Desk taken at work while on maternity

[Flopsy145]

I'm coming to the end of my maternity leave and have found out that a man in my team has moved into my desk while I've been off and replaced it with a standing desk. I love my desk, it has a window and privacy which I need more than him in the role I'm in, and I can see my daughter's nursery.
He's on more money than me, and didn't even ask to have my desk, which still has a locked cupboard of mine next to it which I need.
The desk I've been moved to is pretty shit.
AIBU to demand my desk back?

I'd arrange to go in on a day when you know he's not supposed to be in the office as you're preparing to go back to work, meet with your manager and just drop into conversation as you walk back to your desk "Oh that'll have to be moved and the desk that was here (i.e. your desk) be returned to this position by Monday when I'm back. I'll arrange that with Facilities/Office team to look after that" because as quickly as he moved into that location, he can be moved back out again.
Then if your manager has any comments to make as to why he must be located where you were prior to your leave, then you can counter that by having reasons why you must have that space back.
Try and keep the emotions out of the conversation.

So he’s moved into where you sat and now has a standing desk fir his back

Sure everyone would like a window view

"I'm also annoyed because he took advantage of me being on maternity leave to do it, had I been there it wouldn't have happened...
Totally happy with him sitting there while I was off of course....
I'm considering just telling him 'im coming back on x date, if you could make sure my desk is clear by then that would be great, thanks!' and seeing what he says?"

Given that you were away for a year, you sound really entitled to be honest.

Things change in workplaces, you need to be able to accept that and move on.

This is only a big deal if you make it out to be.

If he's replaced your desk with a standing desk then yours must be floating about somewhere, if course you mean you like having a window and being able to peer into the nursery but they probably don't plan the office arrangements around that. If he has a standing desk this has obviously been arranged with health & safety/facilities (unlikely he brought it in from home or crafted it himself), who would have had input or green lit where it was going to be installed. I've always known them be on the end of a bank of desks, perhaps there were logistical reasons or perhaps he stamped his foot and demanded it, much like you are doing.

@ElftonWednesday

He ended up in a broom closet
@tympanic That’s terrible! How did he take it?

He made sweeping changes to the workplace

😂😂😂 Very good.
Yeah, he didn't take it well, tbh. He was a bit shell-shocked as they didn't even assign him a desk in a shared office. Initially he was trying to work on his knee. He found the cupboard and sort of cleared it out. Then he looked for another job - which, of course, could have been the company's intention.

I have to say if I had a desk in the middle of the office and I knew a window desk with views was going to be empty for a year, I'd be boxing my stuff up and moving over even as the op was waddling out of the door with bags full of baby gifts. Who honestly thinks that anyone in an office would respect another member of staff enough that they wouldn't nick a window desk?! And then wouldn't try their damnedest not to give it back!

I'd find that so annoying. Really. But, I don't think you have much of a case. The fact its by a window and you can see your daughters nursery isn't something they'll take into consideration. I think you'd need to ask if there is a reason he needs that spot, because like previously said your don't own that spot. If you were in the office you might have been asked to move. I'd defo being up he can see your screen though. But unless it's HR/Collauge information again it won't be classified. It's a tough one but you may need to make your new spot home :( 😞

How does this work? The desk has been replaced by a standing desk. He is not using your desk, he’s just using a new standing desk in the space where your desk used to be surely

It works by the OP using it as a sitting desk or by him having it moved back to his original desk location, just as he moved it to its current location. The size of these desks is the same as any other.

I wouldn't assume its been provided on occupational health grounds either. They are pretty common in workplaces now.

Sorry OP, but you just have to suck it up. Had the same happen to me but I didn't say anything as no one 'owns' a desk, and he has just as much right to it as you. It's a bit rubbish, but you are definitely being unreasonable.

I feel for you OP this didn't happen to me on matetnity but we had an office reshuffle and I have one of the worst spots in the office even though I am a team leader!

When I was given a standing desk at work I had to change desks. The office manager said it had to be in a certain place for h&s (my chair might be in the way of fire evacuations) so I had to move but didn't really want to. Not sure about the person who used to have that spot but we were all used to reshuffles due to team changes

Is this a reverse? Are you the line manager of the the woman returning who is making such an unreasonable fuss? I haven't had a fixed desk for about 7 years. Prior to that we had regular moves that people had no say over and nobody would expect "their" space to be held for them while they were on long term leave.

