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?

@Demonhunter I would go through a colleagues desk drawer if I thought she was nicking my stuff I accidentally left on her desk.

I’d love to read the cleaner’s thread. There’s this woman in one of the office I clean who looks down on me. She huffs around every time she has to walk past me when I’m sitting down having my break.

The other day, I mistakenly left my ear pods on her desk - the cheeky woman tried to bloody steal them! It would have been obvious that they were mine. She snuck them into her drawer, presumably planning on taking them home that evening!

Luckily I found them before she managed. She’s paid so much more than I am, so I just can’t fathom why she’d try and steal from me?

Losing your earbuds is an expensive inconvenience for any of us. For someone on minimum wage, even more so, but rather than showing any empathy for that, OP felt the need to hide them. I imagine he was quite upset looking for them.

Well MN is either full of liars or CFs. When I worked in an office I never even ate at my desk as I feel it's unhygienic so I'd be really pissed off if someone else took it upon themselves to sit at it and eat.

Guy clearly didn't feel comfortable enough to go and ask OP for the earbuds he left behind, but feels comfortable enough to go looking for them and eating and sleeping at the desk.

For all those getting terribly worked up - he's spanish-speaking, and south american. His colleagues, from what I have observed, are also spanish-speaking. As is the guy who appears to be their team-leader / boss. More than that, i do not know. He doesn't speak English but I always say good morning and smile when I see him.

And as for the knickers (also socks, vest, deo, tootbrush, eyedrops, hayfever tablets, gaviscon) - it saves me carting an even greater amount of crap between home and work 'just in case'. I'm menopausal and also extremely sweaty if you must know - hence my user name. Happy now? I'm sure I'm not the first woman on the planet to have a drawer of such stuff in the workplace. My younger self used to admire women who were well-organised and thought about things in advance. I'm now that woman.

I think if you raised this as a complaint - he opened by drawer - he would probably counter by saying that you stole his headphones.

I just can't understand why you'd put them in a drawer 'while you decided what to do' - just give them to him or leave them where he could find them surely?

I don’t know why you put someone else’s property in your drawer. We would hand it into Reception where it is properly documented and stored. I once found a diamond engagement ring worth thousands by the bathroom sink and someone once handed in my keys.

@Derbee I don't huff. I'm always pleasant - say hello and smile. I don't speak his language so i can't do much more than that. He's the one who is taking the piss, not me.

It's crazy isn't it. Obviously if he was answering the phone and pretending to be the boss the op would have reason to be displeased but just sitting on a seat? Eating in the stairwell? I mean seriously so what. Unclench op, unclench.

@LadyLapsang - we don't have a reception. you're using your experience to judge mine.

'For all those getting terribly worked up'

That'd be you op. Put your spare knickers in your bag if it bothers you that someone may have seen them and try to be more tolerant.

Where I used to work, we had cleaners who were caught in the MD's office watching TV!

Another cleaner stole the lottery money, one of the managers involved the police and the guy was charged.

Contact the company he works for and report him, he's meddling in stuff he should not be and going into the desk drawers which is absolutely out of order.

Lock your charger in a cash tin as well as any valuables such as your phone.

Though YABU hiding his ear phones in your drawer
Of course He was going to look for them anywhere, including drawer.

If you're not happy with the service you need to raise it with whoever is responsible for the contract with the cleaning company. Not hoovering the full room is an issue (unless underneath your desk is a mess, you say lots of personal things are left and under desks tend to be a place to bung things). I've also worked in lots of places where cleaners are instructed not to clean desks which may offer an explanation to that aspect, but ultimately the contract holder needs to clarify what is to be cleaned and not.

The hanging around the stairwell is a funny one because IF he is talking so loudly It is disturbing the business it needs to be addressed, but really how long is he there? It needs to be clarified if there is a common area for the cleaners to take breaks though, it doesn't sound like you know for certain and sadly, I have worked places where domestic staff are not catered for like this.

It sounds like you also need to advocate for lockable storage as well as doors and nothing about your premises sounds secure. I'm surprised this is allowed in a multi use building. No you don't expect people to root through your drawers but ultimately people can do if they're not locked. You have no real proof it was this cleaner either, just a hunch.

Would I begrudge someone having a 5 minute rest at my desk before I start work? No. But I would mind someone leaving half eaten food on it and eating there, allergies for one, hygiene another.

I'm just curious, I can understand how you could tell that someone might have been sitting in your chair, but how can you tell he was sleeping in it? You've never caught him sleeping so why are you so convinced he is. And you say you come in late, that implies there are workers there earlier then you, have they ever seen him sleeping in your chair?

To be clearer from my original post, I would suggest not focusing on what you don't want him to do, but rather what you want him to do instead. The current set up clearly isn't working. I would suggest the senior management or building owners need a clear service level agreement outlining expectations on both sides. Don't just moan or complain about him as an individual, make it an issue for the building owners / managers to set up a cleaning system which works better for everyone. I highly suspect they will have gone with whoever was the cheapest with no consideration for welfare or wellbeing of anyone involved. This will only change if you / your company (and others?) use your power to demand better.

It is probably a serviced office, so cleaning comes with the rent. These set ups always hire cleaners on as low money as possible, for as few hours as possible to make the rent lower.

In their bag sure, left in a desk drawer, no.

The only thing that would bother me would be the rifling in my drawer. Sitting at my desk, no, unless he was damaging it somehow or leaving crumbs of food all over it.

He probably has a shit life. If it makes his life that tiny bit nicer or easier to sit in peace and quiet at my desk, I'd let him.

The origin and lack of even minimal English does make me suspicious about their work status in the UK.

I take a change of clothes to work due to a medical condition. My desk is in a shared office space, otherwise I’d leave them in the drawers.

i would leave a note in English and Spanish saying.
“I believe someone has been eating at my desk and going through my drawers. Please stop”

simple

I think putting the earbuds in the drawer was a dick move. I would have written a note saying ‘you appear to have left your earbuds on my desk’ with the earbuds sitting on said note. Doesn’t matter he doesn’t speak English, anyone would get the gist of such a note. Then he wouldn’t have had to go through your drawers to retrieve what are, probably to him, expensive ear buds he can’t afford to replace. But, he would have got the message you are onto him.

I've informed a senior colleague who is making enquiries about where the guy is supposed to be when he's not working (ie breaks) as colleague also thinks it's a hazard to have him sitting on the stairs.

For someone who asked above: he has frequent loud conversations and entire football matches watched from his phone on our stairs. it's taking the piss.This is in full view of us but we don't pay his wages (directly) so he obviously feels its' ok. He does deserve respect, and he has that from all of us (we all say hello and smile, and a couple of spanish speakers manage a few other niceties), but he's not employed to use our tiny vestibule as his personal space. It's time for his management to look after him properly and make sure he has somewhere for his breaks. He's clearly not well-managed or his boss would wonder where he is when he should presumably be doing something somewhere else.

It's good to be kind but when someone is obviously taking the piss, frequently, then it's not on.

OP, you're clearly not open to hearing the opposing view. You smile and say hello - to a fellow work colleague (albeit contract) whose position is a cleaner and that makes you - what? A hero in this tale?

@VerySweatyBetty1 he will probably now be made to take his breaks in the loo so as not to accept people like you.