I used to work at a place call Heron frozen food, they would't let me drink some water.. as well.. I had a very dry cold, and i was chocking from having a dry cough.. but no.. they wouldn't let me.. I'm glad i left, I hated that place.. working near the door in a T-shirt with no coat on.. yep.. that was nice of them.. Can't believe some people would do that..

That's disgusting caramelly! It's amazing how they can get away with it tbh, I'm just glad I rarely do 9+ hour shifts otherwise I probably would collapse at work.

Do you have a HR department? If so speak to them, they won't want a grievance on their hands, especially from a pregnant lady x

Don't think we do but we have a personnel manager who I could speak to, she's not the most approachable woman in the world but it's worth a try. Going to try and find my handbook and see if it says anything in there about needing a drs note to have water on shift, if not then they've completely made that rule up.

Advice bureau might help! is there some south from here? I live in the north.

I'm pretty sure there has got to be something against that....I mean if an employee needs water...it's a basic human need. Do they allow you to leave your station whenever you need water?

If they won't budge on allowing you water unless you have a note...i'd just walk in the doctors office, get a quick statement of pregnancy note and show it to them.

but like I said...i'm pretty sure something is not right about not allowing your employees water.

As the evil voice of supermarket management here I understand why they arent allowing you to have the drink at the till. There are several levels to it as PP have mentioned the risk to equipment but also other things like the EHO officers have rules about open food/drink containers on the shop floor. There is also the risk of if your drinking something the shop sells there is the possibilty it could be stolen (not saying you would but some would and do this).

The other thing particularly for the till area of the store is customer perception. And ive been in the situation before i was a manager of requiring a drink on tills for medical reasons and haviung a customer giving me dogs abuse for 'keeping him waiting ages' while i took a sip of water. He put in a mega nasty complaint about me.

Now not saying i do agree with the rules just giving some reasoning behind them. A doctors note to allow it suggests they are concerned about the EHO aspect as a doctors note as evidence keeps them clear from any complaints there. As has been suggested if you dont want to get the note then you ARE entiltled to ask for as many comfort breaks as you need for drinks or the loo etc and they arent allowed to keep you waiting. Ive had colleagues pregnant who were given special permission to close their tilss as and when they needed to and it was never an issue.

like i said dont shoot me just giving the other side some thought :-)

that makes sense really, either they should allow you to take as many breaks as needed, or with a doctors note allow you water

that seems fair and reasonable to me honestly

you still get what you need either way

That is completely riddiculous. I would just call my doctor's nurse and tell them I needed a note. The doctor can write you a note and you can just swing by and pick it up or they should be able to even mail it to you. You shouldn't have to bring a note but if you do then your manager's can't say anything to you.

I used to work in a supermarket and I say the rules are bullshit. Ignore them. They can't deprive you of a basic human need. If the water is in a plastic bottle with a cap, I really fail to see what 'damage' it could cause!
The truth is, when I asked about this 'rule' (yes, we had the same one) the manager said it's because they don't like customers to see us 'slacking off' and having a drink between transactions/whatnot could be classed as that Believe it or not, I have had complaints when I supervised about 'the checkout girl was drinking her water before serving me!!!! My time is valuable!!!! Tell them to do it on their breaks!!!11!!!"
Stupid, I know.