I used to work at a bridal boutique and resigned from this company over a year ago – and they never looked out for staff, everything was about the bottom line.
I caught up with a friend who still works there and she told me the water fountain had been taken away due to financial reasons. I found this shocking because the shop is in a listed building that's 100s of years old and the tap water isn't potable. The water sometimes runs brown.
As bridal consults can take an hour or more, sometimes customers request a drink of water. In these cases as stated in the title now the staff have been told to pour them some water out the drink bottle you bring to work. The company has told the staff this is legal, although it took me about 10 seconds to Google UK government water provision at work and find the relevant law. The company is saying that boiled water can be made into tea so that should be sipped throught the shift in place of water.
If I was a customer I would be horrified getting water from a stranger's drink bottle, but I imagine they aren't showing the customer where the water is coming from.
I've considered leaving a 'customer review' saying it's unhygienic but as I'm still friends with the staff there and know that it could make their life more difficult if high ups think they're sharing the negatives they endure at work with customers I am hesitant.