Since I work from home... this is totally acceptable.

When I go lunch I go home for the day. I only work in the morning.

So, no need of alcohol to cope with overwork.

I'm a welder, and no I would not. It's not allowed on the shipyard. But even if I could, I wouldn't. I'm a professional and I'm working with high power tools & equipment. I need to have a clear head.

Used to work in marketing, UK. There was a frew beer fridge, with instructions to only help yourselves after 1630 on a Friday. Beers at lunch were fairly standard on a Friday, less so on other days but not unheard of.

Depends on what drink it is, I think that a beer would be acceptable in most places, hard liquor brobably not.

Software guy. Most productive/distraction free time of the day is mid-afternoon. Drinking at lunch would just take that zone away and push everything to the next day.

Happy to wait till 5pm, or whenever feels like a good time to do a git push.

I used to think it was unprofessional. But once I had a few jobs where employees were treated like crap, I changed my mind.

IT worker in system analysis and design in the public service in Canberra, Australia.

There's no official policy though many of my co workers believe a lunch time drink is not allowed. I have often enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine or a beer at lunch, have never made a secret of it, and have never been told off or warned by anyone above me

Alcohol is bad for you health. Workplaces should be better so folks don’t feel the need to injest poison to tolerate it.

No. My job depends on results. Alcohol affects my production. Therefore, drinking on workdays is a very dumb thing for me to do.

Years ago, I was working on a house where there were several nests of these wicked looking red wasps. I had been working around them all morning quite safely. At lunch, I drank half a beer, and was almost immediately stung twice when I went back to work. I don't know if it affected my timing or my scent, or something else.

Pretty much everwhere I've worked; there's a no alcohol or drugs clause in the employment contract/policies. So officially it's not permitted; but one beer, or a couple hits from a dab pen (weed vape) hasn't been uncommon in most places either; just don't let management see it.

Just one?

Where I work, it's a non issue. As long as it doesn't impact your work and nobody notices it (foul odor or behaviour), nobody could care less.

Bartender. I don't get a lunch break so I just drink on the clock.

UK/Astronaut

We take a fifth of gin everytime our home country whizzes by, so that's a full glass over the entire workday, and it tends to make the job go faster.

No. Work is giant liability now days.

When I worked in kitchens and bars? Regularly

Now, driving a forklift and using a nail gun every day.. I’ll wait till I get home

Part of my job involves operate hoists that are lifting several tonnes over the general public. Anything that is even impairment adjacent, like being tired, will get you removed from that position. If you are actually impaired you’re fired no questions.

School bus driver here. Drinks at lunch would not be a good idea.

UK IT dev here. When I started working in the field back in 2000ish it was perfectly fine for IT staff to pop to the pub. Did for many years. Then in my 20s it became normal to have drinks after work rather than during work. Then when marriage etc came along, it became neither.

I went back to work once (programming) after a couple of beers at the bar. Turns out not a job I can do while drinking.

I see no problem with a single drink at lunch, specially with your team. It helps you relax and build rapport imo.

At my previous job, my manager would take our 5-6 people team out for lunch and a beer for anyone's birthday and at the end of the year. I miss that.

My current job doesn't allow it, so going out for lunch with co workers is a little more stiff, and so is my relationship with my manager.

Last christmas I had to work during the break with only 1 co-worker, we snuck out and had pizza with a berr. It was great.

Canadian IT worker.

I refuse to drink at work parties. Everyone else does and I get some peer pressure to drink but I don't care. Its normal to see people get super drunk and embarrass themselves which is why I don't even start.

Specifically at lunch, if I'm not driving and others are having a beer I will but only one. If I'm driving, it depends on how I'm feeling.

Working from home I've been known to have a beer or two on a Friday afternoon by my self.

When I left my last job we had a meeting at the end of the day with the guys I got along with and anyone they wanted to invite. There was about 15 people from different departments with their cameras on having a drink or smoking (pot) if they didn't drink as a goodbye. Was a nice goodbye. Lol

Used to work for a company that started out as a US startup for IT Services, later it was purchased by a large German company.

During its startup days, you did not dare drink alcohol at lunch time.

After being bought by the German company, you did not dare NOT to drink alcohol at lunch time. Especially if someone from Germany was visiting. They viewed it odd that we had an aversion to drinking beer at lunch.

US/Engineer

At my first job, a fairly large firm with a few hundred people, I remember the furtive glances around the table as everyone didn't want to be the first one to order a beer. Once a single person ordered one, several others would too. The boss was fine with it, but nobody did it in front of the boss's boss. We never had more than one, though.

At my second job, a small, new company with 12ish people, it was pretty common. Sometimes someone would bring a six pack to share into the office on a Friday afternoon. Usually, the owners would join in.

At my current job in the public sector, the culture just isn't there. Nobody drinks at all during work hours. I don't drink as much anymore, anyway.

I'd regularly have a pint or two (no more than three) with my boss on Wednesday lunchtimes! And, in another workplace, while I was a young'un throwing an almighty tantrum, I spent a month having four double vodkas for lunch most days. Stunned I wasn't fired, honestly. (UK)

Work from home, drink as much as I like

Switzerland, IT

Depends on the team. It's not that uncommon in some occasions, for example on a friday, to have a beer when eating lunch in a restaurant.

Very common is the "Apero"-culture. Small festivities after work to celebrate something. Snacks, beer and wine are part of it. Sometimes this can also be during the day and people will continue to work after.

Forbidden by company policy. Zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol. Federally regulated manufacturing in the US.

I have worked in 6 different manufacturing companies in the US and none of them allow it. Must be a safety and liability thing.

I am a winemaker in the Pacific Northwest. I sample wines a lot throughout the day but mostly I spit, I still catch a bit of a buzz sometimes though. Sometimes during harvest when we're working long days outside I'll have a beer or two. We celebrate the start and end of harvest with champagne. When I work wine tasting events I look forward to trying wines from other local wineries, I usually have a fair number of tastes throughout the event. I think I actually drink more at work than I do at home.

Yes, I drink almost exclusively at lunch.

In the U.S. this has changed a bit over the years. I believe, based on watching Mad Men, that it used to be super common for people to drink and have alcohol at work, let alone at lunch. A friend of my dad used to take his Playboy subscription at work because he didn't want it to be available to his kids. Try that these days!

In the 90s, I worked at a job were it wasn't uncommon to have a drink with lunch, especially when we were out with our Managing Director.

In the 2000s it was essentially something you'd get fired for.

Now? My current job (IT in the aviation industry) wouldn't allow it but there are apparently a lot of start ups that bring beer around to people's desks on Friday afternoons.

I work in healthcare in the UK. I don't even drink on week nights let alone over lunch. I agree over here drinking at lunch would probably be seen as a problem.

I think a big part of that is the UK binge drink culture. Most people over here drink a lot in one go to get drunk as the goal.

Why wait till lunch?

I work in manufacturing in America. There's NO FUCKING WAY. You'd be fired immediately if caught. I don't even think the union would try to back you up. It's simply too dangerous of an environment. However, reeking of booze from the night before? Apparently totally fine.

US IT. They provide us with drinks at lunch anytime there’s a company wide meeting.