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?

I hate desk-sharing. People are so messy!

HR are just pushing this back to me. We have processes for dealing with underperforming staff but are new to this policy so don't have a mechanism to manage this.

This is your problem.

You can't have a new work policy which is causing conflict but has no written paramaters.

If senior management are willing to let HR pass the buck back to you, you have a big problem. You can only manage staff via your delegated authority. Senior management have to decide on how the company manages an employee who has decided that they will not comply with current work pratices.

The contract arguments are spurious - within reason an employer can change the work base without a contractual change taking place, and beside which, if they haven't been updated then surely his base is the office and not working from home? In law employees are also expected to follow reasonable instructions - no tribunal in the land is going to side with him if he gets dismissed for this! It is also the case that following policy and procedures is a contractual term - otherwise everyone would do what they want all the time on everything, and employers could do nothing about it. BUT....

You are going to have to take this formal, and to do that you need to get your own manager and HR on board with what you need to do. Because you need to issue an instruction - he either returns to the office full time as per his contract, or agrees to hybrid working. If he does not do so he will be disciplined for refusing a reasonable instruction. And if he still refuses there will be a further disciplinary, and he will eventually be dismissed.

You need to be clear with your managers and HR that this is not a sustainable situation and they cannot continue to pussyfoot around this. It is causing adverse impacts on work and morale, and he is required to be in the office. Full stop. End of discussion. And if they will not back you then you need to hand the entire issue over to them, whether they want it or not, and tell them you will not take responsibility for the end results of this.

And do it all in writing, so you have evidence of what you have told them and him.

What did HR plan to do if people weren't happy with this new policy? They did think this through right?

It does sound like he's being difficult for his own reasons, but hot desking is really unsettling for some people. I do think the employers should at least be acknowledging that.

No-one should be having to arrive at work early to secure a comfortable desk (whether that means physically or emotionally comfortable).

I will admit that I hate hot desking so much that I am willing to work in the office full time to not have to do it. So take what I have to say with a pinch of salt.

What incentive does he have to come into the office? Have you thought about the carrot side of carrot and stick? The threats don’t seem like they are going to work, if he’s that stubborn he might just look for a fully remote job rather than come in if you threaten him. At my company more social aspects of the job have been lent on. For example brain storming and planning interesting blue skies projects, lunch meeting where work pays etc. This has been far more effective at getting people in.

Also I think there is no time limit under the DSE legislation, every new desk you sit at should be assessed.

does everyone have their own version of a keyboard and headphones etc? No one wanted to come in if they had to share those things.

He’s being allowed to be a difficult sod. Is this the public sector by any chance? Management can be very weak sometimes.
I quite liked someone’s idea that if he wants his own desk he can come in five days a week but I don’t think it will fly. Good luck.

@AlisonDonut
What did HR plan to do if people weren't happy with this new policy? They did think this through right?

LOL. Our HR are very hands off and risk averse. When staff are unhappy/don't like something they expect managers to work with the staff to make adjustment.

Would your company be open to using an external HR company & get his contract checked by an external contract lawyer. I have seen this as it takes the onus off the direct team & removes some of emotion. Your HR are clearly struggling with new policy.

You can also cut one of the arguments off by having the space disability checked.

This employee sounds litigious, and I would advise you to cover yourself, make records of every conversation & email. Make sure you frame everything wanting what's best for him & that you want to support him as a valued member of the team.

He can refuse an Occupational Health Referral, but that will not look good if he does take the complaint further.

The thing is, he IS not coming to work at all is he?

So either he isn’t doing his job properly and things are falling by the way side (and he needs to be pulled up on it - regardless of the hot desking)

If he can actually do his job well wfh, then your best answer is a new contract similar to the one you have with new starters and insist on that being implemented (basically it’s either he accept and sign this contract or he leaves).

Hot desking is miserable, as I have learned over the past 6 months. I thought I would go to the office 3 or 4 days a week but I am down to one as I dislike it so much. After 20 years I am considering looking for a new job. If your company wants to retain employees they might need to rethink this policy.

Well it needs to go up to whoever risk assessed and approved the policy.

That’s what I’d do. If HR won’t deal with it, as they see it as a line management issue not a company-wide policy issue, you’ve offered occupational health for ‘necessary adjustments’ and it’s been refused by him, and his role is not contracted to be WFH and other team members come into the office, then I’d offer him his own designated desk but he must attend the office full-time as per his ‘normal place of employment’.

