Manager places 4ft Christmas tree on employees desk, protests when she calls HR to get it moved: 'The lights are constantly blinking in my eyes'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Dec 18, 2025 9:00 AM EST

The average workplace can only handle so much festive cheer.

It may be true that a few decorations and a Christmas party can offer a welcome break from the relentless gray of corporate life, but the fact remains that unless you are one of Santa's elves, doing your job is never going to be very Christmassy. There is a reason people are always quitting their high-flying positions in seasonal Hallmark movies.

This means that you don't have to be a grinch to be overwhelmed when work tries to be festive. When you are just trying to keep it together and do just enough to make it to the holidays, it can all serve as a big and annoying distraction. It doesn't help that it is often a vehicle for the most irritating coworkers to step things up a notch, causing problems at a time that should be all about peace.

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  • a modern office decked in Christmas decorations, including a red and green garland and a large artificial tree
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

  • There are times when the disruption caused by Christmas can prove to be very literal, as one woman found out when she got to work one day and found a large Christmas tree on her desk. The tree being there meant she couldn't work comfortably, and she had to recover many important documents that had been moved to make way for it.

    She asked her manager if it would be possible to move it, but she insisted that it stay put and that she use another desk. In response, she asked HR to move it from her workspace.

    While she felt she had the right to use her desk and computer freely, she worried that she had overstepped, as due to differing circumstances the previous year, she had allowed colleagues to put the Christmas tree on her desk. She looked for a second opinion.

  • Am I wrong for calling HR to get a Christmas tree removed from my desk?

    I work in the twilight zone, just kidding but sometimes it feels like I'm not... this is one of those times. So I (30F) went into work today and saw a Christmas tree set up at my desk. Not a cute little Christmas tree desk ornament, but one of those artificial Christmas trees measuring at least 4 feet tall with decorations and lights.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • This tree took up almost half of my desk space resulting in my desktop being squeezed into a corner where it's uncomfortable to use without straining my back because there's drawers underneath the desk in that spot so no room for my legs, the lights are constantly blinking in my eyes and force me to only have one thing plugged into the wall at a time to accommodate them, and all of my documents were missing to make room for it. I spent the first 30mins at work just trying to locate them.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Over the course of working at my job, I learned that confrontation gets me nowhere so instead of trying to find out who put it there and why, I simply approached my supervisor with my concerns about it being on my desk only for her to say she had the same concerns but that they were dismissed by the acting department manager (the actual manager is currently on vacation), and that she would raise the issue again and have them move it.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Well an hour goes by and the tree is not only still on my desk, but the acting manager called me into her office to have a chat. She started off with the normal pleasantries and making small talk but then quickly jumped to the topic of the tree. She apologized for putting it there without asking for my permission, but then made it clear that despite the inconvenience it's causing me, she would be instructing my colleagues that the tree is to remain where it
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • a woman in a red sweater holds the ribbon of an ornament next to a small christmas tree
    via Nina Zeynep Güler (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • currently is and instead suggested that I should just sit at another one of the free desks (there's several in the department, but they don't have computers) and work from there as well as share a computer with one of my colleagues until the holidays are over because she didn't want to affect the morale of the staff that spent time decorating.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Again, I don't think confrontation is beneficial, so instead of trying to argue my case myself, I simply left her office when dismissed and immediately called HR. HR was understandably confused when I explained there was a Christmas tree on my desk, and I'm not sure what was said but within 10 minutes of the call being over the tree was removed from my desk and placed on another (less central) desk.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Here's where I might be the AH; I allowed them to put the tree on my desk last year. I only work from the office one day a week as my I position is classed as a "field officer” at my job and I spend 4/5 days a week outside of the office and then come into the office for that one day to document my week, do reports and update my progress online.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Last year my work computer wasn't working towards the end of the year and it was taking forever for the replacement to come in, so when they asked for permission to put the tree on my desk "because it has the best view”, I agreed. At the time the desk was empty because of the broken computer and I spent more time at one of my colleagues desks instead because I was using their computer to update my work. That arrangement was uncomfortable and inconvenient, but unavoidable, so I saw no harm in all
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • So this year my colleagues assumed I would be okay with the arrangement again and set up the tree without asking me. So can I technically still get my work done with the tree there? Yes. But it's inconvenient for both myself and whichever colleague I'd have to impose on whenever I need to get online, which if last yr was anything to go by, would double the time it takes for me to complete basic tasks before their deadline due to wasting half the time just waiting for a colleague to be done with
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • So AITA for calling HR to get the tree removed? I don't feel like I am but some of my colleagues have been giving me the stink eye after having to move the tree.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • a woman in a red and white sweater places an ornament on a small christmas tree
    via Nina Zeynep Güler (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • NTA. Effective-Several Your desk, no matter what they should've asked you.
    via Effective-Several
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 I agree and so did HR
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • DrVL2 It sounds like there are empty desks elsewhere in the department. Why did they not use one of those?
    via DrVL2
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 Because apparently my desk has the best view, which is admittedly true because while it is a corner desk, it's central in the sense that it's the first you see when you walk into the department because of it's location in relation to the door. So it would actually be a good spot for a Christmas tree to draw attention, but considering it's a work place I feel like my ability to do my work trumps hearing "oh wow that's a pretty tree" when people enter the room.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Used Clock_4627 OP, please stop feeling like the AH. Your circumstances were DIFFERENT last year. Things have changed. And that supposed 'Acting' Manager needs to get her own act together. People are in that office to WORK, bottom line, not to look at Christmas decorations.
    via Used_Clock_4627
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 I know I'm not the AH, but a part of me still feels like I am because the reality is I'm only in there once a week and Christmas is in 2 weeks. Realistically I'd only have to put up with the tree one more day before it's gone
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Hot Blood2962 This wouldn't have been an issue if they asked. They assumed and let themselves and that's people problem they don't ask questions anymore
    via Hot_Blood2962
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 I agree. If they asked it wouldn't have changed my answer, but it would have saved them the time they spent setting it up at my desk
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Jay100012 Not sure why you took the time to go through all of that. Grab the tree by the base and move it to another desk yourself. Problem solved.
    via Jay100012
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 Ngl I was tempted to
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • PreparationPlus9735 I love Christmas decorations too. But a 4 ft tree on a desk in use is WILD lol.
    via PreparationPlus9735
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 I guess because I spend 4 days of the week doing home visits with my patients and then turn up once a week with a role far removed from my colleagues they don't seem to think that I'd care about my desk being taken over
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Dry-Clock-1470 Plenty of free desks? This is madness. NTA This is damn close to hostile
    via Dry-Clock-1470
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 Right? There's 4 free desks.
    via Salt-Habit-8951
  • Ok-Bug-2038 ASSUME - makes an ass out of you and me. The issue is that your colleagues made a false assumption. That your acting manager doubled down and TOLD you how to manage your own work day - is ludicrous. Calling HR was the RIGHT thing to do. Let people give you the stink eye. That is more about them than you.
    via Ok-Bug-2038
  • OP Salt-Habit-8951 To me the crazy part is that the one supervisor who agreed with me was dismissed when she pointed out how it can be an issue to my colleagues when they were setting it up. I'm still not sure why they didn't just call me in that moment when she said something to be on the safe side instead of going ahead
    via Salt-Habit-8951

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christmas boss employee hr desk christmas tree work entitled people
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