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?!

I agree with @Codlingmoths

Right now no one is doing anything about it as you are not making a fuss so they are happy for you to carry on suffering.

Make it THEIR problem. Keep at it, every single day if needs be.

I think like the above poster, I would deal with this under Health & Safety. Every single day, I would request that my work station was re-assessed and my chair re-adjusted.

H&S will soon file a complaint on your behalf. While H&S are assessing the daily 'damage, make sure you go for a sit down in a chair that can support your back or inform your manager that you have to walk around to ease back pain.

I’m guessing they sit in the chair to do it, if so, glitter the same colour as the seat fabric, not loads so that it’s obvious, but enough. Place it on top of the controls to adjust too and on the top of the cables. Maybe held in place with a thin slick of WD40 (on the cables / controls as they probably won’t look before touching). Pop back just before the suspected person’s leaving time to see if anyone looks sparkly and annoyed or sit in your car or wherever and see who comes out covered in / checking themselves for glitter.

ETA - have an excuse for the glitter, gift / card you were given that got all over…

Agreed. Bullying is a stretch a best. Some of those other things like the cords and mouse being switched off could be the cleaners. This isn’t really an issue.

It sounds like the kind of office where she’s probably right, TBF.

If it's happening after you leave can you pretend to leave and go home and in reality leave it awhile and come back to the office and peep round the door and see who is there at your desk?

Or another solution is get a camera off Amazon (but one that doesn't look like a camera obviously)

This.

Absolutely do not use a camera.

this happened at my sisters work offices. It turned out cleaners were told to put the chairs back into “regular” position if lowered or tilted back. Other times the chairs were being used for late staff meetings. Maybe this is one of the reasons for yours?

doubt there’s anything malicious, you should leave a note out on your desk saying please don’t change chair settings

Using a hidden camera is illegal and will get you into a lot of trouble. So please don’t go that route x

I helped a mate out a few times in her cleaning company when people let her down.....it was absolutely very clear that desks were not to be touched.

Cleaning was everything except desks.

I only worked in one building with her but when I was surprised that they didnt want desks doing, she said that this was the rule in every place she had a contract with. She had it written into contracts as Gross Misconduct because it could have lost her a contract if it ever happened and something vital was damaged or lost.

And if a desk did need cleaning it would be a dust/wipe over, at no point would a cleaner need to unplug anything.

It isn't the cleaners. I know it isn't. And it is an issue. It's every other day, it doesn't happen to anyone else. People are aware it annoys me and yet it keeps happening. I don't go to work to have to readjust everything every single time. If you don't live it then maybe you can't understand it but I know it is targeted against me. And that is classed as bullying.

I know th sensible pp's are right about going down the H and S route. The problem here is we do our own assessments so again they really wouldn't get involved. But yes I guess I will raise it to my manager again.

It's not the cleaners. They don't clean desks, they don't adjust anything. They don't unplug stuff. It just isn't them.

I do wonder why some folk can't comprehend that workplace bullying does take place and this IS workplace bullying.

I think you need to go full HR with this as was posted above. This has gone beyond trying to catch people out.

The fact is that if you feel the need to resign because of this, you would have a very strong case for Constructive Dismissal as nothing was done. But you would need to prove that you followed all required steps first and the company still did nothing. So you have talked to your manager.....that is step one. Nothing has changed. Now its time to escalate to HR... then raise an official grievance ....and so on.

ACAS can help with what you should do if you are not in a union.

I think the best thing you can do is leave a sign out saying please do not adjust chair.

If it’s a cleaner - IF- or someone borrowing the chair after hours. It should stop. If not, then take it further.

Don't you have stores where you can buy a little camera to set up?

If would be fun if you could set up some kind of booby-trap, like a loud alarm that would scare the pants off whoever it is.

But are you sure it's not just a clumsy clueless cleaning staff overnight?

Also, don't use the word "bullying." This isn't bullying.

This is illegal. Hidden cameras in a workplace could result in OP getting sacked. Someone could spot it, or even if not- presuming she shows the evidence to her boss or the person doing it if someone is messing around, the boss would likely sack her for recording without consent.

Yes we do have places to buy cameras, we also have laws that mean that it would be illegal to do so.

And if you think that this isnt bullying you are either a bully yourself or have a misplaced sense of humour.

It is bullying.

It's not.

It may be pranking.

It may be harassing.

It may be gaslighting.

But it's not bullying.

In a workplace context, they're all the same thing

@Hungrycaterpillarsmummy you say it's not the cleaners. I agree. But, could the cleaners help identify who it is?

Otherwise, I agree with anticlimb paint or something like that. It's interesting that the handcream worked until you had a week off.

That would be annoying, Are you giving them a reaction? You say people know it annoys you? How do they know do you make a song and dance about readjusting your chair and plugging stuff in? Just do it quietly, cut off their entertainment. Don’t engage with it. They want a reaction. @Hungrycaterpillarsmummy

If your chair is set to exact settings can you not squeeze in some superglue so that the settings can’t be changed?

Right, so you are a bully.

Thanks for clarifying.

In the UK, this is absolutely classed as workplace bullying. ACAS states:

"Although there is no legal definition of bullying, it can be described as unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either:

• offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting
• an abuse or misuse of power that undermines, humiliates, or causes physical or emotional harm to someone

Bullying might:

• be a regular pattern of behaviour or a one-off incident
• happen face-to-face, on social media, in emails or calls
• happen at work or in other work-related situations
• not always be obvious or noticed by others

It's possible someone might not know their behaviour is bullying. It can still be bullying even if they do not realise it or do not intend to bully someone."

Even in the USA this would be classed as workplace bullying (quote below from Workplace Bullying Institute in the USA):

"Workplace bullying is defined as repeated, harmful mistreatment of an employee by one or more employees, which can include abusive conduct such as verbal abuse, threatening behaviors, and work interference. It is characterized by repeated and unreasonable behavior directed at a worker or a group of workers, potentially causing psychological and physical harm. This behavior creates a risk to health and safety in the workplace."

That would probably work but the problem is that the OP doesnt own the chair, the company does. So potentially she could end up in trouble.

This is why I really do agree with others that she needs to go down the official route. Anything else could end up with her deeper in the shit that the arsehole who is bullying her. It could also affect any tribunal she may need in future if it gets so bad she needs to leave.