I'm facing similar and positively rewarding people who come into the office with nice coffees, morning pastries and various job-specific perks. It's helping people feel better about being in.

What has also helped is giving everyone a lockable locker they can put their personal stuff into so they don't have to bring it all home every day.

@Heartrate
It does sound like he's being difficult for his own reasons, but hot desking is really unsettling for some people. I do think the employers should at least be acknowledging that.

It's a pain but surely can't be so deeply unsettling unless one has quite severe anxiety or a MH diagnosis. I find a lot of other things at work unsettling, but I have to get on with it as an adult.

What a nightmare. Really HR need to deal with this but realistically it sounds like you aren’t going to get very far with them.

Can you get him to put in writing exactly what his issues are - so not vague ones but specific ones, and then go back with a rebuttal for each one?

If at the end of the day he insists on WFH then HR need to change his contract and you can push the blame from the rest of your team into HR, not you…

BTW we have all new PCs, new chairs and lockers so it's a nice set up - as nice as it can be.

I'd suggest:

• ask him to detail specifically what requirements are needed to make the desks (all) compliant - attach a copy of his DSE and ask him to reference it when outlining his findings.
• suggest to him that he make full use of the desk booking policy to ensure he has a desk of his preference where available for the 2/3 days a week he is expected in
• remind him that his contract does not mention wfh and the 2/3 wfh days are a perk that can be removed if the set up does not suit the needs of the business
• reinforce to him that he is expected to be present in the office at a minimum of 2 days per week and failure to rectify this on his part will result in the business pushing him to return to full time office based working

I think I have quite sound MH. I cope with a very pressured job admirably, but wondering if someone would be in my seat when I returned to the office after a meeting etc was horribly stressful.

Do all of this, in this order.

CC your HR into all correspondence.

I agree hot desking is horrible and an absolute nighmare for anyone who is neuro-diverse for example.

Sounds like you company have some re-thinking to do.

In the end he will prob get his way because our shitty public sector organisation does everything they can to roll over and support people who complain or who can't...

....but nothing to reward the resilient or hard workers who go the distance. It's why we lose good staff but amazingly are able to retain all the moaners or people who can't! Who would've thought!

I sympathise with you needing to line manage this issue but some people don't mind hot desking and other absolutely hate it.

I fall into the second camp. I like having my desk, monitor and chair set up a certain way and it takes time to get everything just so especially for my particular leg/body ratio.
I also get very distracted by noise and movement around me.

But once everything is set up to my satisfaction, I work really well and I'm very good at my job.

I also absolutely hated having to use shared keyboards with everyone else's finger grease, bacteria and lunch over them - I hoped the pandemic would see an end to hot desking and shared keyboards but apparently not.

It is also an absolute waste of time packing up my perfectly set up desk at home to transport everything to an office to set it all up again and then do the same in reverse at the end of the day.

My employer lets people who really want to work from home continue to do so as long as it doesn't affect their job or their health (being isolated etc). The desks at the office are all fully booked by people who actually want to be in the office, so everyone is happy.

So I am kind of with your employee on this.

However if the company policy is to work from the office and they don't have a homeworking contract then I guess you have to start talking about a disciplinary process or have an informal meeting to try and come to a reasonable compromise that addresses why this person doesn't want to come to office. Is there another reason they don't want to come in - maybe they were being socially excluded or low level bullying from another team member and don't want to say anything?

This!

We've just agreed a hybrid contact which is mostly wfh but attending the office once a month. Anyone who doesn't agree this has to work in the office 5 days a week with no wfh at all and will have a desk assigned.

It’s to expensive to provide desks permanently for people who hybrid work.

We have been provided with lockers if we wish to keep personal things in for our desk.

The bookable desk have been highlighted as
DSE assessed - these have the adjustable desks, dual screens which again can be moved etc We have said people can order any additional DSE équipement (keyboards etc) that can be kept in a locker. Because all the desks are bookable we also have cleaners know which areas have been in use as well as providing wipes etc

We have other areas for standard desks, group working, working with customers area and booths for private calls.

Out of a fairly large 3 floor office the request for lockers ….5 people only.

He just doesn’t want to come in.