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?!

If it’s every single day then yes it’s bullying.

Pranking harassing and gaslighting all come under the big header of bullying.

It is exactly the definition of bullying in any corporate handbook I’ve seen. And setting up a camera would not be ‘fun’, it would be a fireable offence. God knows what goes on at your work.

Is there a lockable office/cupboard you could wheel your chair to?
It might make them do something else to other stuff but would solve the chair issue.

I inform my manager that my computer is not working...every time. Your manager will get a bit pissed off with helping to sort it and act.

As others have said you must deal with this in a professional way and follow policies - ie speak to your manager every time.

under no circumstances get a camera! The peopl advising this are just after a bit of drama, it is very bad advice! Do not do anything like staining stuff - that just lets the bullies know they are getting to you and makes you look foolish.

I don’t understand why your manager doesn’t tell people not to use other peoples chairs or touch other people’s stuff.

She needs to be going in there regularly after 3pm and making her presence known.

She doesn’t even need to say anything about you.

The next time your computer cables are switched tell her that your computer won’t turn on and get her to come into the office and fix it.
She can then ask the team who has been messing with the wires and tell them not to do it again else there will be consequences.

My manager would lose his shit if he thought someone was being targeted like this and there’s no way he’d be so passive about it.

A) it’s bullying
B) DO NOT USE A CAMERA! I can’t stress this highly enough, because if you do, you will become the problem from a disciplinary perspective, not the idiots doing this.

Secret camera?

You can’t do that in the workplace. You will be out on the street in record time! And the person fiddling with the chair would be laughing their head off.

Given you have no idea and limited way to solve, can you ask you manager to solve this by providing access to a lockable area each day for you to put your chair when you leave. Mouse is not an issue. There is an ‘on’ switch you need to press. Ditto for cables, UNLESS it involves you scrambling under desks etc, then you can claim EHS issue, and your manager must organise this be fixed by someone/IT before you start, and this may involve a lot of downtime that will need to be factored in. This should give them the impetus to solve it, like sending a strongly worded email to everyone in the first instance about tampering with equipment in general, then see if that knocks it on the head.

Could you arrange it so that you could pretend to leave and watch from the parking lot who the last person out is?

agree with paper trail with your manager.

'... as discussed already on x date, the issue [description] keeps happening. this affects me in this way: [description]'

also leave a note on your desk 'please do not change desk setttings'

I assume you are sure that the chair is working properly? mine was broken and when no one was sitting on it would rise slowly to the highest setting. I had to get a new chair but took me ages to figure out that it was the chair and not someone fiddling with the settings.

It's definitely bullying (ex HR professional here).
OP you need to record everything and the impact it's had on you.
Date/what happened/impact on you
You should also consider listing how you attempted to address this and with whom. You might also want to list how it affects your work/impact on company. Keep it factual. DO NOT USE A CAMERA. DO NOT USE ANY SORT OF BOOBY TRAP.

Eould unplugging the wires yourself help? Take away their fun. I think I’d try that for a couple of days. As for the chair I think your idea of self tanning lotion was good. Or smear anti vandal paint on the levers but you would need to be very careful that you didn’t touch it. Or maybe use that liquid glitter you can buy which will cover them in gunk.

Presumably you’d get sacked. Secretly filming work colleagues would be seen as gross misconduct. In order to identify the chair fiddler you’d have to admit you’d filmed the whole office.
I share a desk and have to adjust the chair when I go on, as does she. It’s the nature of the beast!

I hate this kind of thing and it sounds like they are a bunch of idiots (I suspect it will be more than one who does it or knows about it). Some of the suggestions on here will be like a red rag to a bully and will make it worse for you. Especially the note/sign.

I would approach it as if you are someone who hot desks and see the first 5-10mins of your working day as setting up your chair and desk to suit you. Don’t show any annoyance just adjust it. They will soon get bored and move on.

Go back in after hours one day on the premise you’ve forgotten something!

If you start recording on a camera without permission, you will get in a lot more trouble than someone moving the settings. I suggest from a wellbeing desk assessment purpose, that this flagged with HR that the setting changes of the chair (& potentially monitor) is causing further back issues.

How old are you, 12? That was a really nasty and immature thing to do. You don't know why this woman felt compelled to lock away her mouse (MH issues?). Shame on you.

...the very definition of bullying then??

FML are some people thick?

Someone is deliberately interfering with OPs chair and computer which has been provided to her for health reasons. It's bullying. Possibly disability discrimination too. Manager needs to step up. Every single instance needs reporting.

arcticpandas · Today 06:37

How old are you, 12? That was a really nasty and immature thing to do. You don't know why this woman felt compelled to lock away her mouse (MH issues?). Shame on you.

Please don’t do this. It is illegal to record someone without making them aware. You would need to put a note on the door advising people they are being recorded inside the office, and people need to agree.

You would at the minimum be sacked if caught.
Just go through the correct channels and raise a formal complaint, it is the company’s responsibility to investigate and deal with the perpetrators if you are being bullied. And if they cannot find out who is doing it then they can make the decision to put cameras up in the office and advise people why.

This is actually quite serious as it is harassment in the workplace and totally unacceptable. Messing with the screws/bolts of the chair would be dangerous as it would be likely to collapse causing serious injury.
I was treated in a very similar way during my employment……..items would be removed from my in-tray and drawer (we weren’t allowed to lock them) only to mysteriously re-appear days later, other personal kit would be ‘borrowed’ and then placed elsewhere. At first it was bloody annoying and I did eventually have to report to higher management…….seemingly the culprit had a long record of similar behaviour and would target people for the sheer fun of it. They would stop for a while only to recommence with another victim.

OP, you know the settings for your specific chair so just reset it each time………..say nothing openly but keep a diary of what happens and when it happens and keep that diary with you, not at your desk. Do not place a camera anywhere in the working environment, that’s not your call and it will backfire on you. It is important to not react, that is what they want you to do.

Rise above the childish bitchy behaviour and each day just carry on as if nothing has been tampered with. They will soon get bored.

Anti climb paint?

I cannot believe people on here are saying this is not bullying and giving examples of ‘pranks’ they have done like it is funny.

It is bullying! You paint it as ‘banter’ to make yourself feel better but you know that it is doing something to purposefully make someone else confused, anxious or uncomfortable, that is bullying, and not funny.

Pranking, harassing and gaslighting are all forms of bullying. I know in the US you have minimal employment rights but in the UK all these forms of actions constitute bullying in the workplace.