To hate working in such a shit environment?

[bezinee]

I am employed via another company to work for a very large, well known company - a household name.

I am based at the head office.

It is, frankly, a shithole.

In our section, there are over 100 people. There are 2 ladies toilets. One is blocked by 11am every day because it barely flushes. The other one is slightly better. The sanitary bins in both are often overflowing, as are general waste bins in the main office.

I've been professionally qualified in my field for 20 years. As such, in my department I'm the most experienced, and one of the more senior, albeit there are a couple of layers of dept managers above me. I don't have my own desk - only junior staff get their own desks . I'm expected to hot desk either in the seats of (junior) colleagues who are on leave/off sick (and am forbidden to adjust their work stations when I sit there) or to sit in vacant desks - which are often filthy (I could have written my name on the desk I sat at today). Half the chairs are broken so can't be adjusted anyway. Our desks are never cleaned by cleaners, and the floors are never vacuumed. Our computers are woefully out of date (we are still running Word 2003, and I only got Excel 2007 earlier this year, after much begging). Our systems fail on average once a week, for at least half an hour, sometimes up to 3-4.

I've asked to work from home. This is frowned upon, as those in charge consider senior staff need to be visible.

I have a bad neck/back due to sitting at crap desks in unsupportive chairs and due to frequent 1-2 hour phone conferences where I have to cradle the phone on my shoulder in order to type/take notes.

We have no HR support - the company I am actually employed by (not the household name, I just work for them) recently went through various major changes, as a result we were told HR can't deal with any enquiries until further notice. However even prior to this they had no interest in desk assessments or anything else.

I'm not going to say I deserve better just because I'm so experienced/senior because actually I wouldn't expect anyone to work in a place like this, but my seniority makes it worse somehow, I'd hoped by this stage in my career I'd at least have a desk on my own - I don't even have that!

AIBU to think it's pretty awful? And other than banging my head against the brick wall that's HR, or looking for another job, there's not much else I can do is there?

Union?

Sounds the NHS to me.

Companies vary. I am used to top of the range London city offices where you are treated like a God and sometimes for a day or so I've been places like a portakabin without heating in Aberdeen in mid winter or an industrial works in the Midlands where the building is like something from the 1960s and the biscuits are dire which makes me realise how spoilt we can be. But that is me for one day - not long projects. For you it sounds very hard. One of my clients was forced to work in a room with smokers in Russia - she is a contractor - and she had to get her own company to have a word with the Russians and mvoe her to a side room. It was very difficult because the culture there was like London of the 80s when I shared a room with a chain smoker when pregnant.

Is there anything you can do practically about the loos? Eg type a note about people not blocking them and put it on the doors or see if you can find out who the cleaners are the give them a tip to make sure they clean the loos more or find a disabled loo you can use?

But at least you have a job, OP, we have to be grateful for that, don't we?

It's not the NHS - it's (embarassingly) a FTSE 100 company.

No unions unfortunately - there is an employee reps group, but that's pretty toothless, they have meetings with facilities who say that there's no budget for more cleaning, the toilets will be refurbished in 2017 (or maybe 2018 - it's so ludicrously far away I can't remember!), and so on.

No-one cares about the IT side, the manager of our area has regularly raised the inordinate number of outages at director level and everyone just shrugs!

'there's no budget for more cleaning'

But I bet the CEO got his bonus last year.

If you work in IT OP at the level you explain I reckon you can (and should) go get a job elsewhere.

Omg. I actually think I work at the same place as you, household name, head office, yup.
Yanbu...

It sounds horrible. Time for a new job?

There are several disabled people in our area, whilst there is a disabled loo I'd feel bad about using it in case they needed it. I end up having to go to another floor often (and hope their 2 loos are working).

The blocking...is just through normal use, because it doesn't flush properly.

I forgot the heating too...it gets switched off at the weekend, so on a Monday at this time of year we have to wear our coats all day because the office is freezing.

sounds awful. dire.
i hate hot desking too. i think its very demoralising not to be allowed your own space at work. not to mention utterly unsanitary.

I read that and thought you were describing my workplace (NHS). :) I wasn't the only one.

Sounds like it is time to look for a new job. Good luck.

Sorry quick post, but you need to take this up with your employer ( I.e. Not the household name where you are working), they are in breach of their duty of care plus H&S breaches

Time to find a new job

Can't you contact HSE independently (and anonymously)?

I'd be out of there as fast as my legs could carry me. It sounds awful. And not fixable. If they just refuse to give a fuck, what else can you do?

That's just terrible, I bet the CEO has a lovely clean toilet, disgusting.

The desk and chair problem is a legal requirement , as already mentioned.

Either leave the job, or involve an employment lawyer.

Those are generally the conditions we work in at the NHS. I'm jealous that other people get nice things like free tea

It does sound awful. Ours is the aame but public sector. It is absolutely dire, outdated and woefully smalle. Innour office there are 5 of us plus usually 2 or 3 students and the office is maybe 10ft by 5ft. It should be condemned. You sound like you need ri change conteacts or employers! Sadly I am stuck.

It sounds dire, you really need your own chair at least you could cause yourself an injury having to sit at a chair not adjusted to your requirements for most days. I would address this, get a doctors note if necessary. Cleanliness I would take my own antibacterial wipes for the desk.

Can you find out when CEO is away and use his desk? I would defo find out where the nice loos are though

I don't think 2 loos is legal.... Surely not?