Annoyed with the office cleaner

[VerySweatyBetty1]

Here’s a thing:

I've suspected for some time that our office cleanerr sits and dozes / charges his phone / eats his breakfast in my chair. I’ve never quite caught him but I’ve often ‘surprised’ him ‘suddenly cleaning’ when I've walked in earlier than normal (I'm a late person). My office is an easy choice – comfy, fan, phone charger ready plugged in on my desk. He will have noticed I’m rarely in before 9.30 and he can listen out for people coming in and out. In fact, as I’m above the front door, you can hear people arriving as the door slams shut.

He's been caught out in the past by leaving his breakfast on my desk, and coming back for it. Apologetically.

My colleague once nearly caught him in another office, so it's a known thing amongst us that this happens.

Yesterday there were some ear buds in a case on my desk. Barely anyone else here this week and nobody would want to sit here anyway, as they all have their own comfy offices. So I was pretty sure they were the cleaners. Wondering what to do / and wondering what he would do, I put them in my desk drawer while I thought about it. That was yesterday. This morning they’ve gone. This means he’s come in looking for his earbuds and has opened my personal drawers in my desk. These contain my personal effects – medication, spare underwear, receipts, personal letters and cards. I can't lock the door of my office or of my drawers. We're a pretty low-security establishment and trust one another.

In addition: we have a very narrow entrance to our building (which is part of a group of buildings, which are all serviced by an external company). He has taken up residence at the foot of the stairs. Eats his lunch there. sits on the stairs having loud conversations on his phone. We have to literally climb over him to get in and out, including when we have visitors.

I've always found this highly annoying and inappropriate but my colleagues don't seem to mind and tolerate it and I don't want to be the office bitch. The bloke is bussed in with a load of others from goodness knows where, at the crack of dawn, probably on the minimum wage and probably not well treated. There must be a common room where his colleagues hang out, but he seems to prefer our stairwell. Maybe they bully him, and he just wants some peace and quiet. So, I don't want to ruin things for him but he's crossed a line.

He speaks barely a single word of English, so I can't even have a gentle chat with him (or I'd have done it by now). The only way to communicate is via his boss. I suppose I could use Google Translate and leave him a note:

"Please do not take rest breaks at my desk, and do not open my drawers"

I don't want to scare him, though, or I'll end up being the one in trouble.

WWYD?

I wouldn't keep anything very personal in view in my desk drawer. I do have things like deodorant and spare tights, but they're in a bad. I'd look in a colleague's drawer if e.g. I needed a pen or scissors when I was nearby. I wouldn't be that precious about anyone seeing a pair of clean knickers either, mind

You don't know much about trafficking do you?

Yeah we can all just say tough shit and treat others like crap.

To be honest, just if it were me, I'd give him a break and smile at him and say hello

Quote where I said it's probably ok or that he isn't being exploited.

I did the opposite of jumping to conclusions. My view was that there wasn't enough information to even speculate, and that the people who are speculating about human trafficking are only doing that because they are ethnically stereotyping based on "cleaner" and "doesn't speak English".

If I find somebody else's stuff on my desk I often put it in my desk drawer while I'm using my desk, otherwise there's a high chance it would get lost in amongst my paperwork and general clutter.

If you leave your personal possessions on somebody else's desk and they put them somewhere else for safekeeping, that does not make them a thief. I highly doubt that OP would want somebody else's used earbuds FFS 🙄

OP - some of these people have never been menopausal and it shows. How about a lockable cash tin (or two) for small personal items? Or amazon probably has multiple lockable storage solutions in various sizes.

She's not treating him like crap. He is making her feel uncomfortable in her working environment, and because she's a woman, she's told to "be kind".
I thought we were past all that nonsense. Clearly not.

@Teazels she stole his personal possessions, and reported him for taking a break at her desk.

THIS. With knobs on.

@HollyKnight

Your speculation over people’s motives is as big an unfounded conclusion as any other. Why would you be arguing against concerns unless you thought that they were unlikely (based on as much information as anyone else bar the OP).

I’ve already stated how not speaking the language of the country you’re working in makes you vulnerable and jobs such as cleaning (and nannying, nail bars, building trades, restaurants, car washes, hospitality etc) are known to fly under the radar making them attractive to those who wish do to so. You don’t see them as flags for concern for whatever reason but people aren’t wrong to thread these things together.

Quite. Shouldn't be surprising. She shouldn't have hid them.

