years and often found it rather annoying to break out of my groove to go and socialize, only to return to work 30 minutes later. But I went for the free candy and coke and a few months later I really looked forward to them. It's a chance to tie up loose ends with Peter from department X in a more relaxed setting, catch up on Miriam's hunt-for-a-new-apartment and learn that Jacob has the silliest sense of humor.
Do note that everyone in Denmark (well, almost) takes the bus home on a Friday - and I was constantly teased for going back to work after the hygge was over.
* as bridbane points out, us adfolk could do this pretty much any day of the week, especially since we had a beer-account at this particular agency. The free beer wasn't what made the hygge, it was the fact that everyone from top brass to the cook popped in to say hi, "have a nice weekend" and hung out for a bit.
posted by dabitch at 2:41 PM on July 16, 2010
Do note that everyone in Denmark (well, almost) takes the bus home on a Friday - and I was constantly teased for going back to work after the hygge was over.
* as bridbane points out, us adfolk could do this pretty much any day of the week, especially since we had a beer-account at this particular agency. The free beer wasn't what made the hygge, it was the fact that everyone from top brass to the cook popped in to say hi, "have a nice weekend" and hung out for a bit.
posted by dabitch at 2:41 PM on July 16, 2010
Floor of coders for a big ol' company, beer was standard when working late.
posted by soma lkzx at 3:10 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by soma lkzx at 3:10 PM on July 16, 2010
Another advertising worker at a large agency in Chicago who enjoyed a beer/wine cart every Friday afternoon. I always thought it was because we had a large brewery as a client. I see now that I was wrong.
Also, workers -- even at the director and up level -- with several bottles of hard liquor in their offices were not uncommon.
The "Mad Men" days are not completely dead and gone.
posted by Work to Live at 3:16 PM on July 16, 2010
Also, workers -- even at the director and up level -- with several bottles of hard liquor in their offices were not uncommon.
The "Mad Men" days are not completely dead and gone.
posted by Work to Live at 3:16 PM on July 16, 2010
Beer, beer and more beer at....
A) ANY bicycle related business.
B) At ANY 16:00 hour regardless of day.
posted by No Shmoobles at 3:50 PM on July 16, 2010
A) ANY bicycle related business.
B) At ANY 16:00 hour regardless of day.
posted by No Shmoobles at 3:50 PM on July 16, 2010
When I worked at Lonely Planet - when they still had a full office in Oakland - we usually had beer Fridays. Either we had a pony keg on the loading dock, or we went down the street to the local dive. Many of us took public transit to work. And LP is an Australian company, so attitudes about alcohol at work were different.
posted by rtha at 3:50 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by rtha at 3:50 PM on July 16, 2010
this was a staple during my SF ad agency days. one agency did it daily except mondays (when, frankly, i think it was needed most!) and one agency did it only on fridays (rumor had it there it used to be daily ... until a nasty sexual harassment incident... but again, rumor ...)
perhaps the HR person can be appeased by asking for their input on what would turn their 'no' into a 'yes' - perhaps it is a drink limit (one to a customer?) or a combo of non alcoholic and decent beer (no crappy beer, no high alcohol content beer).
i think it is a healthy way to cut loose at the end of a work week and better to socialize with coworkers on company time than to have to go out with them after work!
posted by kuppajava at 4:42 PM on July 16, 2010
perhaps the HR person can be appeased by asking for their input on what would turn their 'no' into a 'yes' - perhaps it is a drink limit (one to a customer?) or a combo of non alcoholic and decent beer (no crappy beer, no high alcohol content beer).
i think it is a healthy way to cut loose at the end of a work week and better to socialize with coworkers on company time than to have to go out with them after work!
posted by kuppajava at 4:42 PM on July 16, 2010
Midwest tech guy here and I've heard about it on more than one occasion.
Ad agency:
Had a full coffee shop with keg on first floor. You could pretty much have a beer anytime, but it was generally for Friday afternoons. Any other day late in the day was okay too as long as it was too often.
Software company:
First example was the official "Pour by Four" that started at three every quarter. Same vibe as a backyard party. Drinks, chatting, small food, and good times all around. Several times people stayed well after 5pm to socialize.
