Desk and office given away

[Proseccoprincess33]

I am due to return to work following maternity leave next month. I am anxious about going back but this has been further intensified by the fact my office has been given away during my time off. This has been my office for 5 years. Not only has it been given away permanently but I have not been allocated another office or even a desk. I only became aware of this because some colleagues alerted me to it and I then contacted my manager to discuss it.

She is off site and very hands off so we rarely see her if at all. In fact I have never met her. So had I not been given this heads up by my colleagues I would have been coming into work to see my office and desk occupied and no place for me to sit on my first day back.

I am part of a multidisciplinary team and I manage one of the departments. Therefore having my own desk and office is so important to supervise staff and the nature of our work is very sensitive so privacy is a vital. But at this stage I'd settle for a desk of my own.

I am having a meeting with my manager about this very soon and have found out she has invited 2 very senior managers along also which is intimidating and not helpful to the anxiety I am experiencing. I think she fears I will be very unhappy and so has her reinforcements ready to tell me tough sh1t.

Her solution so far has been that they'll slot me into a desk somewhere when other staff are off....ie hot desking.

AIBU that I am so upset about this and want to fight for a resolution? Any advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation would be much appreciated.

Thank you 😊

I'd lay money on the plan being to tuck an extra desk into the remaining office, so you can all share; smaller desks might be needed. Your job share partner and you will simply need to share a desk, and that's a completely normal work requirement. If you are both in for a meeting then presumably you are IN the meeting, so not at the desk.

I do wish women would get out of the habit of calling professional colleagues "girl" though, it's so patronising. Find to use it for your mates at the pub if you want, but in the wirkplace grown adults are known as "women" if you know them, possibly stretching to "lady" if you don't.

This makes me think of when l used to work on wards and patients would argue about which chair on the ward belonged to them. Ward manager said people were obviously allowed to reserve space on the chairs they had brought with them at the point of admission. No one had brought a chair with them so their weren’t “theirs”. The chair, desk and office belong to the trust. At the trust l work at space is at such a premium some entire teams have no office space at all. So why should an office be left as a shrine to one person who might take 12-18 months or even more off? Most people would love their own but it’s just not realistic.

The workplace is changing, offices are downsizing and people who previously had their own offices are having to adjust to working differently. My entire very sensitive function across the country works in open plan, some locations together in a group of desks others right on the floor plate previously with offices or fixed desks. We protested, argued it wouldn't work but it does with some planning occasionally.
The communication is poor yes but you've no idea of their plans ahead of your return and it sounds like due to other internal moves this isn't even linked to mat leave it was operationally necessary and could have happened if you were there anyway.
I'd certainly establish some more facts before yelling discrimination

She hasn't asked for a shrine - she's asking to be provided with the resources she needs to do her job, now that she is returning to work. She doesn't work on a ward - unless the departments you are talking about, do exactly her role, you can't compare. Also, it's not a race to the bottom.

She's not demanding a specific desk or office - just the resources she needs to effectively carry out her role

This message was brutal and unnecessary. I have never once complained to management about anything in all my years in my post. Having a space to work is a basic requirement and I'm not surprised you're in HR....hr have always been useless when anyone needs support! I am one if the most supportive managers and I expect a little support from my immune in return.

As for your overview it is incorrect. There are 4 staff overall. So 2 of us will eventually be in this situ. The 2 that went on mat leave and no other department is expected to do this. Only the social work department ...not nursing!

To call me entitled because I am asking for the basics to do my job is a joke and I would expect you are quite bullying in your role and very unsupportive.

As an employee who is feeling emotional about returning to work and vulnerable your response is horrid and I feel so sorry for anyone you supposedly support.

I don't want to be seen as being difficult. I just want a desk and a space to call my own.

Sorry OP but this is now normal.

I used to have an office to myself, but now we're all in a large open plan office. I do have 'my own' desk, but we have to clear them at the end of the day due to GDPR etc., and although we don't officially hot desk, people on occasion do use 'my' desk. And, yes, all of the meetings I have are confidential.

It was new at the time, and a bit annoying, but you will adapt.

It's not hot desking if everyone else has a desk, except you.

@Fitandfree thank you so much, I really appreciate your understanding. I actually cannot believe how much abuse I have gotten because I want a desk to just put my head down and get on with my job. Is that really what the world has come to that people think a desk to do your work is entitled and that you should basically put up and shut up.

As someone who feels vulnerable and upset on my return to work some of the absolutely horrible messages on here and lack of any kind of compassion make me sad about the world my kids will grow up in.

I don't mind people giving their thoughts but the personal attacks from the keyboard warriors is something else. I too hope your loved ones never find themselves in a situation that the patients I work with do and as a result of hot desking or inappropriate accomodation the staff member is unable to support you to the fullest when you are at one of the lowest points in your life.

