Why are Walmart Employees Only Allowed Water?

I don't even want to get started on this subject because I am so
angry! It's because of diversion, well in the pharmacy it is.
Pharmacists are allowed to eat and drink whatever, techs, absolutely
nothing! I was pregnant with twins, had 3 Dr. notes stating I was high
risk and needed to be able to eat and drink every 1 hour. Guess what!
DENIED!!!!!! I worked there up until 30 weeks, went into labor at
almost 32 weeks and lost one of my babies and the one that survived
only weighed 2 lbs 11 oz. I couldn't even take a drink from the
fountain in the pharmacy! They expected me to go back to the break
room every time I wanted a drink or snack!!!! Something needs to
change but apparently they have done nothing wrong. I blame them for
the loss of my child and going into preterm labor.

OTHER BEVERAGES HAVE SUGAR AND COLORS. IF SPILLED YOU COULD DAMAGE
MERCHANDIS. SIMMPLE AS THAT. IT USE TO BE YOU COULDN'T HAVE ANY
BEVERAGES ON THE FLOOR. THERE ARE STILL ALOT OF BUSINESSES LIKE THAT
TODAY. WAL-MART IS NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER BUSINESS. YOU HAVE
RULES TO ABIDE BY. HOW ABOUT YOUR JOB? ANY RULES YOU THINK ARE
STUPID? WRITE DOWN THOSE RULES AND FIGURE OUT WHY THEY HAVE THOSE
RULES. WHAT IF IT WAS YOUR BUSINESS? WHAT RULES WOULD YOU HAVE TO
PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT?

Uhh, we weren't even allowed to have water at my retail jobs. No food
or beverages, though you could ask the service desk to cover you while
you went to the water fountain, if it wasn't very busy. . .

It was a bit harsh, but I certainly consider water-only to be a
reasonable policy. Minimal damage in the event of spills, but they
can still stay refreshed. If you absolutely can't stand for two hours
without consuming caffeine, maybe some caffeinated mints, pills, or
even caffeinated water would help. . .

I'm more concerned about everything else a WalMart employee has to go
through than their "right" to drink non-water beverages.

It's mostly because of the spilling issue. Water can be cleaned up
easy, soda leaves sticky residue. ever wonder what those nasty black
spots allover the ground are ? Soda stains with dirt stuck in em. I
work at walmart, and they tried to say we couldn't drink anyhting in
my store. That lasted about a day. Now we are only allowed water. I
drink either or. Mostly water. It doesn't stop me from sticking a soda
bottle in my pocket.

In my experience the managers don't really care what you are drinking,
just where and when. If you have a soda, and ocassionally take a sip,
bottle it, and put it away is one thing. If you are standing there
with a can in hand when a customer rolls up, it looks bad.

Walmart isn't as bad as it seems. The managers are about as qualified
as most fast food managers. So are most of the employees. Don't expect
more out of them than you do of the guy at burger king.

They give everyone a break roughly every 2 hours. If you work a 9 hour
shift (full time) you work 1.5-2.5 hours get a break, work 1.5-2.5
hours get an hour lunch, work 1.5-2.5 hours get a break, then after a
couple hours go home.

When you get a break depends on how many people can give you a break,
and how many others need to get a break. I'm a cashier so there are a
lot of us. Sometimes you have to wait untill some people have given
others breaks before you get yours. I have waited 3 hours or more
without a break and you know what ? Time went by quicker afterward.
Coming back from lunch with only 3 hours left to go and a break in
there somewhere, makes you feel pretty good.

i didn't know they were, because at our walmarts, i see employees
drinking sodas from 20 oz bottles. and it is clearly soda, not water
in soda bottles.

MONEY, Plain and simple. They have over one million employees in the
U.S. and if only one in ten buy a drink every day that 100,000 drinks.
Bottled water has a higher profit margin than other beverages so they
make more money with the water only policy. This also means they don't
have to compete with other beverage suppliers, like Starbucks,as in
your example.

Pretty cleaver use of policy to increase sales don't you think?