Same company also didn't mind booze at work on Fridays. Most Fridays after lunch you would start to see people walking around with beer. It wasn't paid for by the company, but it was accepted. Heck, me and some the guys were drinking 40s out of paper bags one Friday afternoon.
This will not solve a moral problem. If it's a bad place to work then people will just go home when booze starts. I know I did at another company that I didn't like working at. Anytime anything like that went on I just went home.
posted by damionbroadaway at 4:59 PM on July 16, 2010
Ad agency:
Had a full coffee shop with keg on first floor. You could pretty much have a beer anytime, but it was generally for Friday afternoons. Any other day late in the day was okay too as long as it was too often.
Software company:
First example was the official "Pour by Four" that started at three every quarter. Same vibe as a backyard party. Drinks, chatting, small food, and good times all around. Several times people stayed well after 5pm to socialize.
Same company also didn't mind booze at work on Fridays. Most Fridays after lunch you would start to see people walking around with beer. It wasn't paid for by the company, but it was accepted. Heck, me and some the guys were drinking 40s out of paper bags one Friday afternoon.
This will not solve a moral problem. If it's a bad place to work then people will just go home when booze starts. I know I did at another company that I didn't like working at. Anytime anything like that went on I just went home.
posted by damionbroadaway at 4:59 PM on July 16, 2010
Apparently I work at the only ad agency that doesn't do this!
I've never worked anywhere that provided alcohol or even allowed it in the office - though it was available at certain after-hours functions.
posted by SisterHavana at 5:15 PM on July 16, 2010
I've never worked anywhere that provided alcohol or even allowed it in the office - though it was available at certain after-hours functions.
posted by SisterHavana at 5:15 PM on July 16, 2010
My husband's office (an ad agency) used to have drinks cart on Friday afternoons at five - an attempt to encourage people not to cut out too early for one thing, and to inspire creativity for another. They'd assign two people to work together (usually an odd mix), come up with a cocktail and music and snacks around a theme, and gave them a $60 budget to do it within. It worked well, for a while, mainly because it was on company time, though some would carry on elsewhere after. Personally, when stuff like this was attempted at one of the companies where I worked, I'd say brightly "Sorry! I have better things to do with people I really like!" - but my husband saw the value of that kind of informal face time with the other departments. It's like how he once realized at one company that because he didn't smoke, he missed out on some discussions and decisions that were made while coworkers were outside having their cigs. So he'd follow them out for some "fresh air" and have a clementine or an apple to keep up. At his company's drinks carts (which were avidly discussed after over our dinners) he'd note that he learned a lot about people by how they acted at these events.
It was discontinued because some never bothered to come up with a theme (well, beyond buying beer and suggesting "Quarters"; some had more than a few social drinks; and some scoured the fridge for leftovers during the week. The office manager, just before she she pulled the plug, mentioned to me at the company Christmas party that some had begun to treat it as a right, not a privilege. So, I think it can work - but it needs to be managed well, perhaps have a direction, to have clear guidelines and everyone needs to understand them and agree to abide by them.
posted by peagood at 6:19 PM on July 16, 2010
It was discontinued because some never bothered to come up with a theme (well, beyond buying beer and suggesting "Quarters"; some had more than a few social drinks; and some scoured the fridge for leftovers during the week. The office manager, just before she she pulled the plug, mentioned to me at the company Christmas party that some had begun to treat it as a right, not a privilege. So, I think it can work - but it needs to be managed well, perhaps have a direction, to have clear guidelines and everyone needs to understand them and agree to abide by them.
posted by peagood at 6:19 PM on July 16, 2010
Software company--beer's in the fridge and we used to have Beer Friday every week. Rarer now, but still happens. The sales team does tequila shots sometimes and for no apparent reason.
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:31 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:31 PM on July 16, 2010
Beer is not uncommon at software companies here in Silicon Valley. Policy varies widely and doesn't correlate with company size or anything else I can track. Usually it's beer bashes on a random basis. Weekly booze would be uncommon.
posted by chairface at 8:18 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by chairface at 8:18 PM on July 16, 2010
The company I was with (1991/2/3-ish?, biotech startup, bought out by a middling player) had beer-Fridays. Intention was for employees to 'take it easy.'
Completely incompatible with management wanting "things to be done" and employee's "I'm only consenting to work 9-5 Mon-Fri but management wants milestones."
