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?!

Ha! Employing a sniper does sound very tempting.

Do you have an HR person? You need to email them and CC in your manager stating you’ve tried to discuss this but it hasn’t been dealt with.

If you like your manager, let them know you’ll do this beforehand and explain it’s upsetting you. And that it is bullying.

I'm sorry OP but you are coming across as petty and immature as the person who adjusting your chair etc. and it could still be someone doing it will absolutely no mal intention as suggested up thread.

Personally I would put a note as suggested above asking for your chair etc. not to be adjusted (perfectly normal to do so) and mention to your manager each and every time you come in and find it adjusted and ask for a H&S assessment to put it back where it was. Make it your manager's problem to resolve, as is their job

No, you’re not coming across as petty OP. Classic victim blaming to suggest you’re wrong in your responses to bullying.

It baffles me that some posters don't think it's bullying. What is bullying then? Grabbing someone by the collar, hitting them, stealing their lunch money?😆
I am guessing those posters are guilty of bullying, which is why they are trying to play it down.

It’s not a funny prank though it is - how hilarious to unplug a monitor and move a chair back every night, it’s mean and petty. I’d be concerned about the malice it shows towards you from an individual or group of people. Are you disabled op? Or older? Or from a different ethnicity? Or sex? There’s something going on there that shows someone isn’t right in the head.

You should keep a diary and keep sending it to your manager and then HR if the manager does nothing. I don’t think you can match the energy of this sustained nastiness with some Nutella smeared on a lever. And don’t get sacked over trying to film them.

Tbh, I’d be looking for another job - it sounds like a toxic environment to work in.

In fact, I’d film your desk (after all, it’s a public space so no laws being broken), speak to HR/management [again] and if nothing happens make a constructive dismissal claim (or something similar, am sure a legal person with employment/HR knowledge can advise, but I think bullying/harassment when not addressed constitute constructive dismissal).

Will apologise now as I’ve only read as far as this comment so it may have been mentioned before, to mark something like a cable you could look at some ink gel (the sort that comes in gel pen middles/art supply shops/stamp pad refills) that isn’t going to dry between you applying it and someone touching the cable/chair adjustment components!!

That’s interesting to know. My last company they definitely did especially after covid and were asked to turn off monitors. No one minded as we were happy the desks were cleaned but a good data point of companies being different.

Absolutely right. It doesn’t fall into the bullying in the workplace definition or characteristics.

Wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so.

You're wrong, it absolutely is bullying. UNISON has defined workplace bullying as persistent offensive, intimidating, humiliating behaviour, which attempts to undermine an individual or group of employees. Despite "loving her job and the company" OP is so worn down by this she's considering leaving. If she does, one (or more) of her colleagues will have bullied her out of her job.

Can you roll your chair into another area, like a cupboard that’s lockable?

You're still wrong.

This is exactly the kind of childish, spiteful behaviour that is so prevalent in work places everywhere. There is no need for it and the perpetrators, like this poster, have no insight into the stress they cause. Many people have enough to deal with in their lives without their work colleagues making things harder.

Of course it is bullying in a silent way. They may think it’s a joke or could be more serious. As to what to do no idea. Maybe something on the handle of the chair.

Does your chair look the same as all the others? If so, instead of messing with the settings they might be swapping it with another chair. I would mark it with a piece of tape on the bottom or similar and when it happens again check for the tape. If it's not there check the nearby chairs to see if yours has been moved. If this is the case it might end the game the bully is playing.

Nice bit of victim blaming there. How on earth is OP being petty? She just wants this bullying behaviour to stop.

I agree that this should be the manager's problem to solve.

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.

It's quite obviously the same two guys?!! Or someone very close to them. It sounds exactly like the sort of pub/afterwork banter that men talk about. They clearly told others how they messed with your chair and everyone found it hilarious. So the same guys or a new colleague decided to start it up again.

OP, if this is all true then you have a serious cultural issue in your office. You need to go to both your manager and HR and demand that they sort it out. It is not your job to be installing secret cameras in your office - how utterly ridiculous.

It is bullying when it’s the same person getting “pranked” on a daily basis. It is also pathetic, childish and unprofessional. Also it takes times every day for OP to reset things when she could be working instead. So in a way her organisation is suffering as over the year that time probably adds up. You should definitely put a nanny cam by your desk for a while and then take it to your manager.

Your manager needs to sort it out, it is their job to do so. Tell them it’s affecting your mental health and if they don’t sort it you will go to HR and report that you are being bullied and want to take out a formal grievance.

And how old were you? 12? 🙄 Nice victim-blaming too BTW - so it was her fault that you acted like a twat instead of a professional supposed to be doing their job.

All those things you have listed can be classified as bullying. I am guessing from your username & the time you posted you are in America, is that why you don't know this? In the UK (don't know about the US) an employer could find themselves in serious trouble if they don't act on behaviour like this. Harassment btw has a legal definition in a work context and is specifically illegal. None of this behaviour has any place at work.

OP I personally would not bother with setting traps with cameras and the like, some of which could just get you in trouble. I think you should insist that your employer deals with it. You can keep a diary of dates, incidents etc as evidence that this is a bullying campaign.

What a weird thing for anyone past primary school age to do.

Absolutely wrong. Targetting OP's specialist chair which she needs because she has a health issue or a disability absolutely is bullying. Do you actually think that this is reasonable behaviour from colleagues in the workplace?