I never said she worked on a ward and l know she doesn’t work on a ward, l said l used to work on a ward. It was the mentality about things being “mine” by the patients on the ward that reminded me of the OP. When they don’t actually belong to them. I totally agree she should have the resources to work as that’s reasonable, it’s the there being no changes and lm special / different etc that isn’t. I think l can compare health teams trying to assist and support patients with limited space and resources. It’s not a race to the bottom but it’s important to be realistic that the NHS is buckling at the seams. It’s not a wealthy company with the real estate and money to dole out offices to everyone who wants them. Like l said some people have no office space at all, not even a meeting room. These are active busy workers who are not off on maternity leave

Even a desk that I know is available every day I'm in is enough. But I'm not even getting that. I'm happy as long as I have somewhere to work.

Great story.

Definitely bring your union rep, OP. It's why you have them!

This is hardly brutal. For AIBU this is super tame and pretty factual in my opinion. You have asked in AIBU if lm being unreasonable, a fair few people said you are and those are the breaks here

I returned from maternity last year and it’s really not a massive deal. Some things change, some things stay the same. It’s just one of those things people need to negotiate

Again not that desk just a desk. A DESK. I am not attached to any desk. Just a work space and I'd course I expected it to be used on my absence but I just wanted it back or an alternate solution! That's all!!

I am sorry if that was your interpretation but thank you for clarifying that 4 people, at least two part-time will be sharing two desks in one office. I am afraid this is quite normal, particularly if there is some hybrid working continuing.

You and colleagues will need to manage when you need desk space. My department now has 14 desks for 20 staff post covid and with the introduction of hybrid working. Everyone now has a laptop instead of a desktop and there are rotas which ensure the service is covered 5 days a week as everyone wants to wfh on Mondays and/or Fridays and they can't.

Staff voted for the above because the alternative was to say we were entirely user facing and they all had to be back in every day which would have suited the SLT. The staff wanted to retain hybrid - two departme ts have been combined allowing for a floor to be repurposed and to deliver an operational saving.

We live in tough times. A quarter of our workforce was made redundant two years ago. That is not something NHS staff are likely to face.

Our staff are managed and supported well and I made it clear to you that the meeting had been convened badly. However, I also tried to make it clear what may be going on behind the scenes to ensure your eyes were open.

I am sorry you feel frail about returning to work but have to and it is not your preferred choice. That is not your Employer's issue I'm afraid.

You mentioned on one day there will not even be a desk for you to use.
This is unreasonable
When you meet I think this definitely needs to be highlighted as a point of priority.
However, as it seems team members are now all having to hot desk, it is not unreasonable to expect you to do the same OP.

@Proseccoprincess33 - ignore RosesAndHellebores. For some reason she hates the NHS and nurses. She obviously thought you were a nurse so put the boot in.
You have a hard enough job as a social worker without all this bother with your manager. Good luck with your meeting.

Thank you so much. I'm probably going to delete the post soon because the abuse is actually making me upset now.

It will only be me hot desking for months and then the other member of my team when they return. No other department has had desks given away or are expected to hot desk. But if there is a desk for me each day I am in I would be happy.

It is worry about not one, but two senior managers being present. Why would they need to sit in on a back to work meeting?

That is fine. I am happy to hear about what is going on and appreciate the information but don't call me entitled and difficult to manage. That is personal and nasty.

It is no surprise that anxiety and depression is on the increase and so many are off sick with the attitudes expressed.

It isn't just the desk, it's the way I found out and the general poor management to date also. Many posts in the trust don't go out for mat cover because managers don't prioritise them and get them out in time. Then teams and the service users suffer.

Not because money isn't there, not because they aren't needed, it's because of poor management and a lack of prioritisation for the staff and the service.

@Proseccoprincess33 I have given you some frank advice from the other side of the lens. If there are rumblings going on that you are unaware of, you need to proceed in a collaborative and measured way. If you don't managers may draw their own perceptions and they are unlikely to be helpful.

I'd have a bigger issue with the colleague who has told you this. They may be shit stirring and they may have misinterpreted the facts.

I don’t have much to add but I am back to work on Monday from mat leave and I would be upset if I went in and was told I didn’t have a desk anymore. I don’t mind if I have moved as wasn’t too attached to my previous desk but would be upset and feel I’d been a bit forgotten about. I work in a different type of role and in an open plan office though. It’s a hard transition period and an employer who understands and is supportive of this makes a huge difference. I have a lot of anxiety for different aspects of returning to work but I know my boss is understanding of this and I can’t appreciate this enough.

Going through a challenging time and feeling like it’s starting as a battleground isn’t easy and you have my full empathy for that.

HR is the weak link in my Trust. Clinicians end up doing their work for them. It makes life very difficult indeed. I guess there isn’t the money for decent trained staff.

A Consultant colleague went on maternity leave. When she came back, her office had been taken and two other male consultants had put their name on the door. She rightly challenged this and her name was put back there.

I think everybody is understanding that changes sometimes need to happen, including when staff are away. The key is good communication and letting people know in advance about the changes and what they would look like for the person returning. You are right to challenge the appalling communication here.

Had there been decent and respectful communication, you may have felt better about all this, even if the end result was the same.

And I don't believe you would call senior management into a meeting if you felt you had done nothing wrong. If you felt you had made a just decision there would be no need for that.

It really seems that people in the work place now believe the 'put up and shut up' attitude in the work place is the only acceptable one. And that anyone that is unhappy shouldn't speak up as they are difficult or entitled.