One of London’s most historic financial institutions, Lloyd’s of London, has given a shock to employees who like to enjoy some lunchtime with their alcohol – disciplinary proceedings!

The institution has banned its 800 employees from drinking between 9am and 5pm  from Monday to Friday which includes the lunch break.

A Lloyd’s internal memo to staff acknowledges that “the London market historically had a reputation for daytime drinking”, but that the time for change has come. This comes as a result of around half of the disciplinary action cases in the past 12 months being found to relate to the misuse of alcohol.

The ban marks a wider culture change among City workers. The price for office-hours consumption of alcohol is disciplinary proceedings for gross misconduct and perhaps dismissal.

The ban will apply to the firm’s employees, but not brokers or underwriters from other corporations based at the insurance market in Lime Street. This measure was received with backlash from workers who state that they were not consulted and the ban is not necessary as they can drink “responsibly” during work hours. Comments from employees include for example, one worker asking: “Will we be asked to go to bed earlier soon?” Another questions whether employees face being breathalysed at work to enforce the crackdown. Another worker further stated that: “Lloyd’s used to be a fun place to work. Now it is the PC capital of the world where you can’t even go out for a lunchtime pint anymore.”

Support for the ban can be seen from a market commentator, David Buiks, who said that there is more competition between workers as banks and financial firms look to cut back on staff, meaning staying sober is more important than ever before. He added, “of course it is more than made up for at night when the wine, spirits and beer flow like Victoria Falls.

The ban is designed to align Lloyd’s of London with many firms in the market. For example, insurer Hiscox already has a policy in place that forbids staff consuming alcohol during work hours. The question is how far an employer can police what workers do when they are outside the office, in their own time. In light of this, QBE has advised staff not to drink but it has stopped short of an outright ban. Despite criticism from employees, the prohibition stands because as the Lloyd’s of London staff memo stated “a zero limit is simpler, more consistent and in line with the modern, global and high performance culture that the firm wants to embrace.

Our view is that a dismissal for failing to respect the alcohol disciplinary rule would very potentially be unfair and we look forward to the first cases to come from this.

By Gina Mukova

Image used under CC courtesy of Phillip Capper