British council assails behavior of staff

CARLISLE, England, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A British city council has accused its workers of treating the office like a "holiday camp" and says they must clock out if they want to discuss the weather.

The e-mail advisory sent to the 31 employees of the Carlisle City Council by two unnamed team leaders alleged "the working ethos within the office has to change" because "in the current economic climate" the employees were costing the council too much money in lost time, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The memo went on to say, "staff should be aware of the reason why they are here, which is to work and not to treat the office as a day-to-day holiday camp.

"It is not a requirement for you not to talk to your fellow colleagues, but you should ensure that non-work conversations are kept to a minimum."

And then: "Smokers are required to clock-out when they want a cigarette. Surely it is not unreasonable to expect you to clock-out if you wish to have a 10-minute conversation with a colleague about the weather?"

Ged Craig, the employee union representative wasn't happy about the content of the e-mail.

"It's ridiculous and a disgrace -- it is suggesting that if, for example, you are standing in a queue for the photocopier having a chat you should clock out."

Jason Gooding, the council's deputy chief executive, admitted the message was poor staff management, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"On this occasion the approach to managing staff has fallen a little short of the high standards the city council has rightly come to expect of its team leaders and managers."