Colleague refusing to hotdesk at work – anyone else face this issue??

[Singleparent78]

Post-pandemic our offices have moved to a hotdesking set up as part of new hybrid working. Most FT staff now WFH 2-3 days/week and now, when they do come in, they no longer have ‘their own’ desk but instead sit at a series of desks which they book in advance – each desk has IT equipment, but staff have all been given laptops that they can bring in.

It’s not ideal but it encourages a good mixing of staff and ultimately saves money - with staff WFH it was possible to reduce the overall office footprint rather than have the same office with half populated desks. A lot of effort went into setting up the new hot desk system to ensure it was well kitted out and comfortable.

One Staff member has been refusing to come in and hot desk. Says it’s a policy that can’t be enforced, that this way of working is not in his contract.

He claims the desks aren’t access compliant – he doesn’t have a disability he just is complaining about the process of setting them up and doesn’t feel the set-up is compliant. He has been WFH for months now, refusing to come in and use the hot desks until he gets his own desk with a number of other requirements on his list.

HR have been useless, just saying I will need to make adjustments ‘to support him’ but my view is as he doesn’t have special requirements, just a general grievance, so needs to follow policy - otherwise what is the point of the policy?

Anyone else have this problem? How did you address it?

As an autistic adult, I really don't see why an invisibly disability should be disclosed to you? Are you HR? But then, I don't really understand why you care so much about this situation anyway. I can see how you might find the situation unfair, but he doesn't owe YOU an explanation unless you are HR.

This

Sorry, I didnt realise you were the Manager. Be plain speaking, tell him you are willing to support him if there is genuine cause - but you need to know what you are supporting because there is a lot of pushback from the rest of the staff. Let him know that HR are putting this on you as Manager, and you dont know how to proceed. If he doesnt disclose after that? You did your best but the answer is no. At the moment its coming across like you just dont think he deserves it, which is an attitude Im very familiar with and (if he does have a hidden disability) he will be too. A lot depends on what his other requirements are.

Having said that OP, I still don't think he owes you the explanation if HR have said go ahead, and you can't tell your other staff what he says - so ultimately you're not going to be able to "fix it".

@MummysBusy I disagree. As a employee he needs to be open and clear about what would be acceptable and to date he has not been - instead just pushing back. It works both ways - employers can't support staff if they don't say specifically what works for them and employers then have to make a decision about what is appropriate and fair. If he says nothing and makes no attempt to come up with a solution then he's not helping himself.

Give him his own desk and make him come in 5 days a week. Sorted.

Why can’t he just wfh 100% of his time ?

If he is being so difficult, could you not allocate him one of the hot desks just for him and then he has no excuse not to come in. Could even mention he can now come in 5 days a week now you have allocated him a desk, as WFM is not in his contract. Hot desking is a sensible thing to do, if some one is not there 5 days a week. This is very common and has being going on for decades at lots of companies. Good luck.

OP is not mind reader. If he has a hidden disability he needs to declare it if he expects reasonable adjustments. I had a similar issue recently regarding hotdesking and ADHD. People can't act on what they don't know. Sounds like in this case he just wants to WFH because it suits him, which if he's senior may not be appropriate

Exactly this. Own desk with all his things, can’t complain then.

@Singleparent78 Would it be possible to just ask HR outright?

"He hasn't disclosed to me whether he requires any reasonable adjustments. I understand you might not be able to share the reasons with me if he's asked to keep a medical condition confidential, but could you please confirm whether he requires any reasonable adjustments or if he also hasn't made a disclosure to you to explain these requests?"

Sounds like this is someone who wants to WFH full time and instead of being upfront and honest about the reasons they’re looking to blame the company for reasons not to come in. I would offer him the option of 1) having his own desk and working in the office 5 days a week OR 2) Attending a meeting with you and HR to formally discuss his concerns so that you can address these to make hybrid working work for both parties.

I'm not sure how it works from your end, if he discloses something to HR do HR have to disclose it to you?

I don't think HR need to explain to OP what disability he has, but they might need to tell the OP that certain adjustments are necessary. It really depends on the OP's position and if they're a 'need to know' person.

I think proper hot desking is unnecessarily stressful, especially to people who work with a lot of paper.

I'd be going for a consultation on how the policy is working, now that it's been in place for x months, including him and seeing how the policy can be tweaked. Would he feel OK with desk sharing with one other person? How is everybody else doing with it? Is it a free for all in practice or are people doing something closer to sharing a desk with one or two other people?

I'd also be looking at your Covid policy + ventilation. Wanting to work from home might be to do with wanting to avoid Covid as much as anything, even if he doesn't feel able to say so.

Some offices are dog friendly - you might consider if this would work for you (and even if it doesn't, if the dogs came with him to work and were picked up from the office by a dog sitter that'd be fewer hours to pay for a dog sitter). [I am not keen on non-assistance dogs in open plan offices - it's high up on the list of things I'd avoid having worked somewhere with dogs in the office in the past, but it can be made to work.]

How can they end up in court if they haven’t been notified of the disability though? Surely the employee needs to share this information with HR or their Manager to have any additional needs met. They are not mind readers.

Would he feel OK with desk sharing with one other person?
The problem with that, at least in my experience, is that everyone wants to work midweek and nobody works Monday or Friday. It's not conducive to desk sharing.

It sounds like HR have said to go ahead and OP wasnt satisfied with that.

Seems as if HR have not been helpful, OP. They have not offered to meet with him with or without you.

I still maintain the set desk, block booked for a given day or days each week, should be the response. I don't for a second think the reasons are anything other than wanting any excuse not to come into the office, be it preferring home environment, hating travelling, not liking some work colleagues, or anything else.

P45.

It’s public sector. He’d have to shit on the chief executive’s desk to get his P45.

I think the clue to this problem is that he would have to hire a dogsitter if he comes into work. He doesn't want to, end of.

Sounds like a lot of thought has gone into this. People can't have it both ways. Either go back to the office full time like pre covid and have your own desk, or go the hybrid way and WFH part time and hot desk part time. People can just be too demanding. Why should companies let every one work from home and leave their offices empty. Still have to pay for them when empty. Lots of companies are tied into expensive rents and add in the business rates. So they have to get value for their money. If working from home becomes official and not temporary due to covid, they would have to pay to make employees work spaces H&S compatible at home. This would cost them a fortune while having perfectly suitable desks etc sitting in an office they are paying for.

He sounds like an arsehole. He can't perform his role so put him on performance review - face to face meetings only.

Unfortunately this WFH culture seems to have generated a lot of entitled people.

This guy could be neurodiverse - asd, ocd?
He might just hide it well but any form of sharing or transition might cause huge anxiety.
Do you know him well?

This!

We have an almost identical situation at our place. The main difference being that the guy has one puppy not three dogs.

I really hope you win this one, good luck!