Went into the office, all my stuff has been chucked out!

[CallieOp]

I’m perched on the end of a windowsill/shelf thing, my desk has been given to someone else and all my stuff is gone. Only explanation I’ve been given is shrugged shoulders and “sorry don’t know where it is”. This is my personal stuff, an expensive mouse, a Emma Bridgewater mug, a pen my children gave me years ago.

Was told to WFH two months ago but have been saying I need to come back in as there is stuff I have to be on site for. Manager has ignored all emails, never picks the phone up. I sent another email last week saying I have to come in as will miss a deadline otherwise, got a reply saying “come in then we will find somewhere for you”.

Come in to no desk (someone else sat there now), no stuff and manager just “well can you sit there, you aren’t going to be long are you”, pointing at the fucking windowsill!

Knowing the public sector I don't think it is a move towards dismissal, and I don't think it is fair to worry the OP it might be. Public sector have very tedious processes to terminate employment, and ignoring someone and removing their desk isn't part of that. She has lost a mug and a pen, and a desk, not her job.
I'm not allowed back to rescue my stuff yet op, it is annoying. Get HR involved about if you should have a desk. Make enquiries about your possessions. But please don't lose perspective - your boss would be meeting you a lot of she wanted you out!

Seconding that it won’t count as theft, sadly.

Have there been any further conversations about working from home? If you’ve done it, despite raising concerns, they could deem that you’ve accepted that and reallocate your desks to others that need them. It’s shit, and I’d definitely talk to HR and get an allocated desk elsewhere if necessary, as well as mentioning the issues with your manager, but I don’t think they’re necessarily forcing you out.

Your manager sounds awful. I hope Estates know where the desk belongings are - perhaps they are in the other department if the two other colleagues moved there, unless they cleared their own stuff.

I am so sorry, op, I'm upset on your behalf.

Asking you to work from home would've been fine, but ONLY you is odd. Why did the other 2 not get sent to WFH too?

Are you friendly with them enough to ask?

I would speak to HR about the shit manager though.

This happened to my sister. She was bullied out of her job when she was on sick leave with a very serious illness. When she went back her desk and chair had been removed, she was expected to work in her car in between visiting clients. She was progressively excluded from everything work related until eventually her health deteriorated so much she could no longer work. Essentially she was punished for being ill. She had worked there for 15 years.
Good luck with HR OP.

I worked in the NHS in a lowly admin job for 6 years. Prior to that I had been a manager in the civil service. I can relate to everything the OP says.
I had 8 line managers while I was there, some I never met.
I once went over a year without seeing, speaking to or having any direct contact with my line manager.
As to HR good luck with that. When I left for another job I nearly lost because HR took 3 months to fill out a form.

@LiveFatsDieYoGnu

How fucking rude. I'd be thinking constructive dismissal I'm afraid (sorry).

The OP is right to be annoyed, but to start crying "constructive dismissal" is ridiculous just for going in to find they didn't have a desk available. They'd be laughed out of court if they tried to pursue a constructive dismissal case on those grounds. No one has a right to their own personal desk.

20:20 hindsight I know, but never leave anything you care about in the office. In a situation like this, or if you're dismissed and escorted from the building (standard procedure in many industries), you can guarantee it will be stolen by anyone who wants it ' "go missing".

I don’t think this is as bad as other posters think.

Obviously your manager is shit, the comms have been appalling and your stuff being lost is upsetting but I don’t think you’re being forced out it’s more a case of disorganisation and (very!) bad management.

Absolutely email HR and say you want to work from the office and you need a desk. Let them know the history of these requests with your manager.

In the meantime get on to estates, someone will know what happened to your stuff and I would doubt it was binned. Don’t accuse anyone of theft that won’t help.

So when the two who were working from te office were moved-did they just leave your stuff to be chucked?

I know it wasn't their responsibility to move/look after it-but it was thoughtless imo.

Could you scare your manager into saying they must be found or you will report them for theft?

Sounds normal for NHS tbh.
The people paid to provide care absolutely useless at caring for staff.
We regularly got surveys for our workplace conditions. Just another formality, they didn’t really care.

Yes this is very poor on behalf of your manager. Hopeless communication and people skills. It's more than the loss of a pen, mug etc, it's about your "place" in the organisation. If your desk disappears, you naturally wonder if your job will be next. Very demotivating. Can you take it higher up op?

@andyoldlabour

"How fucking rude. I'd be thinking constructive dismissal I'm afraid (sorry)."

