Boss forbids employee from leaving their desk, refusing to let them work from other locations in the office, employee confronts him: ‘I'm so fed up’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
May 4, 2026 1:45 PM EDT

If you're someone who can sit still in one place and work for 8 hours straight without moving… please stand up.

It's time to shake your legs and move around a bit, because it's never healthy to stay seated in one place for too long. Every worker should be able to leave their workspace and freshen up from time to time, and we don't just mean during lunch break.

If you walk into a modern office, you will probably find lots of open spaces, cozy sitting areas, and inviting couches spread all around the office. The question is, do you ever see people using these spaces, or are they there simply for decoration? Do people prefer to sit at their desks all day long, or do they enjoy a change of scenery from time to time and allow themselves to work from the comfortable couch next to the kitchen, or the beanbag in the corner of the office?

Since we aren't really built to sit still for so many hours a day, we assume that most people embrace a change of scenery and move around as much as they can during work hours. However, if they have a micromanager like the one below, this might not even be an option for them, which is something that should not be allowed to happen.

The employee below shares these thoughts exactly, ever since their boss told them they are not allowed to work from anywhere other than their office desk. This demand did not sit well with the employee, and instead of staying quiet and letting their micromanager get what he wants, they decided to confront him.

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  • No manager likes to be confronted with the truth, and this one is no different. When the employee told him that they refused to adhere to the demand that forbade them from working from other places in the office, the manager did not react nicely.

    Keep scrolling to read the full story.

  • 01
    Woman works at a desk with a laptop.
    via Zulfugar Karimov

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    micromanaging boss won’t let me leave my desk

    my manager is a huge micromanager. like will text my personal phone if i'm away on teams for 5 minutes and will practically beg me to turn my camera on in meetings, even 1:1 meetings. i have 2 offices i can work
    via maybenej
  • 03
    out of, one where i live and one in the next city over. he works out of the farther one so naturally he requires me to be there for our in office days.
    via maybenej
  • 04
    now yesterday i was in office and we had a team meeting at like 10am, then some more calls and then a team lunch from like 12-130. after that i had nothing to do until 3 so i went to grab a matcha and moved my stuff to one of the alternative seating areas for my next call.
    via maybenej
  • 05
    i truly hate sitting at a desk all day, i have a lot of nervous energy and being in office makes me anxious as it is so keeping myself comfortable improves my productivity a lot. and besides there are multiple different seating areas that you can work out of so it's not like i actually can't use them if i want to.
    via maybenej
  • 06
    anyway he wasn't at his desk when i decided to move so i sent him a message saying id be moving to the couches on our floor and not to be alarmed that my stuff was missing.
    via maybenej
  • 07
    he was like "are you okay? is everything okay?" and i said yep just wanted a change of scenery for the last call of the day. he said "okay as long as you're okay and participating i'm happy."
    via maybenej
  • 08
    he was not happy. he gets home last night and sets up a 9am call wayyyy after work hours ended. i join the call this morning and he says "i just have a problem with you getting up and sitting somewhere else. coming to the office isn't just
    via maybenej
  • 09
    checking the box, it's about bonding with the team and interacting and communicating with others while you're here. you need to be integrated."
    via maybenej
  • 10
    Hourglass on a Desk of a Woman Sitting in front of Her Laptop
    via Karola G

    Hourglass on a Desk of a Woman Sitting in front of Her Laptop.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 11
    i'm so fed up with his comments and demands (he also makes creepy comments to me and knows things about me that i haven't told him before), so i said "you know honestly? that's a crazy demand. i'm meeting the in office requirement
    via maybenej
  • 12
    by being in the office. the requirement is not to have water cooler chats all day long and to sit next to each other in a tight knit circle, it's about coming in for visibility and participation and i'm
    via maybenej
  • 13
    doing that." and i guess he didn't expect that response out of me so he said okay well i'll think about that, thanks for sharing. LIKE
    via maybenej
  • 14
    NO LOL THERES NOTHING TO THINK ABOUT!!! im so sick of this guy, he's a weirdo and a creep and he also thinks he can police and babysit me all day long. not sure how to handle this situation
    via maybenej
  • 15
    because im relatively new to the company and while i have a lot of expertise in my field i think im definitely still expendable and dont wanna up but man i can't take this treatment anymore.
    via maybenej
  • 16
    damdrod Start applying elsewhere, as the saying goes, people quit managers, not necessarily companies.
    via damdrod
  • 17
    X-3-M Document everything. It is always good to have documentation if it gets even worse and HR needs to get involved.
    via X-3-M
  • 18
    PlatypusDream Do it more, so he gets used to it. Use the alternate areas, don't answer after hours, tell him when he's being unreasonable, etc.
    via PlatypusDream
  • 19
    Morallta What he means by "I'll think about that, thanks for sharing", he means he's gonna target you now. Get out while you can.
    via Morallta
  • 20
    fddfgs Honestly I'd go above his head on this one, the job is already gone if that doesn't work out so you might as well
    via fddfgs

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Tags

boss workplace-stories employee manager job desk Office overworked-employees workplace company micromanager
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