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?!

Yes but how do I catch them?!

Process of elimination? Make a note of who’s in the office each day when you leave, and who isn’t. With summer coming up, people will be going on leave. If person X is on leave for a fortnight and your chair isn’t tampered with,keep a close eye on that person.

Omg I just had an idea...this would be a slow burn (haha)...maybe I could use tanning lotion! So it would take a fair few times for them to touch the underside of the seat that you push in to adjust it but their fingers would slowly tan but it wouldn't be sooooo obvious that they would link it to altering my seat?

Am I a genius or what? Tell me this would work!

Ok. I did start a chair log already but it wasn't thorough enough.
I could do that again I guess. I just more wanted a quick "gotcha"

And also just what a fucking knob head for someone being so arsed to do this.

Smear Nutella or glitter glue on the underside of the chair control.
It'll make a bit of a mess bit hopefully put them off.

Well, I have to confess I did smear my hand cream on the underside of the handles. So that did actually work for a week BUT I was off last week and when I came in this morning the handles were up but had a load of cream under them so to adjust it down I had to get covered in cream 🤣🤣

Use the camera, just to confirm who it is. Then the revenge can start, or you can say to your manager you saw him with your own eyes on x date when you returned to the office etc.

Oh dear, they do sound terribly immature - I couldn't bear that lack of professionalism and I'm amazed your manager isn't doing any thing to improve the culture. Sorry OP.
Regarding covertly filming in your office after you've left for the day, I would check your company's policy first to ensure this doesn't amount to misconduct on your part and potential disciplinary action. Also, apart from giving you the satisfaction of confirming the moron who's doing it, if you can't use the footage to prove to your manager who it is, then the colleague concerned could just point-blank deny it.

My manager is the only sane one. Unfortunately it's just a really ridiculous culture and it likely won't change but I do like my job and the company.

Smear the underside with something. ‘Leave’ for the day and then return unexpectedly because you ‘forgot’ something. You might catch them right after they’ve done it - with whatever you put on the chair still on their hands.

Honestly though, I wouldn’t surprised if more than one person is in on it. So-called grown adults can be incredibly childish. It’s behaviour like this which make me wonder why employers are so surprised that a lot of employees don’t want to return to office working.

And to the person upthread that claims this isn’t bullying - it absolutely is. I witnessed and supported a colleague who experienced this type of bullying in the workplace many years ago, and this is exactly the type of behaviour that would go on.

100% use the camera once and then say you saw them.

Horrible petty behaviour.

It really isn't that uncommon for people with chairs set up in a specific way for health reasons to have signs on their chairs and equipment stating that they're not to be tampered with. I've worked in offices that have had this in place and noticed it on airport staffs equipment last week.

It's a health issue and your manager should be aware of this if it escalates beyond this. The signs are a good suggestion from a previous poster. You state that you feel like doing so will escalate things but honestly the booby traps which have been brainstormed on here are far more likely to contribute to this sort of thing, and secretly filming your colleagues isn't going to win you any favours and could have enormous repercussions, and rightly so.

Concentrated red food colouring. A bit of that on a napkin, rub the cables down, look like you're doing a bit of a clean at the end of the day, go home, see who comes to office with red hands next day.

I have had similar things happen to me at work.
Usually borrowing coat / wellington boots / equipment .
I went to the boss as I have special inserts in my shoes / boots for pain
Also people using my tea / coffee / paracetamol.
A general email was sent out to everyone asking people to respect the property of others etc.

@Hungrycaterpillarsmummy don’t actually leave - come back and catch them. Can everyone watch you leave as in get to car park or not?

OP, I love the idea of the camera. Amazon have all sorts of ones that are cleverly hidden in desk lamps and other innocuous things that you could leave on your desk. If you only activate it once you’re leaving work you couldn’t get in trouble for recording work activity during the day surely?

Also, you don’t have to tell anyone that you’ve been filming, you just need to catch it whoever it is that’s doing it!

This would be such a good thread if you went for it 😅I genuinely think you’re justified given that someone is actively targeting you AND it affects your health with your back issue!

you cant film someone like that you'll be sacked

just keep a note of whose left every day when you leave

theyre not going to admit to it just because they have nutella on them

I’d be tempted to tell a lie to shit them up. Ideally you’d run this by your boss, who I’d like to think would be happy to go along with it. Then you’d have a conversation with a colleague and loudly say “I mentioned to our manager about my chair being moved all the time and then she started talking about investigations in to bullying and discrimination. Apparently they take this stuff really seriously so the person once identified will likely face serious consequences”. This would hopefully motivate them to grow up and leave you alone.

you need some type of coating that would be easy to wipe off the equipment but would stain what ever came into contact with it

Erm. Just don’t leave. If it’s happening all the time, pretend to go home. Then after 4pm hide out and have your camera phone.

This. The last 3 offices I've worked in have all had at least one chair with signs like, "Do not remove! Martin's chair for his back," or "do not adjust any settings," signs. It's normal in most offices these days. Back health I'd a serious issue in offices. You're entitled to a workplace assessment to review your desk and seating set-up. It's all part of the Display Scrern Equipment Regulations.

I also think the booby traps will escalate rather than otherwise.

I'd be sacked if I tried to bring a camera into the office - not allowed mobile phones or smartwatches, either.

I think you send your manager a weekly email, for 3 weeks, saying 1. Someone is bullying me by deliberately adjusting my chair and unplugging my equipment. My chair settings need to be right so my back doesn’t hurt (this is you logging physical injury)
week 2. Someone is deliberately repeatedly bullying me still by adjusting all my settings. It’s very upsetting and making turning up to work stressful plus having to reset my chair all the time means it’s not optimal for my back which is sore.
week 3. The bullying continues and this should be a formal warning for whoever is going it, it’s stressful and causing me back pain. Week 4 send the whole chain to hr and cc manager.
then you put in a grievance complaint and go for a payout. Go off sick while you do. They deserve it.

Food colouring could be washed off easily. You need that anti theft paint stuff you can put on fences. Then sit and watch somewhere (corridor near the toilets?) to see who goes to wash it off.

Also, request the workplace assessment daily when your chair has been adjusted. Take walking breaks for your back, log them with your manager.
fuck them all.