Someone is secretly bullying me at work..

[Hungrycaterpillarsmummy]

And I don't know who it is.

Basically, someone constantly changes my chair settings on the days I leave at 3pm (and others are in the office until 4/5pm).
I have a really bad back so my chair is set at a position that helps it plus we all have to do ergonomic checks as part of an EHS thing for our desk and chair.
So it really annoys me when it has been played with and someone is doing it on purpose. Other things happen to like the cables of my monitor are unplugged and my mouse is switched off.
When I started there over a year ago there were a couple of guys who would do stuff like this and it happened so much I had to bluntly tell them to stop. And they did. But this seems to be a bit 'extra'. I obviously made the mistake of showing my annoyance when it has happened previously (and by that I mean by saying something like "who has changed my chair settings?"

But the issue is - I don't know who it is and won't be able to find out.
My manager won't be able to find out. There's no CCTV and no one would admit it if she brought it up..so what do I do?!

Your back problem is a disability. Request a 'reasonable adjustment' through the relevant company procedure. This will formalise your requirement, and make it a specific disciplinary offence (and an offence in law) to interfere with the designated equipment. Your manager will have specific responsibilities to deal with any breaches.

Cameras, retaliation, notices etc are out of the question. You should not take further unilateral action yourself, now this has proved ineffective. Your manager is responsible.

This is bullying. But if you don't go and speak to your manager then nothing will change. If they have half a brain they will know it's bullying and therfore a hr risk to the business and look at dealing with it. If your manager ignores you then speak to a solicitor and think about a claim.

Pranks with hand cream, inks, hidden cameras are stupid ideas that will get you in trouble and make things worse.

OP I encourage you to speak with your manager. This is definitely bullying and should be stopped. Stand up for yourself, these bullies should not get away with this! I really feel for you, you seem to take it quite well but it’s really awful what they are doing!

office chairs these days need several engineering degrees to understand most of the time and it is tedious to have to reset them ever, let alone every time you use them.

I used to complain that people changed chairs round etc, so that i had to reset mine every time. So i put a secret mark on it. I used to be first in and after i found it at the same desk every time, i took it back and replaced it with a chair that was set at the most stupid setting (stiff back too forward, seat too tilted, and as low as it would go.

After the 3rd time, i just told the culprit to get to fuck and if i ever had to reclaim my chair again i would be letting our boss know he was harassing me. And it stopped.

Of course they won't turn into "ideal workmates" - they're cretinous dickheads - but they'll stop fecking about with OP's chair, mouse and cable, unless they want a detailed investigation to be initiated by OP's manager and HR.

Of course they won't turn into ideal workmates because they are a bunch of childish cunts. But if they continue with this behaviour after their manager has told them to stop, the manager should take disciplinary action. Disobeying a manager's direct instructions can be deemed gross misconduct.

Just wondering if it is worth checking if anybody has logged in to your computer after you have logged out?
Aside from anything else, mentioning to your manager that you think someone may be using / messing with your computer after you have left, may be a genuine concern or security issue?

Could your manager arrange a locked cupboard for the chair at the end of your working day? Wouldn't solve the issues with your cable/mouse. I do also think that your manager should highlight to the team that bullying will not be tolerated and anyone caught would be facing disciplinary action.

Put nasty black oil on the chair knobs just before you go home?

I can confirm that this sort of thing does happen. I saw it in action decades ago, when some men heard a woman in the office next to theirs say that she always had her chair adjusted just the way she liked it. Later, I overheard them boasting about how they would sneak into her office after she'd gone home & change the setting of her chair. They thought this was funny.

I agree with PP to make it management/HR's problem.

how would that get her cables unplugged? It shouldn't be hard to remember not to fiddle with a colleague's chair when it is set up for her bad back.

Ok so I put an email to my manager today so I have a written log and she was great. She has come to see me and we have a plan.
She understood how I felt. I think previously when I have mentioned it she didn't realise it was such an ongoing thing and was a one off.
So I'm glad I have her on-side and she is taking it seriously.

I read the company policy on harassment and raising a concern and it definitely is classed as harassment here.

I won't use the camera I ordered last night, I'll send it back for a refund. I got caught up in the thread last night.

Of course I absolutely cannot say with certainty it is malicious but I'm pretty damn sure it is.

I don't want to leave because it is a good company and the rest of the site is great/interesting. It's a new culture apparently because a load of long term employees eventually retired and unfortunately the new generation in this department are very childish.

I really don't think it's the same guys as before because both have been on extensive paternity leaves and it still happened. I have one person in mind, maybe two. But yeh, will see what happens now. I don't want to say the plan on here just in case someone recognises my posts.

There is a secondment advertised for a similar role in a different department and I am very seriously considering going for it!

Thanks to all.

Good for you op, I'm glad your manager understands.

Definitely go for the secondment, good luck!

That's great. Glad your manager is supporting you now she's had the full picture.

Well done OP. Glad that your manager's taking it seriously.
Good luck with it all.

Glad your manager is on it and you have a plan - this is definitely something that needed to be escalated.

Well done OP, I'm really glad you have a way forward and best of luck for a positive outcome. 😃

Good work OP. Please update us!

If this is a running joke because op’s colleagues think she is precious about her chair, having the thing wheeled ceremoniously into what is effectively a chair garage or stable each night is going to up the hilarity stakes no end. It will become comedy gold to get to it while she is in the loo etc. Not my sense of humour but if that’s what is happening, I think having it wheeled into locked storage is going to send the pranksters into new levels of fascination with the “game.”

Well done, OP. Great to hear your manager is taking it seriously.

Don’t use the camera.

What are you going to say? ‘You unplugged my mouse’
How would you prove it without admitting to the camera?

Smear olive oil/vaseline on the hard plastic underside of the chair - or something worse like brine from tuna.

They won't do it again, haha.

Won’t op give out an “odeur of tuna brine” all day while she’s sitting on it? 🎏

That could be more mortifying than readjusting the chair….

Needs to do it secretly as they're leaving.

Op, is it the police you are working for? I’ve seen this sort of shit happen for years, especially towards women. All high jinx and jokes