Something like 30,000,000 bottles of water a year, if only 10% drink
on the job, those are big numbers.

When I worked at Kohl's we were only aloud to have water so we didn't
damage products. It wasn't a health thing, it was a money issue
because there's a possibility for lost profits.

At one retail job, we were only allowed water for a few reasons. One
reason is what people have already mentioned - water is slightly less
damaging to electronics. The second reason, believe it or not, is
because of what you can put in dark/colored drinks, namely alcohol.

I have to agree that the Wal mart policy is generous, and possibly out
of line with regulations. I work at a hospital and we are not allowed
any beverage or food in patient care areas , even at the desk, or in
adjoining rooms where their are only files and computers. This is a
huge violation of JACHO rules /regs. I would think this would entend
to food areas as well, since food is comming thur check out lines.
There should not be allowed any in the food prep area as well.

Having a drink next to your register looks unprofessional. It also
does pose a spill hazzard. The largest reason of all is that in some
areas of the country, health codes prevent anyone from having food or
beverage other that a bottle of water in ANY work area. Wal-Mart finds
it easier to make policies that are the same nation wide rather than
only for certain states. It's easier to enforce a policy if everyone
plays by the same rules.

When I was young, we had nothing to drink at work but hydrochloric
acid! And we liked it and we shut up about it!

Sorry, just channeling Dana Carvey's "Angry Old Man" schtick.

At the grocery store I work at,we aren't allowed water in our
checkstands either. I had to get a doctors note so I could have water.

of water" question is much broader. It's a trend that I personally
don't like - the huge environmental waste to produce and truck water
in zillions of little plastic bottles that end up in landfills or on
the side of roads... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The bottle does create a lot of waste, I do agree with that. I wonder
if they are allowed to use their own containers for water. Since it
is a water only company, I assume that they won't allow anything of
your own, unless you could prove it was water. A situation like that
though would be like the one that an airport had a couple years back
with breastmilk and baby bottles.

I just figured that the employees picking up carts would be under the
same regulations as those in the store.

Thanks,
Still thirsty

all the waste created by those small water bottles. That is a quick
trend that has become such a problem with litter and they wind up
EVERYWHERE. I just can't stand it. I don't see why people can't use a
thermos and bring it back home like back when we were kids. Why does
everything have to be tossed? It's water. It's not going to stain
anything, or ruin anything. No need for all this waste. People can
hold the bottle while they drink it,bring it to their destination so
why can't they just bring it back home? What's the deal with that?

My question to you is 'why does it matter to you?' Is it just
curiosity? As far as I'm concerned, better water than nothing at all.

He's lucky he's allowed water. I work at Meijer and we're not allowed
any beverage on lane, water included. There is, however, a drinking
fountain nearby we can easily walk to when there's nobody in our lane
so it's not a huge deal. I agree with the other posts about the
spills, pop and/or coffee are a pain to clean up and can ruin the
register if it's spilled in there.

I think that it is already a bad day for you if you work at Walmart.
I don't see anything unprofessional about an employee having a
beverage nearby when I go into a store. I myself have been on the
other side and when customers approached I "wrapped it up" and gave my
full attention to them. It just seems to me after being in Walmart
myself that employees are treated like they are not intelligent by the
management. Walmart does not have the best reputation for how they
treat employees. This is just one more example. I am allowed to have
coffee at work. I work around computers and electronics. No one
treats me like I am stupid enough to damage things. I have heard many
stories about how Walmart does not give people enough breaks, etc.
What is wrong with an employee having a cup of coffee? I am sure they
are not stupid enough to sit there and sip from it and tell me to wait
while I am in line. When I have had to work menial jobs like
overnight security, construction, etc I always kept coffee nearby
because I knew I wasn't getting a break anytime soon and had better be
able to take care of myself and stay alert and alive for the person
that was paying me. Maybe that is what the employee in question was
trying to do? Who knows when their next break will be and if they can
have access to something like coffee or food. Also, I have worked for
some less than favorable employers that forbid eating on the job even
if you were working 8 hours(yes-this is legal in some states). A
decent cup of coffee with sugar kept me from needing to eat long
enough until I clocked out and went home.

had a strict "no drink or food on salefloor" rule. EVERY one of them.
Now, I, as the manager, have always allowed a water only exception.
When (not IF) the employees started to take advanage of the fact that
I would allow them to break this rule, I too would throw away their
non water drinks, and eventually have had to say "sorry, no more water
either." (at times)

My guess would be that your letter will bring attention to the fact
that an exception was being made and now there will be no more water
either.

