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Original poster

New employee (Gen Z} doesn’t want to meet in person

577 replies

outofofficeon · 01/09/2025 22:14

I took on a graduate for a new position, she’d been job hunting for a few years, I felt good about giving her a hand up into a great career.
She lives about an hour away so works remotely. She bright and polite and reliable and a good member of the team.

The problem I have is that she doesn’t want to visit the office in person or meet her colleagues in person, I offered to put her up in a nice hotel and pay travel costs so that she could spend a few days with us in person. She declined. My latest issue is that she doesn’t put her camera on when we are communicating at work as part of daily work or chats. I understand she might not be very confident but I think that you have to get out of the house / your comfort zone if you want a career.

im not sure what to do- any advice oh wise ladies.

OP posts:
Smurfette63 · 06/09/2025 19:30

SpencerGarciaGideon · 06/09/2025 18:57

You could perhaps send out a mass email reminding staff that it is mandatory to use cameras during meetings. In a nice but authorative way. Also you need to say " Gemma, I need you to come in to the office for a few days this week. I feel it's important for us all to meet up for staff morale as well as for the type of job we do" or something along those lines. I always remember a trainee being in my work and they were asked " do you want to go outside with the kids" and the trainee said no. That they were happy inside. It wasn't meant to be a question so our team had training on explaining that we are telling them to do it, not asking so need to use the correct wording. " I need you to go outside with the kids" hope this helps or that you already sorted it.

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

RafaFan · 06/09/2025 20:24

Smurfette63 · 06/09/2025 19:30

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

Edited
Show quote history

Even if they all have company emails? Nobody should be using personal emails for work. Just remote workers should be provided with a computer etc that the company own, that is not used for anything except work.

broney · 06/09/2025 21:21

Whatever the contract stipulates, to me it seems very odd that she is actually refusing to come in and meet personally, especially when you have offered to cover expenses. Especially at "only an hour away" If she was 250 miles away that might be different. Sounds a bit strange to m e.

Pickyourbattlescarefully · 06/09/2025 22:09

This thread is bonkers. All this speculation when the OP hasn’t asked the employee why she doesn’t want to put her camera on or meet in person.

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 03:02

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

HarrietBond · 07/09/2025 06:37

A work email to a team at work? Of course that’s not a GDPR breach. What are people on?!

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 07:52

Smurfette63 · 06/09/2025 19:30

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

Edited
Show quote history

On what planet would that be a GDPR breach?!
It's their work email addresses, being used for a internal only email.

99bottlesofkombucha · 07/09/2025 08:55

Smurfette63 · 06/09/2025 19:30

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

Edited
Show quote history

No, it is not. Your work email is not personal information at your work! Are you serious?? Are there any companies at all where your work email isn’t available on the directory to all other employees? (And if there are, it’s still not in any way a breach of gdpr to use someone’s work email for a work communication)

TalkToTheHand123 · 07/09/2025 09:21

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 03:02

If you do send an email make sure you use bcc or you'll be passing on everyone's email which is also a breach in GDPR

😂

Ratafia · 07/09/2025 09:33

RafaFan · 06/09/2025 20:24

Even if they all have company emails? Nobody should be using personal emails for work. Just remote workers should be provided with a computer etc that the company own, that is not used for anything except work.

Show quote history

Company email addresses invariably follow the same pattern, usually something along the lines of: [email protected], so if you don't know them you can make a very informed guess. There's no breach of data control in showing these on a message that is only going to other people in the same company.

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:10

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 07:52

On what planet would that be a GDPR breach?!
It's their work email addresses, being used for a internal only email.

Show quote history

It still identifies a person, sounds like you need a refresher.

HarrietBond · 07/09/2025 10:11

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:10

It still identifies a person, sounds like you need a refresher.

Show quote history

I assume you’re joking at this point.

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:16

outofofficeon · 01/09/2025 22:14

I took on a graduate for a new position, she’d been job hunting for a few years, I felt good about giving her a hand up into a great career.
She lives about an hour away so works remotely. She bright and polite and reliable and a good member of the team.

The problem I have is that she doesn’t want to visit the office in person or meet her colleagues in person, I offered to put her up in a nice hotel and pay travel costs so that she could spend a few days with us in person. She declined. My latest issue is that she doesn’t put her camera on when we are communicating at work as part of daily work or chats. I understand she might not be very confident but I think that you have to get out of the house / your comfort zone if you want a career.

im not sure what to do- any advice oh wise ladies.

