People who remove their shoes in an office environment..

[RougeSeas]

AIBU or is this actually now an acceptable thing to do?

I've just gone back in to an office based role, there's a contact centre and i work the other end on a different team.

Many of the women come in, then spend the day walking about with no shoes on..

It seems very unprofessional and a bit grim

I've lived in New Zealand my whole working life (going back to the 80s) and I can count on one hand the amount of people who walk around the office with no shoes.

If you don't like bare feet, don't move to NZ.

Part of Maori culture is no shoes in a house. It is extremely rude to walk into someone's home without asking if you should remove your shoes. Barefoot in the office is normal. As is barefoot on the street, in the supermarket, most places really. Most schools allow kids to remove their shoes when they arrive. Lots of poor kids don't even have shoes.

Shoes off off at work is no worse than pyjamas on at home before dinner.

And considerably better than onesies in public.

Ah midnite, you've just reminded me that two of my son's teachers have them learn with shoes and socks off.

Always keep mine on in work

Our local primary school has a no shoes policy for kids. Shoes are left with coats near the entrance. Slippers can be worn, but socks are acceptable. The carpets in the classroom are very clean.

I lived in SE Asia for a while, there it is considered bad manners to leave your shoes on when going indoors. Even visiting banks, restaurants etc, shoes are left at the door.

toothfairy err, I was born in New Zealand, as were my parent's, I hardly had a choice

Cheers for the lesson on the Maori culture, however the office is not their home, it is a working environment, therefor they must oblige to professionalism. Admittedly I'm in the lower South Island but I've never encountered barefoot in the office (Maori or otherwise).

I can't poo at work, unless I'm ill. My body seems to only like to poo on home turf! Or when I visit my parents, which I'm sure delights them.

It's weird! Never get the urge to poo elsewhere.

I've been in my current job over 3 years and have pooed once in the office in that time, I had gastro and went home.

No shoes in the office is weird.

I admit to having a few pairs of shoes under my desk though. I have an issue with my right foot - I'm in huge pain with it most of the time - sometimes flats make it worse but heels are fine, sometimes vice versa, sometimes only birkenstocks will do (thankfully I live in the sun), so I have a range of shoes that I can change into depending on what's making it hurt that day, or for meetings if it's an 'only birkenstocks will do' day and I've got big important people to meet with (so the 100m to and from the meeting room can be done in heels, but no more) And yes, I've had X-rays, scans, tests for arthritis, and nothin at all has shown up. I'm fairly unashamed of the shoe changing, but no shoes is weird.

I have very small, very wide feet. Smart shoes hurt.

Same here, but I wouldn't go without shoes at work. Primarily because every office I've worked in has, at some point, become infested with fleas (assume people bring in from home on their shoes? Not me as I have no pets!). And every time, management don't take complaints seriously for ages. Most people don't seem to react much from being bitten, but I really suffer with flea bites. The idea of my feet being bitten to death is a bit grim.

I've never worked in an office with fleas, and I've worked in a lot of offices.

Feet are unprofessional. Got it.

I used to remove my shoes when I worked in an office, back in the heady days of 99/2000. Always wore tights though. We weren't customer facing and I couldn't give a rat's arse what anyone else thought about it.

Never did pyjamas or blankies though. It's a nice thought if I ever find myself in an office again...

Hearthethunderroar - My post was not directed at you - we clearly crossed posts.

But I won't be telling my boss she is unprofessional.

I often have my shoes off at work (in a school). It is more normal here (NZ). I love it - hate having my feet enclosed.

In all the places DH and I have worked over the past 12 years, everyone had a locker in the corridor. Outdoor clothes, shoes handbag could be locked in it and you got changed into Birkenstock/croc type shoes. Internal meetings you wore those, external you put your shoes back on. Nothing worse than having to wear snow boots indoors all day! I would never walk around bare foot though mainly because I'd find the only staple that someone had dropped.

I really can't get het up about a lot of this stuff.
I used to take my shoes off at my desk - it was comfier. They don't smell. I'd wander to the printer/across office shoeless (in socks or stockings) or in flip flops in summer. Wouldnt venture further afield for fear or bumping into a client but would have if I knew Id be safe.
Some others in the office were blanket wearing types. Not my thing but why should I care? They felt the cold more than me - I swapped desks with one colleague to a draughtier desk as it bothered me less.
They never raised an eyebrow at my collection of under desk shoes. I never raised an eyebrow at fingerless gloves/blankets. We were there to work, which we did.

Oh and toilets are there to be poo'd in! Personally I prefer the privacy of my own home if I can hold on. OH likes being paid to poo at work.

There are so many things that actually affect people about work behaviour - passing other people's work off as your own/ not delivering when you say you will/ etc. Shoes/ blankets/ pooing? Seriously don't sweat the small stuff.

And don't sweat in your shoes, either.

It is unprofessional and pretty minging. Just yuk.

The women i used to work next to one took her shoes off ( no socks) and rested them on her computer tower. She was sat at an angle so they poked out into the walkways between mine and her desk.

She had scratched the bottom of her foot previously so there was a manky plaster half flapping around off the sole of her foot.

That was grim, and somebody told her so. She was outraged and said " What?! I have nice feet!"

Woman I*

I used to work with a girl that would wear the most ridiculous shoes - huge skyscraper stiletto heels. The second she got in the door she'd take them off, then walk around in her tights all day until time to walk back to her car.

It was VERY odd. Just wear shoes you can walk in in the first place!

I absolutely hate it when people take their shoes off and walk around - almost everybody does it in my office. No smelly feet or anything but it makes me so uncomfortable. However, we have stopped our warehouse chap wandering around barefoot all day (including in the warehouse!).

Our dress code actually states that shoes must be worn at all times for Health and Safety reasons.
A couple of years ago we got quite notorious because they had to rewrite the code and issue a memo that flip flops were not acceptable after someone who I work with broke their toe so badly it was sticking out at a right angle.

She still wears flip flops...