To refuse to go into a hot and sweaty office

[Floofydawg]

I've been WFH full time since Covid but we now have a directive of two days a week in the office. I can do my job fully remotely with no problems. I've been going into the office as directed but last week the air conditioning in the office wasn't working and we weren't allowed to open any windows to let some air in. The office was very very hot. I ended up going home because I felt ill and had a headache from the heat (I did work when I got home). Manager is expecting us in the office later this week even though the aircon is not fixed and we've been warned it could be warmer due to the heatwave. AIBU to refuse to go in?

I would also add that I am struggling with menopause and not being able to regulate my body temperature. Not saying I should get special treatment however I do struggle with it. I'd rather be home where I can open my windows and let some air in.

I very much doubt that. How does going from one job to another help with dealing with menopausal symptoms? I've never worked in one of these faceless places MNers seem to work in, where people don't actually talk to one another. We actually talked, and if we were told someone was leaving we would ask them where they were off to. The only people who were pushed out of a job were those where there was a very good reason, and we were aware of what that was.

I never heard my DM or my GMs mention menopause, and other than maybe a brief mention of hot flushes I haven't heard anyone else talk about it either - and I've worked with a lot of women!

Once again, there is a huge gap between MN and real life.

Why won’t they let you open the windows?

Because some jobs allow more remote working.

And really, the 'MN' here is you, and the real life is those of us who have pointed out what Parliament already knows about menopause symptoms driving some women out of work.

I don't know anyone who works remotely, it isn't such a big thing here (not the UK). I was mostly talking about about pre pandemic times anyway. How do you think women managed before WFH?

When I mentioned to a nurse at my GP surgery that I had sailed through menopause she told me more do than don't. MN seems to attract those who suffer more than most from any condition in my opinion (as well as those who can't cope with life in general).

@ForGreyKoala

"I never heard my DM or my GMs mention menopause, and other than maybe a brief mention of hot flushes I haven't heard anyone else talk about it either - and I've worked with a lot of women!

Once again, there is a huge gap between MN and real life."

I think in the quite recent past menopause was very much a taboo subject (similar v to having periods was in the 80s and before from my own experience ) and spoken about with one of those 'hushed' voices. No one mentioned it at work either due to the risk of being mocked or ridiculed by men or the younger generation. And yes I do believe a lot of women must have left jobs due to symptoms, either early retirement at 55 for those in public roles such as teaching or nursing or even civil servants.

Thankfully the tide is turning and we are able to discuss it much more openly thanks to people like Davina McColl who raised the profile and Liza Tarbuck who does a 'Menopausal Madness' slot during her Saturday show.

A lot more workplaces are seeing policies on menopause too.

Well that's lucky for you @ForGreyKoala - am reet happy for ya. I can assure you I wouldn't be on MN making this shit up if it wasn't very real. Women like you minimise the fact that some others really do suffer, just because you didn't.

And remote working is 100% a thing in the UK. Many of my friends and family do it.

As has already been pointed out, lots stopped work. The example of nurses going at 55 was mentioned previously. Women of menopausal age are more likely to be working now than they were in, say, the 90s. This is all pretty basic and uncontroversial stuff.

These wider societal trends are more important than your anecdata of what can't be more than a few hundred women. And note that even your GP hasn't actually disputed what's being said here. It's not contradictory for the majority of a group not to be affected by something whilst the unlucky ones have their working lives disrupted because of it.

I didn't say WFH wasn't a thing in the UK, I said it's not such a big thing where I live (i.e. another country). I also never said that no-one suffers badly, just that it isn't as bad as MNers like to make out. Reading some of these threads anyone would think 99% of people suffer badly, which I don't believe.

Just because SOME people suffer doesn't mean that everyone does.

BTW @Hateam - if you're planning on monitoring my MN useage today to ensure I'm not skiving at work, it's my non working day 🙂

If any poster saw mention of a problem affecting some people and extrapolated that to 99%, that poster isn't very bright.

I don't live in the UK, retiring at 55 hasn't been a thing here in my lifetime. People here didn't talk about periods in "hushed" voices when I was a teen in the 70s, let alone the 80s, so I doubt they were any more reticent to discuss menopause either - and I'm sure if my DM had been badly affected I would have noticed! I have never worked anywhere which had policies on menopause - unless they kept the information secret!

So you don't live in the UK, but still felt it sensible to wade into a discussion that is quite clearly about the UK, and tell people that they're made up MN land because experiences of the workplace, employment policy and cultural attitudes to talking about menopause don't match your own?

You sailed through the menopause so have no idea of how bad the symptoms of menopause can be, therefore you can't possibly know how debilitating it can be.

The only advice I would give you is to work on your empathy for your fellow woman and don't wade into a discussion talking about something you have no experience in.

But as they say, opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one 👍

Oh and just because SOME people don't suffer doesn't mean that everyone doesn't

I’m not hating on anyone!

Im just contributing to the discussion by sharing the conditions in my workplace.

As for power, a low band admin post in the nhs doesn’t come with much of that 😂

Nottingham University study on the taboo of menopause in the workplace

www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/breaking-menopause-taboo-improve-working-world-for-women

Science Direct article

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378512213002235

My last comment to you was to politely wish that your symptoms ease.

I think to respond to that with sarcasm is somewhat lacking in manners.

You’ve suggested that many people who WFH regularly not working. That’s not particularly polite either.

I am sure you don’t appreciate it when people make sarcastic comments about the longer holiday time you get when working a teacher. It is a perk of the job, as is a perk of my job that I have the ability to work from home.

That’s good if only SOME people suffer with it. If it’s not everyone then it is not such a hardship for those who do to have additional consideration. Of course people who find it easy won’t vocalise it. It’s like suggesting everyone on MN has marriage issues because nobody posts “my husband is great, we get on well and we are equals” on a regular basis. Why would we?

No sympathy here sorry, my partner has been baking whilst laying patio slabs and on building sites all week and I worked in 30 degree heat on a hospital ward where I'm on my feet for 13 hours doing physically demanding work. Im also menopausal by the way.

Weird how often sympathy has come up when OP at no point asked for any.

Erm hang on a sec @Hateam, you accused me of skiving from work several times, along with 'playing the menopause card' (very rude), and yet the minute I retaliate I'm the one who has no manners? 🤔

Everyone is different - some can cope with the heat such as you and your family member, others cannot.

I live in a sweat box flat and its nothing to do with how i live but everything to do with what my housing association has done. Slidey up windows replaced with ones with window restrictors that open an inch. Elf and safety! Walls stuffed with cavity wall insulation when the gap is there for a reason. Its like walking back into a furnace