Work forcing walks

[CaramelCandle]

My whole team is wfh. The manager has decided that everyone needs to walk 1000 steps a day on their lunch hour for the next month. We've been put into teams and have to record the steps and the team with the most will win a half day off. There were a few people not keen to take part but everyone has been put into a team anyway. AIBU to think this is stupid? I understand the idea is to get people away from their desk etc but it's the way it's been done so that you're letting your team down if you don't take part that I think is unfair. Surely it would be better to give people a choice without the guilt.

Personally I think it should be done in work time but it really is a very short distance. Anyone based in an office would normally walk further

@Porridgeoat

Personally I think it should be done in work time but it really is a very short distance. Anyone based in an office would normally walk further

Any more generalisations you want to chuck in or one disablist comment enough for you?

@FossilisedFanny

Just shake your phone while sitting with your feet up .

Brilliant

I love walking but as a matter of principle I would object - employees are not owned by their employer.I think Covid has made employees think they can be more prescriptive

Yeah, they can't enforce that. I really do hate these kind of hoop-jumping imperatives and I'd be objecting to this. I try to hit a set number of steps as often as possible for my own benefit, but I'd be very unimpressed if my employers tried to enforce it.

@Porridgeoat

Personally I think it should be done in work time but it really is a very short distance. Anyone based in an office would normally walk further

FFS RTFT

All the people saying "it's just a 10-minute walk don't be lazy it's no big deal" need to seriously check their able-bodied privilege.

This.

If the team get pissed off they can direct their beef at the manager, not you!

This would be great as a ‘sign up if you’re interested’ type thing and I’d probably do it but no way should they make it mandatory.

Just shake your wrist about till you hit 1000 steps!

Why on earth are some people suggesting the OP finds inventive ways to pretend she's done it? It's just endorsing the initiative, when it's an absolutely unacceptable instruction.

Don't shake your wrist or attach your mobile to the dog or any of the other suggestions. Just tell your manager you will not be doing it. If you checked with team mates I bet they are pissed off too. Then no-one will do it.

@smellyolddog

Just shake your wrist about till you hit 1000 steps!

You've still got to spend your lunchtime faffing about doing that! We've all got better things to do with our time than indulge a misguided manager's whim.

@CaramelCandle

Glad that MNers have helped you - very few people would agree to this.

My email reply to (original email) to manager would be

Hi Manager,

No Thank-you. I'm happy with how I spend my lunch break and content with my current exercise plans.

I wonder if you ought reconsider this idea alongside Equality Act etc.. including any work rewards about fitness/ableism, as it will likely make some staff uncomfortable.

I enjoy your enthusiasm and care for our well-being, but not this idea.

Have a lovely day,
Caramel

@unmarkedbythat

Have you a union?

Don't go to a union FFS, just say no. If they then (very very very unlikely) start disciplinary procedures for not taking part then you could approach one.

To go for a 10 minute walk with my two young children is 20 minutes getting ready time (with several fights) and then 20 minutes of winding down time (with several fights). Or it is me who is massively inefficient? And it does feel a bit cruel then to limit it to 10 minutes only when we are ready and outside.

I'd probably take the suggestions about faking it on the thread even further and indeed attach the step counter to a hyperactive dog or something spinning / vibrating for 24 hours. Then send a genuine screenshot with a million steps on it daily, and enjoy watching the fallout. Hopefully everyone will then see the poor design of the initiative.

@ememem84

that’s not for me to worry about or fight about because it’s not something I have to deal with

No. It's everyones job to worry about and fight for equality and inclusion

I’ve worked with someone who got sacked because she said something to a colleague which someone else took offence at and deemed racist (it wasn’t colleague was discussing curry recipes with a Sri Lankan colleague and other colleague believer because they were talking curry it was racist when in reality they both loved food and the Sri Lankan colleague regularly made food for us and shared recipes).
Interestingly, I know of a very similar story - two people discussing some cultural issues directly relevant to one of them and indirectly relevant to the other, with a third busybody (with absolutely zero connection to the said culture) overhearing the conversation and making a flurry of complaints up to the very top. In this case nothing was found against the employee, but she was made to attend regular re-education on diversity and report on her improvement in writing - just in case, you know. She left voluntarily as soon as she lined something else up.

This is unbelievable. It’s your free time, your time to eat, they have zero say over what you do on your lunch break. Those who say this is acceptable have honestly baffled me.

Doesn’t matter if they’re telling you to walk, dance, garden, mix cocktails, stroke spaniels, slice pineapples, whatever. It’s YOUR time and they have absolutely no grounding to ask this of you unless it’s completely voluntary and there’s no recourse, overt or subtle, for declining to take part.

@ilovesooty

Why on earth are some people suggesting the OP finds inventive ways to pretend she's done it? It's just endorsing the initiative, when it's an absolutely unacceptable instruction.

I suspect those people have experience of working in the sort of place that would try implement this.

In an ideal world with a normal workplace and functioning workplace laws we’d all feel able to say ‘no, I’m not doing that’. But we’re not in an ideal world and some places would make life very difficult for OP if she says no. Subtle things that are difficult to prove: not being considered for promotion, having flexible working requests denied, not being given hours (for zero hour contracts) and so forth. Many workplaces are so toxic you frequently have to choose between doing the right thing and standing up for yourself and quietly doing your best not to make waves and keep your head down.

In my current job I know I could just say no, and challenge it, and I’d be fine and supported. I’ve had jobs where refusing to participate in this would leave me at serious risk of losing my job. I wish I was exaggerating.

OP is best placed to know whether she can push back on this or not and it’s possible she knows she can’t, or she’d have done it already!

I couldn't get worked up on walking 1000 steps.
Does it have to be done during lunchtime?

I think it's great they are encouraging people to move. With working from home people will be moving around a lot less than if they were in their usual place of work.

It is exactly as @ColdBrightClearMorning said. It’s all the intangible things that people massively under call. Not being seen as a team player, being passed over, labelled as a pita. I actually think it is a good thing that workplaces are encouraging this. You must do 1000 steps over the course of a day so just send that in for goodness sake. The idea of contacting a union or quoting disability or diversity acts are utterly bonkers and where mumsnet really doesn’t help in the real world. As a manager they are just trying to promote team work frankly which is something very hard when everyone is at home and if you were to tell me that you were unable to participate unless for very good reason at some point in the day I’d obviously say fine but I’d roll my eyes in my head and so would many team mates.

Laughing at the joke up thread about Tragedy being played 200 times. Good one PP

OP, if anyone tries to tell me I have to do something I instantly shut down. I can’t help it, especially to do with fitness. I’m quite contrary like that.
You’ve got enough on your plate. I recommend telling them all of what you’ve said in an email and copy in your HR rep if you’ve got one.

OP, if anyone tries to tell me I have to do something I instantly shut down.

How do you stay employed?

As a manager they are just trying to promote team work frankly which is something very hard when everyone is at home and if you were to tell me that you were unable to participate unless for very good reason at some point in the day I’d obviously say fine but I’d roll my eyes in my head and so would many team mates.

The real world includes people with hidden disabilities who can't do 1000 steps/ maybe use their off desk time to do gentle exercises/ rest in bed, cook bc they are diabetic, etc...
The real world also includes parents (mostly women/mums) with school children at home they are trying to school /supervise and tidy around/ check how they are doing

You don't have right to demand a 'reasonable explanation' to why you can't force this terrible discriminatory idea on staff "for their well-being"

Eye roll as much as you want but it just makes you more of a discriminatory bullying manager, who still can't understand how s/he's breaching anti discriminatory legislation in the work place (Equality Act)