You catch him cleaning your office because you've normally last in so he leaves yours to last. Why do you assume he's asleep? Is it something anyone has seen or just being nasty.
Slavery charities estimate 122,000 are in modern slavery in the UK
You work for a charity be charitable.

Oh fgs she didn't steal them.
And also, again, if he's making her feel uncomfortable, why shouldn't she report him?
Why should everyone else bend over backwards and creep about, hoping to not offend this man? It's a workplace not his house.

We always ate at ours as we were really busy and snowed under

Why leave them in the draw why decide to do anything leave them where they will be looked for

No, but you might be the first to hide the cleaner's property in your desk, and then moan they went through your things to find it?

Well let's hope so anyway.

And your view is why so many are left suffering get some training. Do you interfer in possible child abuse or is it easier not to?

Maybe but equally if someone’s brought in on a bus, doing a job that’s increasingly associated with trafficking and you can’t really talk to their immediate boss, it might indicate an issue. It probably wouldn’t be my first thought but it’s still a possibility.

Los auriculares están en el cajón

according to google!

possible signs of slavery/exploitation: https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/modern-slavery/spotting-the-signs#:~:text=They%20appear%20to%20be%20under,if%20ever%2C%20have%20days%20off

speaking little English or coming from a different country are not in isolation signs of slavery but the red flags can add up...

1. foreign worker
2. low paid job
3. limited / no english
4. working in a group, bussed in together
5. long hours
6. signs of inadequate provision for breaks
7. possibly sneaking opportunities to sleep / eat

Any one or more of these in isolation obviously won't necessarily be an issue, but all together can add up to a concern (not a definite confirmation) of slavery or exploitation.

and modern slavery isn't just linked to certain ethnicities...can be linked to anyone who is vulnerable (for whatever reasons) and in a role or situation where they are controlled and don't have the ability to simply walk away and do something else.

You see, I disagree with the position of "you stole his headphones".
The OP found headphones that weren't hers so put them in a drawer for safe keeping until such time as she could put a notice up, is the way I see that. Even if all she did was put them in a drawer for safe keeping, he still doesn't have the right to open drawers that are so wholly unconnected with his cleaning job.

He is there to clean. That is what he is paid to do. When he is on his unpaid breaks they need to be taken in the designated area for having a break (canteen/break room).

As this thread progresses, @VerySweatyBetty1 , what I would do is do an appraisal of the cleaning job and report on how the vacuuming hasn't been done etc. up the ladder. You say that your charity/business hasn't hired this cleaning company so maybe it's the building owner that has that contract and your manager/charity could report that to the building owner. If the cleaning company that he is part of has other cleaners working different buildings/different floors then perhaps someone else should be cleaning your offices and not him.
I'd note that sitting on the stairs is a safety issue as you've pointed out you have to climb over him to go up the stairs or to leave the building. He shouldn't be sitting there.

Totally inappropriate for him to be eating and sleeping in your office, OP. MN has lost its mind over this. Just because someone is a minimum wage worker doesn't mean they have the right to break significant boundaries. Does he go and sit at the desk of one of the male managers? No, because he knows how a man would react. Absolutely inappropriate for him to be going through drawers. I worked for several years in the kind of office you describe and no one, not even a trusted colleague, would open someone else's drawers without requesting permission. Once you start ferreting around you're in danger of being accused of nicking anything that goes missing.

I'd complain to management that there is evidence that someone has been eating and resting in your office and going through your drawers. I'd also instal a camera for a few days overnight so I could see exactly what's going on while I'm not there.

Just nipped back on here. Yes - MN has totally lost its mind. Thank you @LookItsMeAgain and @Pluvia and others for being the voice of reason.

Senior colleague now dealing with the matter. Like someone should have done several years ago.

"Just because someone is a minimum wage worker doesn't mean they have the right to break significant boundaries." Very well-put!

I am shocked at the responses here criticizing you OP. This is completely unacceptable and tantamount to your home cleaning lady taking a nap and eating her lunch ON YOUR BED! OP I would report this and continue to report it until it stopped. I had something similar happening at a previous job and even thought I formally complained I was still able to lock my office. The only "cleaning" they did was taking out the trash but I often found their dinner trash in my trash and they left crumbs and empty cups on my desk.

With all due respect. What a load of bollocks.

Although the thought of him opening her drawers to find her drawers is making me laugh!