Even in super hot Arizona employees get breaks and they can drink
then, so I doubt that anyone will have much sympathy.

Sometimes it is a good idea to mind your own business, IMHO. sorry.

If an employee is drinking beverages in the store, then customers may
feel it's ok to bring them in to drink and shop with them also.
Usually beverages are not permitted in the store by customers. They
have plenty of merchandise they do not need ruined and floors that do
not need to be slippery either for.

I realize that, for some people, this could turn into a bad
confrontation, but...

Why didn't you walk up to the manager and ask your question? Not in
an accusatory way. Now with the argument about this being Arizona.
But a respectful "I'm curious... did you say that your employees are
only allowed to drink water?"

If the manager gets angry at you, simply state "I wasn't aware that
you were supposed to speak to customers that way," turn around, and
walk out.

Now...

The argument about dehydration isn't going to go very far because
water is, by far, the best at beating it. Sure, there are sports
drinks, but they have side-effects.

I can think of no reason why water would not be appropriate.

Oh, the pick-me-up. While it may be true that our economy is fueled
by people hopped up on caffeine (hence the old-time "coffee break"),
this is a very different thing from dehydration.

As far as caffeine goes, there are alternatives. Some healthier than
others. Many of which Wal-Mart does not allow there employees to
consume. Remember, they have a drug-free policy.

I have two ideas.

1: Like others say, spill factor.
2: My first guess. Advertistment. A clerk drinking a Pepsi for
example. Customers (Well the stupid ones) would go, Oh, Wal-Mart only
likes Pepsi! I won't shop here! They should drink Coke! and/or "Hmm.
This clerk is drinking Name Brand, instead of WalMart brand. That must
mean WalMart brand sucks, if a employee there doesn't drink it!

I work in a health-care facility and employees are only allowed to
have bottled water due to contamination factors - not sure where this
employee was, but do you really want a Starbucks cup or a cup with a
lid/straw right there at your register where everyone going past who
is sneezing and coughing can spew their germs into your drink?

and when we COULD have water...we had to run like crazy to the back of
the store to the break room...sip it and then run all the way back to
the registers...I'm envious of the people allowed water now

I completely understand the "water" only rule. If water spills on a
register, it may be salvageable. If juice or non-diet soda spills on
that register, it's likely ruined.

Many office workplaces even have rules about NO beverages or food
outside the kitchen area (I assume there's an exclusion for coffee and
water).

I don't think anyone is entitled to anything other than water in the
workplace.

we weren't allowed any beverages on the sales floor or at the
register. I think it looks tacky to have employees drinking beverages
in front of customers. We were allowed to go to the water fountain if
we needed a drink.

My guess is the sticky factor. If you spill water on equipment such
as a cash register or scanner, etc, you have a better chance of it
drying out and being fine than if you spill, say coffee, pop,
chocolate milk, etc.

IMHO, the manager should not have thrown away the beverage but perhaps
offered to take it to the break room for the employee.

You don't work there, and you weren't even there when this alleged
incident occurred.

This is an employee relations matter.

Andrea F.,

Good question.

I'm going out on a limb here with my guess:

Could it be the "spill factor" and the thought that folks drinking
bottled water take a sip and then tighten the cap unlike a "cupped"
beverage if tipped would go all over the place?

Let me know if I win.

Plus, I heard a long time ago that Walmart does not accept eMails from
third parties so I suggest you copy/paste your well written inquiry
into the proper section at WalMart.com.

BillR.