Several employees working at computers in an open-plan office with hanging lights. Stock photography for depiction only.
An insurance analyst had worked in a hybrid arrangement for their company for the past five years, but the employer decided to change that to making people come into the office five days a week. They had a flexible seating arrangement that meant employees had to book their desk before work, and there were fewer desks than there were people.
Because of this, the analyst had experienced a couple of days when they weren't able to get a desk. They did all their work from home instead, but this resulted in a write-up from HR. They weren't sure how to proceed when the system clearly wasn't working.
Empty desks with computers in an open-plan office. Image for illustrative purposes.
A or B: My company ordered 5-day RTO, but has 40 desks for 60 people. Twice I couldn't book one and worked from home. HR warned me for "unauthorized absence." Am I wrong to appeal with the booking logs?
I've been a senior analyst at an insurance brokerage for five years. We went hybrid in 2021, and I've been in the office two or three days a week ever since. My last two performance reviews were "exceeds expectations," and I've never had an attendance issue before this.
Last year, the company downsized our floor when the lease came up. We gave back about half the space and switched to flexible seating, so nobody has an assigned desk. You have to book one through an app.
Then in July, we got an all-hands email saying that starting September 1, everyone would be expected back in the office five days a week. The email said it was about "culture, collaboration, and energy." It came from the CEO.
Our department has 60 people, but the floor only has about 40 desks.
For the first couple of weeks, I booked a desk as soon as the system opened and managed to get one every day. I wasn't thrilled about it, but the message was pretty clear that attendance was expected.
Then one Tuesday, the booking system was down when I tried to reserve a desk. By the time it was back up, there were no desks left. I sent my manager a screenshot and told him I'd be working from home that day. I logged in on time and worked my normal hours.
The same thing happened again about a week and a half later. This time I tried to book a desk right when the system opened, but everything was already taken.
Four employees working at a shared desk by a window. Not actual story subjects.
I worked normally both days and didn't miss any meetings or deadlines.
Last week, HR gave me a written warning for "unauthorized absence" for those two days. I sent them the booking screenshots and asked how I was supposed to work onsite when there wasn't a desk available.
The HR rep said, "The expectation is that you present onsite and work with your leadership to find a solution in real time."
I asked what that was supposed to mean if there were no desks available. My manager, who has been sympathetic about the whole thing, told me privately, "I'd just take the warning and move on. It probably won't matter a year from now."
But it's still a written attendance warning for two days when the company's own booking system shows there were no desks available.
A. A policy is a policy. On those two days, I should have gone in anyway and figured it out with my manager instead of deciding on my own that working from home was okay. Appealing a written warning over two days could hurt my reputation more than the warning itself is worth.
B. The company required everyone to come in without having enough desks for everyone, and the booking logs are the company's own records showing that there was nothing available. Appealing with that evidence isn't making it a thing. It's the only thing protecting my record.
Computer monitors at empty desks in an open-plan office. Still frame for contextual reference only.
If I’m the manager, I’m going to HR and asking them what, exactly is supposed to happen here. Also, given the numbers, one would presume there’s 20 odd folks a day getting written up
A, but from now on show up and then don’t work if there’s no desk. Your manager is telling you along with HR that the priority is the policy, not productivity, and that you should just take it, so now you know - show up without a desk and be abjectly unproductive, hang around the break room all day, play games on your phone. If they try to make you work somehow, make sure you get almost nothing done so they can bear the fruit of the policy. After all, they have communicated with crystal clarity to show up even if that means you can’t work or your productivity is impacted, and then actively impeded your work by not providing desks - but the #1 priority is showing up, so show up no matter what. If there are no desks, you did what was instructed and showed up, and the company can pay the price of the punitive policy.
A. Malicious compliance, pack up your laptop and stand around in the office, unable to work until they stick you in a conference room or something.
The only way they will see this is a problem is when they have a few dozen employees unable to work just standing around wasting time.
A blend of A and B. If they are going to issue warnings when they don't have enough desks for everyone, you need to go in, even if those are your most unproductive days. Maybe grab a laptop and sit on the floor outside of HR's office, and encourage the other 19 people without desks to do the same. Or just bring a folding camping chair and pull it up to the other side of a desk in the HR office. Basically, arrange a sit-in in the HR office until they understand the problem, because I swear HR staff are the densest people alive.
At the same time, definitely continue to appeal the warning. Either 20 people are milling about the office with no desk every day, or they're issuing warnings to 20 people daily. Are they trying to reduce their workforce by 20? If so, maybe they should use some metric other than musical chairs.
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