How does beer fit in? After some initial enthusiasm, the fridge in the eating area just sat pregnant with the original beer that it had been stocked with.
In my experience, alcohol use culture while at the workspace is definitely top->down. If The Boss doesn't enjoy having a couple with the workers - even if The Boss is normally a drinker, the workers aren't going to buddy-buddy with The Boss even if there's free booze around.
posted by porpoise at 8:56 PM on July 16, 2010
Completely incompatible with management wanting "things to be done" and employee's "I'm only consenting to work 9-5 Mon-Fri but management wants milestones."
How does beer fit in? After some initial enthusiasm, the fridge in the eating area just sat pregnant with the original beer that it had been stocked with.
In my experience, alcohol use culture while at the workspace is definitely top->down. If The Boss doesn't enjoy having a couple with the workers - even if The Boss is normally a drinker, the workers aren't going to buddy-buddy with The Boss even if there's free booze around.
posted by porpoise at 8:56 PM on July 16, 2010
I work in advertising clearance in the UK, and we have drinks and nibbles if someone's leaving, but not as a matter of course. We do have after-work drinks most weeks, drinks may be imbibed at agency lunches, and parties with free bars now and then, but no drinking on the job. When we took a break to watch an England match only soft drinks were served. If one of us makes a mistake thanks to booze it could have big repercussions for several people outside the company, so it's probably for the best.
posted by mippy at 6:32 AM on July 17, 2010
posted by mippy at 6:32 AM on July 17, 2010
I work in a small office in the international transportation field. Beer thirty is every Friday at 4:30.
posted by littleflowers at 10:29 AM on July 17, 2010
posted by littleflowers at 10:29 AM on July 17, 2010
Just popping in to say (and this may not surprise you) that it is quite common here in Australia, especially in the creative or 'consulting' industries. Again, we don't use an cart, it's just understood that at 4pm on Friday you can help yourself to a beer from the fridge.
posted by birch effect at 5:12 PM on July 17, 2010
posted by birch effect at 5:12 PM on July 17, 2010
My research institute has regular afternoon socials at which beer and wine are served, as well as numerous more frequent informal department-level "parties" (birthdays, going away, new grant celebrations, etc.) with alcohol. I once worked at another place where we didn't drink in our own office but all went to happy hour at the bar in the same building every Friday.
But everywhere else I ever worked, having alcohol or being under the influence on company property would have been grounds for immediate dismissal.
Attitudes towards alcohol seemed to correspond to other broad differences in organizational culture amongst my previous and current employers. I think it depends on how much your industry/company respects its employees as self-managing adults who are all on the same teem vs. treats employees like enemies looking for opportunities to screw their employer over.
posted by Jacqueline at 7:52 PM on July 17, 2010
But everywhere else I ever worked, having alcohol or being under the influence on company property would have been grounds for immediate dismissal.
Attitudes towards alcohol seemed to correspond to other broad differences in organizational culture amongst my previous and current employers. I think it depends on how much your industry/company respects its employees as self-managing adults who are all on the same teem vs. treats employees like enemies looking for opportunities to screw their employer over.
posted by Jacqueline at 7:52 PM on July 17, 2010
Ohio here...
I have always been a public employee, therefore, there is zero tolerance.
But I have one friend in software who has a kegerator in her office, and another in architecture who had a Friday drinks cart that made the rounds each week, so it's not unheard of, even in more conservative areas.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 7:07 PM on July 19, 2010
I have always been a public employee, therefore, there is zero tolerance.
But I have one friend in software who has a kegerator in her office, and another in architecture who had a Friday drinks cart that made the rounds each week, so it's not unheard of, even in more conservative areas.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 7:07 PM on July 19, 2010
Response by poster: We have a generous work from home policy and this is, in part, to keep people in the office on Friday afternoons. I think our workforce may be a little bit too old for this to be a reason to stay, it was only be and the Big Boss for the afternoon. HR made a big fuss and predicted our office would be full of drunkards. This did not happen.
posted by anonymous unit 4000 at 3:25 PM on July 23, 2010
posted by anonymous unit 4000 at 3:25 PM on July 23, 2010
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posted by DieHipsterDie at 11:27 AM on July 16, 2010