To report the cleaner

[EmotionalLimbo]

I'm a PhD student and work in a doctoral school office with several other researchers, all doing our own thing. It's a wonderful quiet space and we're very lucky.

Well quiet that is until the bins are emptied every afternoon. I'm not sure if the person who comes in is a cleaner because I've never seen her do any cleaning in this office but she might do in other parts of the building.

She's just so loud. She's talking on the phone using Bluetooth earpieces so it looks like she's talking to herself. It's so distracting and it's not a work conversation because it's a foreign language.

I've contacted the estates people to ask them to tell her to stop as it's annoying everyone but nobody dare say anything. It's not my job to tackle her.

AIBU?

The cleaner has an appropriate place to work. That doesn't mean she gets to disturb other people trying to work.

Says you

the poster said she was distracting them as she looked like she was talking to no one

I notice the OP has been diligent in avoiding saying how long the cleaner is in the office each day which suggests that it’s an embarrassingly small amount of time to have to tolerate this supposed cacophony.

The phrase “ivory towers” springs to mind.

You need to hand yourself a grip. A couple of minutes noise is not making any difference at all you.

In a real workplace, there will be diverse types of work going on, and your need for uninterrupted silence is unrealistic and unreasonable. Find a way to manage yourself.

@EmotionalLimbo , people talking on the phone are often much louder than they think they are.
Conversations in a language you don't understand can be intrusive, and I say that as someone who uses their first language (not English) when speaking to my family.

I'd report it.

I wonder if some posters would be so up in arms if Op hadn't disclosed that the cleaner was foreign?

It's about 20-25 minutes on this floor. There's a connecting kitchen area too that we can hear if any conversation is going on. I imagine she's cleaning the sink area in there. I don't go to check. There's also the toilets just outside. Three of them. Walking through the three areas, talking loudly.

They didn’t

they said she was talking in a foreign (to them) language

Why haven’t you spoke to her in person? It isn’t embarrassing to ask a person to not take a call in a quiet area. By emailing her manager you have escalated it to a more serious level

I run the medical room in a school. The cleaner comes in at the end of the day and empties the bin and hoovers. I do all the cleaning of surfaces etc. I always chat and say thank you. They are underpaid and understaffed. Not sure why anyone would want to make anyone feel worse.

OP, you are coming over as a bit precious. I get that you find it super disruptive but objectively, your work is not that important, and the disruption is lasting minutes at best. If it’s taking place at the same time every day, then it’s a predictable disruption which you can plan your day to avoid. Think of it like those fire alarms that are “tested every Wednesday at 9.30am”.

In any workplace, you will need to get along with a wide range of people, many of whom have different priorities and may not place the same value on your work as you do. You may have to have what are now called “challenging conversations” with them. Reporting someone to a manager may not always be an option.

We don't want to make anyone feel worse. We just don't want to hear loud conversation on a daily basis.

Quite! It’s also because the PPs seem to think that the OP is looking down on them as well as the cleaner because she’s doing a PhD. But the OP simply wants to be able to continue her train of thought. If the story was a student came in, or the head of department and starting talking on the phone, the responses would be 100% different.

Thanks, got it in one.

It doesn't matter if she's only there for 5 minutes, chattering away loudly for any amount of time is enough to disturb people, break their concentration and train of thought. It's rude and intrusive.

They never said she was foreign!!!!

Just tell her straight away, she might not know she is being loud

You're splitting hairs now.

Oh boo hoo.
It'll help your nervous system as I'd imagine that you won't always be in a quiet office without any distraction.

If that was all you wanted, you wouldn't have involved her manager off the bat.

Yes!

How????

Grown adults, unable to approach a staff member to ask if they could be quiet/ not take calls when working in the area?

OP, you speak to the cleaner and politely ask if she can reduce the volume. If there are any future issues, at this point you can report to their superiors.

This is stuff you teach tweens- about being independent, how to operate in civil society and using their agency. No one should reach adulthood and not know how to engage in a conversation.

As suspected then. TBH if I had to clean other people’s toilets as a job I would probably want to chat with a friend while doing so to distract myself.

Who are you planning on reporting her to. Why not be a grown up and use your words.