We have a very few people who have a fixed desk where there is an additional need, e.g. needing one of the height adjustable desks or finding it difficult to use a locker so needing one of the few desks with drawers. "Because it used to be mine" wouldn't be a reasonable adjustment.

I get that it's annoying

But office moves happen

You have no right to going back to your coveted window spot where you can creepily stare at children during the day

If you genuinely need a window area for privacy ask before returning what their plan is for your new desk space since you can't be in front of his standing desk due to those concerns

If you don't actually need privacy for your work get a grip

This is yet another reason I prefer WFH.
No bastard can steal my desk or swap my chair for the one that looks the same but is fucked.

It does seem petty to start throwing around words like "discrimination" over this. You were away for a substantial period of time so they utilised the space in the way that best works for the company. That's all, and you're feeling territorial and a bit put out by it.

You can put in a request to have your previous desk back, but a view of your child's nursery isn't something you need. I'd go for the privacy/ confidentiality as the primary reason. But don't accuse them of discrimination.

We've been shifted around numerous times in 8 years, moved from nice offices to porta cabins, moved from a window desk to a tiny office without much light when very vocal colleagues decided they wanted our space.

I need privacy for my work and now we are shoe horned in back to back. I hate it, but have to suck it up.

I'm sorry, but your posts just come across as entitled.

Once I went on holiday for two weeks and when I came back teams had been shuffled around and I was in a new team and even on a new floor of the building.

Get over it OP.

Are you the line manager of the the woman returning who is making such an unreasonable fuss? I haven't had a fixed desk for about 7 years

And I haven't had a fixed desk for at least 20 yrs. So what? The OP has stated that in their office they have fixed desks.

Its clearly not appropriate either for a desk to be positioned so that it directly overlooks another staff member's screen, especially if they deal with confidential or private issues as the OP has stated she does.

I'm astonished at how many posters think that being shuffled around and having your space taken in a fixed location office is part of the "price" of maternity.

Just act as though you are presuming your desk will be yours again - i.e. email the man and your line manager asking when the standing desk ill be moved elsewhere, and remind them (in writing) why you need more privacy. Don't ask for your desk space back, tell them you will be having it back.

You absolutely should not claim discrimination over this. It would sound ridiculous and entitled.

It is not your desk. Also if you are practically the office manager but your Maternity Cover left and they didn't bother replacing them and your LM is happily incorporating your role into her job I would look at what I could be doing to gain more work back, otherwise you will feel redundant.

Seeing the nursery is not helpful while you are supposed to be working (but that is beside the point)

@HollyBollyBooBoo

Just change it back, say it's yours and presumably he was only there as a temporary measure whilst you were off.

The daftest response on this thread Have you ever worked in an office? Ever worked in fact?

It's not your desk.

I don't think you have any right to a particular desk, sorry.

Every office I've worked in has either been hotdesking, or if set desks, then they were frequently reshuffled due to business requirements. Someone needing a standing desk for their bad back (and that being the most appropriate spot allocated) is most certainly going to trump your desire to stare out of the window at your daughter's nursery.

Is there any actual business reason (not your preference to be tucked into a corner/able to look out of a window etc) that you can't do your job from the desk you've now been allocated? If there is, then raise that with your manager, and no doubt they will allocate you a more suitable desk (but not necessarily your old one).

It could be he was moved there as he needs a lot of natural light to see properly. I'd check this possibility out first and if not the case, I'd email him and say that you will return on X date and will ensure his sit stand desk is moved to Y location for that date.

In the words of MN, give your head a wobble. I am amazed you were allowed to leave stuff locked in a cupboard there while you were off...if it was office stuff didn't anyone else need access and if it was personal stuff why did you not take it home?

You can ask the relevant manager. You can't 'tell' or 'demand'. It's not your desk, it's your employer's desk.

It would have been nuts for them to leave a desirable window desk empty for 6-12 months while you were away.

(I remember a similar situation in one place I worked. I'd been employed FT while someone was on mat leave and used her large, window desk. She came back 3 days. But I had to move to a small, squeezed in desk, because she was a stroppy, spoilt princess and the management feared she'd waste a lot of their time and not get on with her work, if not given what she wanted. What a crap lesson in how to behave at work).