'Every piece of paper?': Office cleaner agrees to clean off everyone's desks after boss says she's 'very disappointed' in her work

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 16, 2023 5:00 PM EST

This story is a great example of why you should get everything in writing. While that's great advice, it's not always easy to accomplish in real life. For example, if you have a two-hour-long meeting with your bosses, and then request everything from that meeting in writing, there's a 99% chance your boss will disregard that request entirely. But you can still get things in writing if you email your boss something like, "Per our phone conversation, I'll be doing X and Y." 

As an office cleaner, the OP of this workplace story was working in a very part-time role (just two hours a day). Still, their job was an important one. As a cleaner in an office, they kept the place tidy and nice-looking for the employees. This work is often underappreciated since the cleaners tend to work when the offices are empty. But after the OP agreed to their boss's odd request, I bet the entire office noticed their presence. 

In the comments section, people speculated that the OP's boss very likely could have been fired for the incident. That's a big mistake, as well as an invasion of the workers' privacy. I imagine the whole incident was a pain for the office workers. Hopefully, the OP was able to get a better part-time gig (and nicer bosses, too). 

Next up, these people shared the things their friends have said that cracked them up, like one dude who wondered why cucumbers were listed as an ingredient… in a jar of pickles. 

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  • 01
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    via 2H Media on Unsplash
  • 02
    So you want me to throw away *every* piece of paper on the desks? Ok. S OC I think I finally have a story for this. Picked up a little part time 2/HR a night, minimum wage office cleaning job for a little extra money. Keep in mind I didn't really need this job so didn't give one about it. Anyway...
    via u/TheAdamB*mb92
  • 03
    Cleaning "supervisor" was an absolute from the start but one time she came up to me at the start of a shift and showed me some pictures on her phone, the pictures were of papers left on people desks. She told me to get rid of all of them next time as it's not nice to leave a mess on the desks and I should know better, "very disappointed" she was... Ok then. I clarified so "every piece of paper yeah?" She replied with "YES YES I TOLD YOU!" Whatever you say.
    via u/TheAdamB*mb92
  • 04
    That night, I binned EVERY piece of paper on any desk that I saw, literally any. Next night comes. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" turns out "every piece of paper" was things such as important meeting schedules, prints out for people's work the following morning and the like. You know, things that really shouldn't go in the bin.
    via u/TheAdamB*mb92
  • 05
    I told her that she told me to get rid of every piece of paper that I saw on a desk... So I did. I then left immediately.
    via u/TheAdamB*mb92
  • 06
    knouqs "I then left immediately." This is the correct outcome. I wonder if those photos on her phone could have resulted in your supervisor's own termination. If I take pictures of my work area, my job is in jeopardy.
    via u/knouqs
  • 07
    Remarkable-Intern-41 This is just moronic advice. Every office cleaner I've ever met knows you don't touch stuff left on someone's desk. If it's tidy you can wipe it down/dust it. If not, that's the desk owners business and you move on. You've no possible way of knowing what is an isn't important. Hot desks are the only exception but even then cleaning staff will have been advised exactly what they're meant to do with anything found on them. Cleaning manager should 100% know better. Excellent ma
    via u/Remarkable-Intern-41
  • 08
    LongPastDue Date I've worked in offices that had a "clean desk" policy where we had to make sure the top of the desk was free of papers and other clutter before leaving for the day...for no real reason other than the boss didn't like the look of messy desks. In those offices I'm not sure the cleaners would have actually gotten into any trouble.
    via u/LongPastDue Date
  • 09
    bulgarianlily I was once hired as a temp office worker for a large UK retail chain. I was assigned to a manager who obviously neither knew what to do with me, or very much about computers, this was in the late 1990's. After I had done all the small tasks she gave me, she announced she was out for the rest of the day and that I should 'look at her hard drive and delete anything I didn't think she needed'.
    via u/bulgarianlily
  • 10
    I found some DVDs in a store cupboard and backed her entire hard drive onto it, then had fun for the rest of the day, with access to every part of that businesses future plans, finance, HR, the lot, deleting with a free hand. When she came back the next day there was a scream. I went back into her office, produced the disks and gently explained to her why I thought saying that to an agency worker was a bad idea.
    via u/bulgarianlily
  • 11
    cyanidelemonade It's "not nice to leave a mess"????? It's someone's desk! You shouldn't even be looking at people's desks, let alone cleaning them! I'd be hesitant to even clean up a stray wrapper off someone's desk. There should be clear policy's around things like this. Like tell the office workers that their desk is their own responsibility. No janitorial staff will touch it besides maybe a trashcan underneath the desk.
    via u/cyanidelemonade
  • 12
    Still_Frame2744 Should have got that in writing before doing it and sent it to her boss.
    via u/Still_Frame2744
  • 13
    Signal-Woodpecker691 I knew someone who worked in a place that involved dealing with sensitive documents, so enforced a clear desk policy. If you left any documents on your desk at the end of the day, security would confiscate them, lock them in a safe and you would have to go to the security office to claim them and get an instructional talk from the head of security.
    via u/Signal-Woodpecker691
  • 14
    Each incident was a strike, three strikes and the culprit had their access pass revoked and would have to sign in at the security office every day. Repeat offenders could be disciplined and in extreme cases given the boot.
    via u/Signal-Woodpecker691
  • 15
    invisiblizm What did she think would happen? She should know to leave people's desks alone.
    via u/invisiblizm
  • 16
    Commercial-Push-9066 Hopefully that supervisor got fired after that for losing important papers.
    via u/Commercial-Push-9066

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cleaning workplace-stories jobs job desk malicious compliance work malicious-compliance-reddit papers supervisor workplace malicious compliance reddit cleaner
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