Exactly this. I would be tempted to take some mobile photos of the workplace and you current "work station", then get emails together.
This is a totally unacceptable way to treat an employee. Sadly I think it is going to become more common.
You have to be prepared to walk away from the job, possibly get a doctor's sick note, then take legal advice from a good employment law firm.
Good luck.

Sorry, badly phrased - I didn't mean I thought she should/could claim constructive dismissal, rather that it sounded like they were making her work environment untenable by not providing the necessary means to work (work at the windowsill? Really?) and possible bullying. Though now I know she works for the NHS I'm a little more inclined to think it could just be bureaucratic incompetence.

Oh for fuck's sake I didn't even manage to quote the right post. I give up!

The OP is right to be annoyed, but to start crying "constructive dismissal" is ridiculous just for going in to find they didn't have a desk available. They'd be laughed out of court if they tried to pursue a constructive dismissal case on those grounds.

Exactly. Didn’t take long for the armchair lawyers to rock up with the old constructive dismissal nonsense. As has been said referring to the equally nonsensical theft accusation, the OP has a valid complaint of poor management, shouting about theft or constructive dismissal won’t help.

Quick question OP, when you say WFH doesn’t work for you, does that mean your job can’t be done from home, or that you don’t like working from home? If it is the former, you have a case to make. If it is the latter, then your manager may well point out that some people who’s jobs can’t be done from home, needed to be relocated to your office in order to ensure proper distancing at work. If you can do your job remotely, the expectation is that you will do that as per government advice.

Agree with @Coffeecak3 , this is 100% typical for NHS management standards, it's the reason I ended up leaving. Went through multiple departments and managers and they were all the same. The most incompetent managers seem to cling on to roles for decades in the NHS, apart from a few sideways shuffles it's a job for life it seems. Worked for estates arranging office moves for a bit as well, they really won't have any idea where your stuff went they only deal with furnishings not contents when they move stuff.

Even pre-covid my Trust was trying to sell buildings to save costs which resulted in about 80% of the workforce having to desk share or work from home. Was in charge of clinic rooms for a while and every day a random clinician or senior admin would ask to borrow a free consulting room to work in, always in a complete flap as their manager hadnt sorted the office rota so they were stuck without a work space.

The doctors and nurses can be amazing but as long as the behind the scenes staff are led this way things will never improve. My husband is fairly high up in the private sector and said the people they had to sack usually went to work at councils or NHS. The business practices of upper public sector management just wouldn't wash in any cost-conscious private firm.

Found out on a photo of the office on Instagram that desks had been removed and others reassigned to people still going in. Those of us WFH from the start of lockdown presumed everything was stored away somewhere but no. Mainly shoes, headphones, chargers, photos etc. No HR department, just a director who said they did a deep clean and a couple of managers who won't return calls. I was only there temporarily anyway but lost trainers and a posh water bottle. The company is now struggling so they obviously have bigger things to think about but still not OK. It's rubbish OP, hope you manage to get things sorted.

Depending on what type of building you work in have a word with the reception staff. They usually have keys for all the storage areas and secret hiding places, they could maybe help you search through the building to see if your stuff is boxed up anywhere. If it's a hospital it's a bit more tricky to find who has access to the various areas.

Do the other two people who have been moved know where your stuff is? In their situation I'd have packed up your stuff, taken it with me to the new office and dropped you an e mail to let you know I had it. Perhaps they have just forgotten to send you an e mail?

I work for the NHS. After reading your post I wondered whether you did too. These desk grabs are legion but even so, your manager sounds dysfunctional. No advice, just sympathy.

This isnt constructive dismissal its poor organisation!
OP please dont get hopped up on some of the claims listed here. It's the NHS - it was an unorganised desk move. It happens often.
I'd ask your colleagues (logic would say whenever they cleared their desks they'd have taken your stuff too) and estates. Someone will know.

Your manager sounds crap but I wouldnt go raving about dismissal and claims. I'd send an email to your manager to let them know how you feel about this and request a catch up or similar to discuss.

This is appallingly bad management and if I were you - I'd be contacting HR immediately. Unimaginable that someone would send an employee to WFH without an explanation, especially given that you were singled out. Won't even get to mismanagement of desk assignments and your stuff.

Don't take the advice of leaving and then claiming constructive dismissal, it is really hard to prove and unlikely you would be successful.

I would advise you to use your company's processes to address this; find out about the company's grievance procedure (check with HR if not sure) and follow the steps.

You may need to start with a written complaint with details of your concerns about how this is being handled. Whatever the outcome, it may help you if you can demonstrate that you have been reasonable throughout and given them a chance to put things right.

I knew as soon as I read your OP that it was going to be an NHS job. Sorry OP, sounds crap.