It seems no-one is actually interested in helping you on this problem, they're all just getting at me so good luck hope you're able to get it sorted. I'm going!

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 10:25

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:10

It still identifies a person, sounds like you need a refresher.

Show quote history

Err. I train people on GDPR. You are being ridiculous

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:27

HarrietBond · 07/09/2025 10:11

I assume you’re joking at this point.

Show quote history

😂😂😂

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:38

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 10:25

Err. I train people on GDPR. You are being ridiculous

Show quote history

Well in that case you should be helping the OP instead of having a go at me!

HarrietBond · 07/09/2025 10:41

Why? You’re completing derailing! The OP needs no advice on GDPR at all.

Cherrytree86 · 07/09/2025 11:02

Smurfette63 · 07/09/2025 10:10

It still identifies a person, sounds like you need a refresher.

Show quote history

@Smurfette63

and…?? So…??

Cherrytree86 · 07/09/2025 11:07

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 10:25

Err. I train people on GDPR. You are being ridiculous

Show quote history

@Smurfette63

yeah, people need to be identifiable at work with identified means of being contacted, that’s the whole point. What’s the point of a work email address do you think?

have you been drinking wine by any chance?

SerendipityJane · 07/09/2025 11:07

broney · 06/09/2025 21:21

Whatever the contract stipulates, to me it seems very odd that she is actually refusing to come in and meet personally, especially when you have offered to cover expenses. Especially at "only an hour away" If she was 250 miles away that might be different. Sounds a bit strange to m e.

The only reason to pay expenses (Or to be able to reclaim them as tax) is if the employees place of work is actually their home.

This is a little wrinkle that a lot of people who think they work from home seem to miss. And it's teeth->arse when the employer changes their business needs and you need to go into the office which is 200 miles away.

All of this was in the mix when I was looking at the IT side of homeworking 15 years ago. It's why I made damn sure I worked from home and the trip to the head office was paid for. At 115 miles each way it seemed sensible.

If the team hadn't covered this of their own volition (they did) I had the experience of a friend who worked for a huge financial institution who setup homeworking in the noughties. They got stung by an very senior employee who managed to have their place of work fixed as their home which was near one office. They were transferred to another office but they couldn't rewrite the contract without creating a redundancy. So this employee was able to claim for their daily commute for quite a while until HMRC caught up with them.

When I was at Uni in the 80s, we were all talking about remote working. This is hardly the Apollo mission. Nothing here is new. Well, technically at least.

Dimdam · 07/09/2025 12:36

Whos The boss you or her? Give her an ultimate, lay the company laws down and if she doesn’t comply give her notice. What happens if the rest of your staff acting the same way?

Lots of people looking for work nowadays she’ll be easy to replace

Scalextricks · 07/09/2025 12:48

Cherrytree86 · 07/09/2025 11:07

@Smurfette63

yeah, people need to be identifiable at work with identified means of being contacted, that’s the whole point. What’s the point of a work email address do you think?

have you been drinking wine by any chance?

Show quote history

I'm pretty sure smurfette is just trolling (or smurfing Grin)

Imagine how impossible it would be to work if we couldn't even know our own colleagues email addresses

Hatty69 · 10/09/2025 21:43

How have you facilitated her Right to Work Check?

NavyTurtle · 12/09/2025 09:21

outofofficeon · 01/09/2025 22:14

I took on a graduate for a new position, she’d been job hunting for a few years, I felt good about giving her a hand up into a great career.
She lives about an hour away so works remotely. She bright and polite and reliable and a good member of the team.

The problem I have is that she doesn’t want to visit the office in person or meet her colleagues in person, I offered to put her up in a nice hotel and pay travel costs so that she could spend a few days with us in person. She declined. My latest issue is that she doesn’t put her camera on when we are communicating at work as part of daily work or chats. I understand she might not be very confident but I think that you have to get out of the house / your comfort zone if you want a career.

im not sure what to do- any advice oh wise ladies.

We had one of these on our job. Refused to go to site, never puts her camera on. Only met he once. She gets on with the job, but very unfriendly and keeps herself to herself. We let her get on with it now. So long as the job gets done. BUT if it impacts the work, words need to be said.

Manxexile · 12/09/2025 11:11

Hatty69 · 10/09/2025 21:43

How have you facilitated her Right to Work Check?

I suspect the employer is a really small organisation, that it doesn't have an HR dept, and that it doesn't know what a RTW check is...

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